Drop forging
As an alternative to normal casting, we can offer drop forging of parts. Drop forging is a process where a blank in a specific alloy is heated and pressed into a mold with a so-called large hammer - this preserves the structure of the material and results in a more homogeneous part without the possibility of internal defects as with normal casting.
This process is only suitable for larger series from 1.000 pieces and up.
Alloys for drop forging are usually only steel alloys.
The history of drop forging
In the 1800s, drop forging common. Here, tools are mounted in a fall hammer that are exact counterparts (matrices) to the desired item. The shaping could possibly be done in stages, with each tool being struck one blow until the final shape was achieved. In recent times, fully automatic forging machines have been developed.
Forging was the dominant shaping method for iron and steel until around 1860, when new methods made it possible to produce molten steel at prices that made casting to a realistic alternative.