Cold Heading - New Microfil

About
Cold Heading

Cold heading or cold forming is a process of metal deformation in progressive steps at room temperatures.

At New Microfil, we cut a blank from a continuous coil of wire that is deformed through its insertion into dies. This process is carried out by applying very high pressure which deforms the material beyond its elastic limit but without reaching its breaking point. Parts can be hit multiple times while staying in the same die or transferred from die to die for a succession of basic operations such as stamping, extrusion, reduction, trimming, piercing,…

All the operations require specific tools which are designed in order to obtained the final geometry of the product.

Material savings

This process creates very little waste offering significant material costs savings because the volume of the blank is about the same as the finished part. Indeed, the metal is deformed into the die rather than removed from the blank as for machining for example. Besides, when machining a part, the grain flow of the material is interrupted as the original material is removed from the part. With the cold heading process, all original material is used causing a restructuration of the material grain as the part is formed. It results in improve tensile strength creating stronger parts with smooth continuous surfaces.

Mass production

Cold forming is specially adapted to the mass production because of the high speed of the process contributing also to a significant reduction of the price compare with other technologies. The high repeatability is another advantage which permits to guarantee very tight tolerances on most of the dimensions of a product.
Required features which cannot be obtained with a standard cold forming process can be achieved by using secondary operation such as thread roll, drilling, heat treatment, plating, metal finishing, deburring, polishing,…

Galerie photos

Advantages of
cold forming

Raw material savings

Often, there is no waste with a cold heading process and the wire is less expensive than the bar used for machining.

Reduced production costs

In addition to material savings, the process allows to offer attractive prices compare with other technologies.

High production capacities

A production of 60 to 300 parts/minute per machine can be reached depending of the component and the material used.

Environmentally friendly

In addition to the material savings, cold forming permits also to avoid lead in the alloys for example.

Consistent and reliable at tight tolerances

Parts coming off a forming press are extremely repeatable. Critical and close tolerances can still be achieved in high volumes with consistency and reliability throughout the production making sure that every piece follows the specifications.

Mechanical properties

Mechanical properties increase throughout the process giving higher tensile strength after the deformation. Besides, the use of raw material adapted for cold heading permit to make further shaping such as crimping for example.

Superior surface finish

Typically, the process leads to manufacture products with very good surface finish without machining or tool marks.

About Cold Heading