Manufacturing of Forging Dies

Forging dies manufacturing is the first step to start a forging part. We all know that forging can be generally classified into two types, open die forging and closed die forging. Open die forging is operated between flat dies or dies in a simple shape. This process is mainly used for large parts. In closed die forging, metal billet is deformed in upper and lower dies for desired shape and dimensions. Deformation occurs in the closed cavity under high pressures, which will achieve precision forgings with tight tolerances. So this process is widely used for the manufacture of simple as well as complex high strength precision parts, especially when safety factor is considered. As a closed die forging manufacturer, we would like to introduce the forging dies manufacturing for closed die forging parts in detail.

Before manufacturing of forging dies, we can not start the production process directly. Firstly, engineer need to know how to design the forging dies following the drawing of a new forging part. Design of forgings dies depends on the processing steps, nature of workpiece material, flow stress,working temperature, etc. All these factors need to be considered. Generally speaking, we need to calculate the volume of billet accurately to aviod under filling or excess filling. And selection of parting line(referring the lind where two dies meet) is also important. Sometimes for a forging part, there are several options to choose a parting line. And the best one is that the parting line can ensure the flow of material will be uniformly divided. In other words, forging is not feasible if there is no way to decide parting line, in this case, casting can be considered(see forging vs casting).

Another important point for forging dies manufacturing is the use of die material. Commonly used die materials are tool steels,high carbon high chromium die steels, etc. High die material cost will directly result in high forging dies cost. (For more detailed information, refer to select die material of closed die forging).

After design of forging dies, we will start the manufacturing process. To obtain high precison, forging dies must be machined by CNC. So besides high material cost of forging dies, the machining cost is also quite high, that is why forging dies are much more expensive than casting moulds. Normally a pair of forging dies will be 1,500usd--3,000usd. And for casting moulds, 600usd-1,500usd is enough. And after finishing forging dies, we will forge several pieces of samples to check if the forging dies can be used in production. If forging defects are found, then we will still need to repair the dies until it can put into production perfectly. So as the largest forging supplier in China, we do not only equip with some large forging equipments to meet various demands of forgings, we also have our own mould workshop, so that we have the ability to make forging dies ourselves, which help our customers to save cost of forging dies, and meanwhile will greatly shorten the whole production time.