DIY cold forging: machine, drawings, process

Looking at the fences, gates and gates, as in the figure, in houses that are clearly not of the elite class, a person who has some idea about the equipment of the forge and the nature of the work there may think: where did they get so much money? Those more knowledgeable in blacksmithing will not have such a question: these beauties, as well as the metal decor of furniture, light garden buildings, swings, benches, etc., are created by cold forging.

Samples of artistic cold forging

Forged flower stand

Prices for cold art forging are affordable because production costs and initial equipment costs are low, and labor productivity is not bad for artisanal conditions. Consequently, an individual blacksmith specializing in artistic cold forging can count on a fairly quick start and good profitability. Perhaps one of the owners of the samples in Fig. I made my own: cold forging with your own hands can be done in a garage or barn without experience, and forged parts for small pieces of furniture, balusters, barbecues and all sorts of other metal utensils (see, for example, the figure on the right) can be done even at home conditions.

The basis of a “cold forge” is a cold forging machine. For a full production cycle, capable of satisfying any conceivable fantasies of your own or the customer, you will need 5-7 types of machines, 3-5 main ones of which you can make yourself. However, in the beginning, before spending money on a machine or materials for it, it is highly advisable to master the basics of blacksmithing. Therefore, further we will also consider some techniques for making artistic forging parts without a machine and equipment for them, which can be quickly made from scrap materials.

Stamping, forging and bending

So what is cold forging? It differs from stamping in that the metal hardly flows or flows weakly under the influence of the working element. Take a look at a beer can or, say, an aluminum or tin kettle. They are extruded with one blow of the punch of the stamping press; kettle, etc. products of complex shape - with a composite sliding punch. It is impossible to obtain the working force necessary to create such a high pressure at home, except in one case, see below.

Cold forging differs from hot forging, of course, in that the workpiece is not preheated. Actually, cold forging, which is forging, is the hardening (hardening) of a part with a long series of regular blows of a certain force. In this case, the structure of the metal changes significantly: the hardness of the surface layer increases, and the core provides overall toughness and fracture strength. Handicraftsmen - toolmakers and gunsmiths - literally hunt for buffers and wheel tires of railway cars, pieces of rails.

Steel hardening is carried out with a mechanical hammer. You can do it yourself, and it’s even easier than some types of machines for cold artistic forging. But this publication is devoted specifically to the latter subject, and cold artistic forging is essentially bending (bending) metal: its structure in the part does not undergo significant changes, and changes in the physical and mechanical properties of the metal are not significant for the quality of the final product. Therefore, we will leave cold forging, which is forging, until a suitable occasion, and
Let's do forging, which bends. For brevity, let's just call it artistic forging, and where it is necessary to mention hot forging, this will be specifically stated there.

Maybe you need a punch? Main concepts

You've probably already noticed that on our website we love to point out anything that's wrong. Now, too, we will not change ourselves: the concept of “cold forging” in its usual meaning is fundamentally incorrect, read carefully, we will explain.

First, what is forging: it is the processing of metals heated to forging temperature, that is, to the temperature when the metal becomes soft and can be deformed. Blacksmithing is all about forging - with a hammer, an anvil, a forge and mighty bearded blacksmiths wearing leather aprons.

Blacksmithing products are an exclusive and expensive business. And, in general, it is already exotic, if we exclude stamping, which is done automatically and in huge volumes.

Stamping is the extrusion or deformation of metal using a stamping press with a special matrix - a nozzle at the end. This is what it is - a punch that is made from the highest strength steel. Stamping can be hot, with heating of metals to forging temperature, and cold, without any heating. You don’t have to look far for an example of cold stamping - these are all metal drink cans.

Types of forging machines.

We are finally approaching working with metals in a cold way - without heating. Question: is it possible to deform metal without heating? Answer: yes, you can. The only way is mechanical. It is called a not very serious word - riveting or cold hardening. To do this, you will have to hit the metal with a hammer until you are stupefied until its structure begins to change significantly.

This process is precisely cold forging - mechanical deformation of metal blanks using mechanical blows with a hammer. If you decide to take up peening forging, then we say hello to your family and neighbors in advance - they will face serious challenges.

But seriously, there are fans of cold forging using the riveting method, we wish them success and move on to pseudo-cold forging, as they used to call it.

Mechanical deformation of metals using various machines without heating is more correctly called metal bending, because in this method of metal processing, craftsmen bend metal rods. They don't do anything else - they just bend. Another question is how and where they bend, along what axis, but all these are artistic aspects of metal bending, which we will also dwell on, but later.

The most important thing is that in the future we will call this process cold forging - as it is done in all sources, so that there is no confusion. It’s just that now we understand the methods and understand what the essence of the so-called “cold forging” is.

By the way, do you need a punch? It's a beautiful word. You won't be involved in industrial stamping of metal blanks, will you? But artistic forging with your own hands is a very real possibility at home. There is even light stamping along with punches... Let's look into it further.

Machines and equipment for cold forging

The main equipment for artistic forging with your own hands consists of several types of hand-operated machines and devices. The electric drive is used infrequently, because the resulting increase in productivity is not always equivalent to the complexity of manufacturing and the cost of electricity. However, we will still remember about the electric drive for home forging machines while we are working on the “handbrake”. Almost all elements of the products in Fig. at the beginning can be done on the following types of machines:

Types of manual cold forging machines

Twisters (twirlers), pos. 1 in Fig. – form flat spirals and other curls with a narrow core (core).
Torsion bar machines, pos. 2 – allow you to obtain a helical twist of a rod and elements from volumetric spirals, the so-called. filaments: baskets, lanterns, bulbs.
Inertial stamping machines, pos. 3 - on them the ends of the rods are splashed into shaped ends (item 1 in the figure below), decorative clamps are stamped to connect the details of the pattern (item 2 in the same figure), a small wave and relief are squeezed out on long parts.

Rod ends and artistic forging clamps

Bending machines are push, broach and combined, pos. 4 . The first ones allow you to get only waves and zigzags; lingering - rings, curls and spirals with wide cores, and the latter - all these types of products.

Note: in technical literature, especially in English, all machines that form parts by torsion or winding are often called twisters. Initially, a twister is a machine for winding springs. But in relation to artistic forging, it would be more correct to consider winding machines as twisters, and torsion machines as torsion bars.

What are flexes?

Bent device for cold forging

In technical vernacular, bending machines are called benders. However, in amateur and private metalworking, the name “gnutik” was established for a table-top device for producing waves and zigzags, see fig. on right. By changing the roller or wedge in the bend, you can vary the pitch and height of the wave or the zigzag angle within certain limits.

A bend for rods/pipes up to 12-16 mm is relatively inexpensive, but it is difficult to make it yourself at home: it requires precise processing of special steels. Try using a regular electric drill and a regular metal drill to drill through a regular open-end wrench. And in a bending machine, the workloads are much higher than on its jaws. Therefore, it is better to buy a bend; in addition to forging on the farm, it is useful for the manufacture of elements of welded metal structures, as a pipe bender for small thick-walled durable pipes and in other cases.

Building a curl for the machine with your own hands

Before you start creating a cold forging machine with your own hands, you need to be able to calculate the parameters of a template spiral, because there are practically no special programs for such purposes. Such a template should not only be technically competent, but also have an attractive appearance.

The calculations for this pattern are based on a logarithmic spiral. Some nuances during construction can be highlighted in the following list:

the beginning of the construction is taken at point R0;
the turning radius will be equal to a fixed angle;
the length of such an angle must be multiplied by the divergence of the coil;
the discrepancy in the standard version is generally taken to be 1.2;
for simplicity of calculations, as well as maintaining accuracy, the bending angle is best taken at an angle of 45 degrees;
if there is a need to build a template that will have a denser spiral, then the 8th part (s) of the unit distance from the spiral should be added to the radius;
As for r0, it must be equal in cross-sectional size to the diameter size of the workpiece for the spiral.

Important: r0 can take any value, it all depends on what characteristics the metal is used for the workpiece, namely its density.

Taking into account all the nuances, you can start making a “snail” template; for this, it is best to be able to solve equations that have a cubic degree and higher. There is no exact formula for calculating such a device, but there is one that allows you to achieve the optimal result. The sequence when constructing a spiral template can be like this:

the initial point r0 is determined first;
the turns that the template will have are taken arbitrarily, their number can be any;
using tabular data, you should calculate the diameter (b), while ensuring that it is smaller in width in the opening for the template;
using the formula, the radius R is calculated;
the last step is to transfer all the obtained points in accordance with the scale, after which you can proceed directly to construction. In the process, let’s adjust the radius R in the final version using a similar formula.

Help: if it becomes necessary to calculate intermediate values, then this is done in accordance with the geometric proportion.

Twisters

Since ancient times, blacksmiths have cold-formed curls according to a template-mandrel using a horn lever grip, pos. 1 in Fig. This method is low-productive and not for wimps, but it allows you to quickly and easily make various bending mandrels from an ordinary steel strip: the end (thrust) horn of the lever prevents the template from yielding under the pressure of the workpiece. It is advisable to make the middle (bypass) horn sliding with fixation: the work will go slower, but, especially in inexperienced hands, more accurately.

The simplest devices for cold artistic forging

Another simple device for manual shaped bending is a strong board with support pins - spacers, pos. 2; Ordinary M8-M24 bolts are suitable. Depending on how friendly you are with your home exercise machine, you can work with a strip of up to 4-6 mm. They bend the strip by eye, the work goes slowly, but you can draw patterns up to Ilya Muromets on a horse in full armor or Buddha in a lotus flower. The latter, perhaps, is completely handmade: people who have fully mastered hatha and raja yoga are able to curl steel reinforcements into a pattern with their hands.

Step-by-step manufacturing of a small-sized manual machine for making curls

A small machine is designed for the production of curls from rolled strip with a width of 20...30 mm. It's easy to make it yourself.

Center

First the center is made. To do this, a small fragment of round timber is sawed off. The workpiece is fixed in a vice and the cutting line is marked. Using a cutting disc and an angle grinder, the workpiece is sawed off.

It has a diameter of 38 mm. The side surface is not further processed.

The center length is 28 mm. A little more is possible, but this is enough to bend a strip 30 mm wide.

A hole Ø 8 mm is drilled on a drilling machine. It is placed eccentrically. This situation is due to the fact that it is necessary to make a clamp for the end of the workpiece.

A profile is drawn, which should be removed using cutting and cleaning discs installed on the grinder. The workpiece is secured in a vice and excess metal is removed.

The flap discs protect the surface so that there is a smooth transition between different surfaces of the clamp.

To make it easier to fix the end of the workpiece in the future, you need to drill a hole. It is placed on the radial surface of the center. A hole is drilled for an M10 thread.

Using a set of taps, the internal thread is cut. A headless screw will be used here. After fixing the workpiece, it will hide inside the metal of the center.

The center is welded to the 4 mm thick base plate. This completes the work of its production.

Making a fixture

To make it easier to work with the device, a shaft is welded to the back side of the plate. By rotating it in a special mandrel, the snail will rotate.

The outer surface must be ground so that the welds do not interfere with the free fit of future workpieces.

The future spiral is drawn on the plate. A contour is created where it will be welded later.

A spiral is bent from a strip 4 mm thick. It must correspond to the project.

After checking the spiral against the template, the excess is cut off, and the spiral itself is welded to the plate and to the center.

A 40×40 mm profile pipe with a 3 mm wall is used as a stand. Holes are drilled on it for attaching machine elements. Using support platforms, the prepared parts are fixed.

The handle is visible on the reverse side. It was secured to the shaft using a bearing. The prepared “Snail” can rotate.

A performance check is being carried out. The handle turns the spiral around the center axis.

Snails

The snail twister machine is the most popular among those involved in artistic forging: its capabilities, in comparison with the simplicity of the design, the ease of making it yourself and the ease of operation, are amazing. Actually, the snail machine is a slightly mechanized and improved bending lever, but this “little” made it possible for beginners to work on it. Snail machines are, in turn, divided into machines with a collar and a rotating plowshare and lever machines with a fixed template and a deflection roller.

Snail with ploughshare

The device of a bending scroll with a plowshare is shown in the diagram below; The technology for working with such a machine is also described there.

Schematic diagram of a snail machine for cold forging

The advantages of this type of twister bending machine are as follows:

It is possible to work on a scroll with a rotating share and a collar in an unequipped room: the vertical component of the workload is negligible, and its horizontal components are partially transferred to the support.
Due to previous point, the supporting structure can be quite simple and light, welded from ordinary steel profiles.
We can carry out the work process alone: turning the gate with one hand, we press the rod or strip against the template plowshare with the other. As its links bend, they will fall into place on their own.
Using a cold method, you can twist spirals of up to 5 turns on a snail with a rotary plowshare.

Drawings of a snail machine for artistic forging with a specification of parts are given in Fig. We’ll talk about the dimensions of the links (segments) of the folding share later, but for now pay attention to the steel grades: the share bears heavy loads. If you make it from ordinary structural steel, the template will lead to the middle of the gate or fence section.

Drawings of a snail machine for cold forging

Note: for more detailed drawings of a snail machine of a similar design with description and detail, see the link: https://dwg.ucoz.net/publ/osnastka/instrument_dlja_kholodnoj_kovki/5. There you will also find drawings of a homemade bender and a device for bending rings.

The material for the folding rotary share, as well as the complexity of its manufacture, are not the only weak points of the snail machine with a collar. An even more serious problem is the articulation of the ploughshare links (shown by red arrows in the figure on the right). The joints of the share segments must:

Design of folding ploughshare of snail cold forging machine
Be accurate enough to maintain the shape of the manufactured parts;
When pressed from the outside, the joints of the segments should become dead center, creating a stable configuration;
Upon removal of the working load, the joints should self-weed;
The design and material of the joints of the rotary share must ensure repeated repetition of the cycle according to paragraphs. 1-3 under significant alternating operating loads without the appearance of significant backlash.

It is difficult to fulfill all these conditions together in a well-established and equipped industrial production, so the resources of folding templates for cold forging are generally much less than their material would allow on its own. Poor use of material properties is a serious drawback. In addition, for the same reasons, another weak point of the snail-type machine with a collar is the eccentric clamp of the part. Therefore, novice homemade blacksmiths work more successfully with homemade snail machines for artistic forging, made according to a lever design.

Snail with lever

The lever volute for cold forging is designed similarly to the well-known pipe bender. A homemade lever-type snail machine with a fixed template is significantly inferior in performance to a snail with a collar. The working load in it is more fully transferred to the base, so a strong frame made of special steel or a thick plate of ordinary steel, securely fixed to the supporting surface, is required. As a result, a workshop or outdoor production area is required. Work on the lever scroll progresses slowly: after turning the lever until it jams, you need to move the pressure roller. It is possible to curl up to 3-4 turns on a lever volute. Nevertheless, the advantages of a snail lever machine for home craftsmen are significant, especially when working for yourself:

All parts, except the pressure roller, can be made of ordinary steel.
It is possible to use a standard roller bearing as a pressure roller.
The use of the material properties of the parts is almost complete: the template and frame made of ordinary steel can withstand more than 1000 working cycles.
You can bend either according to a template (pos. 1 in the figure below) or using spacers, pos. 2 there.

Snail cold forging machines

When bending along spacers, you can quickly change the shape of the resulting part and create reverse bends, which is basically impossible when bending along a plowshare.
Securing the end of the workpiece in a cold forging machine
To obtain products of the same quality, the manufacturing accuracy of parts of a lever volute can be an order of magnitude lower than that of volutes with a rotary share.
The end of the workpiece can be secured by simply inserting it into the recess of the template, see fig. on right. The end to be fixed is widened by welding or bending in half.

In addition, the snail lever machine allows the use of a technological technique that is considered the prerogative of industrial twister machines: the template is shifted to the side, and a spacer is placed in the center, pos. 3 in Fig. This creates a small reverse bend in the core of the curl. The part looks more impressive and, when working for sale, the product is more valuable.

Flat bending of steel strip

The lever snail has another rather fat plus: on such a machine you can bend flat curls with a small core from a strip laid flat. The snail with a collar and a rotating plowshare gives up completely here: the workpiece will go in a vertical wave. Wide curls and rings from the strip can be bent flat on a broaching machine with rollers in which grooves are machined, see fig. on right. But the drawing speed, so that the workpiece does not lead, requires a significant one, so you won’t get a narrow curl core.

On a snail lever machine, this problem is solved by installing a pressure roller with a height equal to the thickness of the strip and with a flange (edge), like a railway wheel, only wider. Bending using this method takes a lot of time: the lever must be applied a little at a time, otherwise the inner edge of the workpiece will wrinkle; The flange does not help from this. But it is impossible to obtain a curl from a flat strip with a narrow core in a handicraft production in any other way.

In general, at the start of blacksmithing and artistic activities or when making a forged fence, gate, gate, bench, swing, gazebo, etc., arranging a garden for yourself, it is still better to use a lever-type snail machine for cold forging. Moreover, it can be made from scrap materials without accurate and detailed drawings, see for example. next video.

Which machine is most needed?

Do-it-yourself cold forging machine: which one is the most necessary and which one to start with?
There is no clear answer to this question; you must decide for yourself. To make a smart decision, let’s go through the main types of machines to have an idea of their functionality and, most importantly, DIY manufacturing methods. You should remember what materials you will have to work with during the cold forging process: these are metal rods or rods with a diameter of no more than 14 mm, squares and strips with a thickness of approximately 3 to 6 mm with a width of no more than 25 mm.

A complete gentleman's set of machines in the workshop for full-fledged work will look like this:

twister with snails for obtaining spirals of various radii;
bender for bending arcs and parts at different angles;
wave for curved parts and processing of metal pipes;
globe for obtaining large arcs from profiles;
flashlight for bending parts;
volumetric

You don't have to have it all at once. It’s quite possible to start work if you have two machines from the first two points - a twister and a bender. Forging with your own hands has a great advantage: you can choose what to do and where to start. Let's start the review with the most popular machine - the twister or the famous snail.

How to build a curl?

There are plenty of sketches of curls for artistic forging on the Internet, but when you try to adjust their sizes to those required for yourself, it often turns out that the product loses spectacularly due to a seemingly insignificant violation of the proportions. Therefore, it is also desirable to be able to construct forging patterns of curls that obviously have aesthetic advantages.

Templates for cold forging of artistic curls - volutes - are built on the basis of mathematical spirals. The most commonly used is the logarithmic spiral; it is one of the widespread natural forms expressing the fundamental laws of nature. The logarithmic spiral is found in the shell of a snail, in our hearing aids, and in the form of a treble clef in musical notation; in the neck of the violin itself too.

Construction of forming templates for cold forging based on spirals

The principle of constructing a logarithmic spiral by points is that when the radius that forms it is rotated, starting from a certain initial R0, by a fixed angle φ, its length is multiplied by the divergence index of the spiral p. For volutes p, as a rule, take no more than 1.2, because a logarithmic spiral diverges (unwinds) very quickly; on pos. In Fig. a logarithmic spiral with p = 1.25 is shown as an example. To make it easier to build a spiral at points with sufficient accuracy for forging work, take φ = 45 degrees.

In the case when a denser arithmetic spiral is required, when the radius forming it is rotated by the same 45 degrees, 1/8 of the spiral pitch S is added to the previous radius, pos. B. In both cases, R0 is taken equal to or greater than the diameter d of a workpiece of uniform cross-section, pos. A. If the initial end of the workpiece is pointed, R0 may be less than d, up to the plasticity limit of the metal.

It remains to decide how to lay a visually harmonious spiral with a given opening size a. To solve this problem analytically, i.e. using formulas with any precision specified in advance, you will have to solve cubic and higher-order equations. There are no computer programs for numerical technical calculation of volutes on the Internet, so we will use an approximate method that allows us to get by with one working and, possibly, one test graphical construction. It is based on the assumption that for small p the sums R2+R6 and R4+R8 do not differ much. The step-by-step algorithm for constructing a volute for a forging template follows from here:

Based on the available material, we determine R0;
we take the number of turns of the volute w according to the principle: as God puts it on the soul of the left hind paw of a beloved cat;
Using the data from the table in Fig., we calculate the diameter of the volute b such that it is slightly smaller than the width of the opening under it a, see pos. G;
We calculate the working initial radius R using the formula for pos. G;
we build a volute profile on a scale point by point;
if necessary, we accurately adjust R using the same formula and build the profile of the working template completely.

Note: if you calculate intermediate values from the table, do not forget - they must be taken in geometric proportion!

"Globe" device

Designed to create elements with a large bending radius. Details are used in the design to highlight part of the decor. They often have a separate pattern inside. In professional slang, for this reason, it is sometimes called “volume”.

Design and principle of operation

Installed on a snail base. First, one edge of the workpiece is bent using a specially installed sleeve. It is the basis for the lever axis.

Then, using a second bushing, the workpiece is rolled according to a template made in the shape of an arc of the required radius. Both rollers are mounted on a lever, which is driven by hand. The opposite end of the workpiece is bent in the same way.

Afterwards, the required number of curved parts are connected to each other using welding or clamps.

Torsion bars

Torsion twisting of a rod without a machine

You can twist rods with a screw for artistic forging without a machine at all, see fig. on right. To prevent the workpiece from bending at the root (clamped in a vice) end, you need to place a wooden block or something like it with a V-shaped cutout at the top under the end of the guide pipe farthest from them; It is better to secure the pipe to this support with a clamp, and secure the stand to the workbench. The pipe should be shorter than the workpiece and approximately 1.5 times wider inside than its largest diameter, because When twisted, the workpiece contracts and expands in width.

A torsion cold forging machine allows you to increase productivity and improve the quality of the resulting parts. The working force in it is transferred to the support to a significant extent, so a strong frame is needed, in the form of a spinal frame made of an I-beam from 100 mm or a pair of welded channels of the same size; the corrugated pipe will apparently be deformed. The frame must be securely secured to the supporting surface using paws from the same profile welded to its ends, pos. 1 in Fig.

Homemade torsion bar machines for cold forging

The workpiece - a square rod - is held by mandrels-chucks with sockets also of square cross-section; they are visible there in pos. 1. Because When twisted, the rod shortens in length; the chucks in the spindle and tailstock must be securely fixed with screw clamps. For the same reason, the tailstock is made sliding. To allow twisting of individual sections of the workpiece, a sliding stop with an insert with a square hole is also used.

If you only need to make a fence for yourself or something smaller, you can quickly build a torsion bar machine from scrap and scrap materials, pos. 2. On both machines, in principle, it is possible to obtain filaments by placing a bundle of 4 rods half the size into the cartridges. But don’t think that you can make a good lantern or basket by simply pushing the tailstock with a lever. You will get something like the one in the inset in pos. 1 and 2. Blacksmiths call such incidents a word that is generally known, but not used in literary speech. The branches of the filament, when twisting it in a simple torsion bar machine, must be spread out in width with a hand tool, which is difficult and does not ensure the proper quality of work.

Beautiful filaments (pos. 3) are twisted on torsion bar machines with a fixed tailstock and a screw feed spindle, pos. 4. Now let’s return briefly to Fig. with types of machines at the beginning, to pos. 2 on it. See the thing marked with a green exclamation mark? This is a replacement spindle. There are 2 of them in the set: smooth for spiral twisting along the long axis of the workpiece and screw for twisting filaments. In this design, the frame is welded from a pair of channels with a longitudinal gap, and a shoe with a threaded hole for a locking screw is welded to the tailstock. A shoe is needed with a sole from 100x100, because The tailstock fixation in filament mode is frictional and only partially jammed: the locking screw provides only an initial clamping force.

About the electric torsion bar drive

Electric drive of a homemade torsion bar machine

Working on a torsion bar machine with a manual spindle drive is tedious. But the main thing is stable quality of products such as in pos. 3 fig. with torsion bar machines, it is even more difficult to achieve. The reason is that it is difficult to create a uniform torque in a circle with your hands, like with any other lever drive. Therefore, a torsion bar machine for cold forging is exactly the case when the use of an electric drive is justified no matter what. The best option from available materials is the axle shaft of the drive axle of a rear-wheel drive car with a gear pair from the differential from the same place, see fig. on right; Just don't forget about the protective casing! Motor - 1.5-3 kW and no more than 900 rpm. Other design options are also possible, see eg. video clip:

Making a snail with a lever

Drawing of a forging machine.
Before you begin the practical part of the work, you need to prepare theoretically. We are talking about calculations and drawings of the machine and its parts. Nobody will give you the exact dimensions, because this is an independent design.

Much will depend on the availability of similar materials, the scale of future cold forging work, the dimensions of the room where you are going to work and many other factors. The main thing is the principles that you need to understand in order to make a homemade cold forging machine with your own hands - the most convenient option for you and only you.

Here's what you need to gather before you begin assembly:

metal plates or tabletop cloth with a thickness of at least 4 mm;
metal round pipe for a rack or frame;
metal rod;
bearings of different calibers;
drill;
welding machine;
hacksaw for metal;
M8 bolts.

Basic parts

The twister has only four basic parts. Pay special attention to their preparation and, most importantly, installation:

frame or stand;
table top;
main shaft;
lever arm.

Rack

Only made of metal, no wooden beams. We place it in a thoughtful place so that you have access to the machine from any side. The machine will be subject to heavy loads, so the best option may be a thick-walled pipe or a metal corner.

It is best to concrete the stand directly into the floor, it will be reliable. Externally, this design may resemble a stool. As strong as possible - this is the main principle of producing a countertop stand. Therefore, it is better to connect metal parts by welding.

Tabletop

Homemade forging machine.
The most important part of the machine, which is best made from a metal plate with a decent thickness, preferably at least 5 mm. In the production of forging machines with your own hands, you cannot save on the thickness of the metal, because the table top and other basic elements will take on a huge load.

The preferred shape is a circle. You need to make two of these tabletops: the second is needed for bending the rods and placing the snails.

Main shaft

From the same metal plate, cut four right triangles with equal sides. Weld the triangles to the bottom of the structure, and their base is in the center of the circle. Another shaft option is not made from triangles, but from a pipe with thick walls of a suitable diameter. Fasten either with bolts or welding.

Lever or handle

And again “as tightly as possible”: attach the lever to the shaft with a ring so that it rotates around it. Attach the bending roller to the top tabletop. It is very important to correctly calculate the length of the lever, which depends on the diameter of the tabletop circle. One rod should be approximately equal to this diameter, the second rod should be longer.

Bearings are attached to the lever at its end, this is done to provide greater freedom in the directions of movement of the lever. The lever elements and fixed triangles are secured with a special round nut with a large diameter.

Attachment parts

Be careful here, you need to choose the degree of complexity or, so to speak, “artistry.” We have three options for you.

Simple static snail

The simplest and therefore most primitive option from an artistic point of view. You apply a drawing of a snail, that is, a spiral, directly onto the tabletop.

In no case do we ignore the requirement in the drawings - cold forging loves precision and thoughtfulness in everything.

Then cut out segments from thick metal strips repeating the snail pattern and weld them as firmly as possible perpendicular to the tabletop. Simple, but not at all ingenious: on this tightly welded snail you can only make the same simple bends without any flight of creative thought.

Metal bending machine.

However, it all depends on what you are going to forge. If, for example, you have plans for a long wrought-iron fence with a simple design, then a simple static snail will be the best option.

Collapsible snail made of removable parts

Let’s say right away that this is the most popular option among amateur craftsmen. The contours of snails are also applied to the tabletop. Threaded holes are drilled along this contour. Snail segments from metal strips are prepared using cardboard templates, and exactly the same matching holes are drilled into them as on the tabletop.

The segments are not welded, but are secured with bolts or cylindrical stops. The main advantage is the ability to bend spiral parts with different radii and different numbers of revolutions.

Modular system with different snails

An option with the greatest artistic freedom for forging with your own hands: instead of segments with stops, removable modules with different snails are used here - both in shape and size. The modules are prepared on separate metal platforms on which the segments are welded.

Of course, you need to tinker a lot with such a machine, but this game is worth the effort: you can forge real metal lace. It all depends on your plans: a simple fence or a lacy gazebo in the garden?

Video: homemade electric cold forging machine

Spiral like a spiral

Device for winding spirals manually

In some cases, ordinary smooth, straight, ascending spirals are used as an element of artistic forging. Making a spring twister machine for this on your own is absolutely unrealistic. But remember: the spirals in a forged pattern do not need to be springy and can be wound from ordinary ductile steel using a simple device (see figure on the right). The pitch (ascent) of the spiral is determined by the horn of the gate (filled in red); By bending the horn up and down, you can get thinner and thicker spirals. A square bar is taken onto the workpiece or a round one, it doesn’t matter. You can also twist spirals from a rod twisted on a torsion bar.

Making a torsion bar machine

Torsion treatment is fundamentally different - it is a screw twisting of the rods along. This machine is very easy to make with your own hands. The main thing in it is to ensure a strong fixation of the two ends of the metal rod; the success of screw twisting depends on this.

At one end the rod should hold tightly, at the other it should rotate with the help of a lever. The components of the torsion bar are a metal cylindrical blank made of a profiled pipe and two fastening elements with a locking device. They can be made from bearing units.

The clamps have nuts welded into the bolts that are tightened to hold the metal rod.

If your plans include “pump up your biceps and triceps,” be sure to make a torsion bar machine and start twisting the rods by hand. Torsion forging is not for the weak, you will develop excellent muscles in the upper shoulder girdle. But one way or another, it is better to make the lever for rotation longer, it will be easier.

Wave and zigzag

Now we have tools and equipment for wave and zagzag bending of long workpieces. The bending machine and push-pull bending machine mentioned at the beginning cannot be reproduced with your own hands. In addition, the first allows you to adjust the pitch and profile within relatively small limits, while the second is expensive. However, you can still make a universal wave bending machine with your own hands, similar to the one on the left in Fig. You only have to order rollers; they must be made of chromium-nickel or tool steel; the rest is made of simple construction; for the staples and arch, a sheet (strip) of 8 mm or more is needed. Limiters are installed in the arc to accurately maintain the wave profile, but the workloads are transferred to it to a significant extent; in fact, the arc provides lateral rigidity of the structure.

Equipment for wave bending during cold forging

You can bend only smooth, but very diverse, waves by adding a gate for waves to a snail machine with a rotating plowshare, on the right in Fig. The same handles are used, because they are screwed into threaded sockets on the head of the gate. It is advisable to make the main (central) roller separate and fasten it to the frame with bolts with countersunk heads. In this case, by placing rollers of different diameters (diameters), it is possible to form waves of variable and asymmetrical profile. And if the deflection roller is made adjustable (for which a number of holes are checked in its carrier), then the wave pitch can be changed within a fairly wide range.

About connecting elements and painting

Forged parts need to be assembled into a single composition. The simplest method is welding and subsequent smoothing of the seams with a grinder with a grinding wheel: it is thicker than a cutting wheel (6.5 mm) and can withstand bending forces. But connections with shaped clamps look much more impressive; they are stamped from a strip of 1.5 mm on an inertial stamp; You can also hot-forge quite quickly and without experience, see below. The clamp blank is made in the form of a U-shaped bracket on a mandrel to the size of the parts to be connected, and its wings are bent from the rear in place with a large plumber's hammer or a 1.5-2 kg sledgehammer when cold. The finished product is usually painted with blacksmith enamels or acrylic paints for metal. Enamels with pigment from forge patina are more expensive, but better: when dried, they have a noble, somewhat antique color, do not peel off, do not fade, are wear- and heat-resistant

Types and purpose of forging machines

A machine for any purpose is used to facilitate manual labor. For cold forging, various equipment can be used, minimizing the physical effort of the master and allowing the following basic operations to be performed:

Machine for creating a shaped profile using cold forging

bending the profile at the desired angle or radius;
making spirals or curls;
longitudinal twisting of workpieces.

The variety of parts obtained allows you to arrange them in combinations and intricate designs, create a neat artistic canvas for fences and gazebos, symmetrical decor for park benches, as well as other items for various purposes.

Note! Decorating machines help create elements of the same shape and size in a short period of time, allowing you to reduce the cost of each of them and shorten the duration of the manufacturing process.

Industrial bending machine, which allows you to obtain a workpiece with a given radius

Cold forging machines can be specialized (perform only one operation) or universal. There are the following types of special machines:

bending machines (bending machines) – allow you to bend a workpiece at an angle or a given radius (wave);
snails - twist the blanks into spirals and curls;
torsion bars - help to longitudinally twist a workpiece or several such parts at the same time;
stamping machines - they are used to make decorative clamps, shaped ends, and waves with fine pitches.

Universal machines include components of special equipment in various combinations.

Devices for cold forging are driven mechanically (manual machines) or by electric drive. Electrically driven equipment is characterized by speed and ease of processing workpieces. A cold forging machine, the price of which can be quite high, is characterized by high productivity. When there is no need for productivity and speed, then a manual machine will be quite sufficient to complete the work, especially if blacksmithing is a hobby.

Bent machine designed for processing pipes using cold forging

Is it possible to make a cold forging machine with your own hands?

You can buy a manual machine for cold forging in a specialized store that sells tools or order it online. The question is the price and solvency of the buyer. An alternative option is to assemble it yourself. The principle of operation will be no different from a product purchased in a retail chain, and the functions performed are absolutely identical to the factory ones. Additional advantages are a reduction in price, confidence that the design will not fail after the first use.

Important! Not all equipment can be made independently; some spare parts require industrial production or custom manufacturing.

To begin with, it is worth familiarizing yourself with the design features of each type of machine in order to assess the possibility of its self-assembly.

A snail cold forging machine that allows you to create spiral elements

The torsion bar must twist metal rods, so its design assumes the presence of two elements that hold the workpiece. One of them serves as a clamp, and the other contains a rotating spindle, which, in fact, will twist the rod to the desired frequency of the helical wave. The device is quite easy to build yourself, and some craftsmen even make do with a vice and a simple hand crank.

The design of the bending machine is also simple, but it contains several mandatory elements, the assembly of which is impossible without specialized tools. The base is a massive metal plate with a groove in the middle into which a movable stop is inserted, moved by a worm mechanism. The other two cylindrical stops are stationary and are attached to the base on both sides symmetrically relative to the groove. It is the installation of stops that can cause difficulty, since holes for fasteners are drilled only on a specialized machine; such a workpiece made of high-strength steel will not yield to the influence of a drill.

Creating elements using the cold forging method on a homemade gnutik machine

A snail metal forging machine can have two types: with a collar or a lever type. The first option allows you to vary the shape of the bend during operation, however, it has a number of weak points in the design and is very demanding on the strength of the manufacturing materials. The second type is more stable, but less productive. Craftsmen consider the snail to be the simplest machine, the self-assembly of which will not cause difficulties.