Tigar International factories manufacture high quality close-tolerance closed die and upset low cost forgings for many different industries. Common materials are Brass, Aluminum, Stainless Steel, and Alloy steel in hot, cold, and drop forgings. The forging process reduces or eliminates machining labor through close-tolerances and/or reduction of material requirements, which offers a high-volume, low cost repeatable metal product.

Forging can produce a part that is stronger than an equivalent cast or machined part. As the metal is shaped during the forging process, its internal grain deforms to follow the general shape of the part. As a result, the grain is continuous throughout the part, giving rise to a piece with improved strength characteristics. Additionally, forgings can target a lower total cost when compared to a casting or fabrication. Considering all the costs that are involved in a product’s lifecycle from procurement to lead time to rework, and factoring in the costs of scrap, downtime and further quality issues, the long-term benefits of forgings can outweigh the short-term cost-savings that castings or fabrications might offer.

Some metals may be forged cold, but iron and steel are almost always hot forged. Hot forging prevents the work hardening that would result from cold forging, which would increase the difficulty of performing secondary machining operations on the piece. Also, while work hardening may be desirable in some circumstances, other methods of hardening the piece, such as heat treating, are generally more economical and more controllable. Alloys that are amenable to precipitation hardening, such as most aluminum alloys and titanium, can be hot forged, followed by hardening.

Production forging involves significant capital expenditure for machinery, tooling, facilities and personnel. In the case of hot forging, a high-temperature furnace (sometimes referred to as the forge) is required to heat ingots or billets. Owing to the size of the massive forging hammers and presses and the parts they can produce, as well as the dangers inherent in working with hot metal, a special building is frequently required to house the operation. In the case of drop forging operations, provisions must be made to absorb the shock and vibration generated by the hammer. Most forging operations use metal-forming dies, which must be precisely machined and carefully heat-treated to correctly shape the workpiece, as well as to withstand the tremendous forces involved.