Processes for Forging Steel

Railroad Signal, Truck, Bus, Agriculture, Mining and Small Aerospace Components



Processes Hammer

 Industrial Blacksmithing

Relay components, electromechanical relays, heavy duty relays, railroad signal systems, etc. -- forged component parts for original equipment manufacturers using hammer forging, press forging, and upset forging equipment, Queen City Forging is a specialty job shop. Forgings are typically called impression die forgings, closed die forgings, or drop forgings. Queen City Forge provides finished, small steel forgings of less than 10 pounds (4.5 Kg) in weight. Forged parts of up to 40 pounds (18 Kg) are produced as open die forgings.


Forging offers uniformity of composition and structure. With many ferrous forgings made from one "heat" of steel, steel forgings have minimum variation in machinability and mechanical properties.


Forging requires a forge furnace or oven to heat the steel to sufficient temperature such that work hardening or strain hardening will not result from the deformation process. Metallurgical recrystallization and grain refinement result from the thermal cycle and the deformation process. This strengthens the resulting steel product, particularly in terms of impact toughness. 


Steel forged parts offer a high degree of reliability and tolerance capabilities.

Steel, especially when heated to forging temperature, is ductile and malleable; able to be shaped by applying pressure. Forging with proper processing methods allows a billet of steel to be shaped permanently without cracking, due to its plasticity.

Steel strength refers to compressive strength (compressing without crushing), tensile strength (pulling without breaking) and shear strength (the ability to avoid breaking allowing two pieces to slide past one another). The term shear strength is sometimes interchanged with the term impact toughness, although test methods may differ.

Forging Steel

Forging steel parts are stronger and more reliable than machined or cast parts due to the fact that the grain flow of the steel is altered, conforming to the part's shape. Grain flow strengthening in steel forgings is analogous to the cross grain strength of wood.

Queen City Forging

The core of Queen City Forging's business is custom steel forging of O.E.M. parts, impression die hammer small steel forgings up to 8 pounds, upset and open end die forgings up to 15 pounds.