Cold heading, as the resource describes, is a manufacturing method best suited for high volume production. Because tooling is required and the process involves high-speed equipment, cold heading seldom (if ever) makes sense for short runs under 5,000. However, if you are currently using traditional machining on a high-volume part, the cost savings of cold heading could have an enormous impact on unit cost. Cold heading production speeds typically range from 50 parts per minute to 350 parts per minute and up — far greater than traditional machining production rates.

While cold heading offers many other benefits — including high speed, high reproducibility and higher strength in the finished product — the process is not always the best (and not always the only) manufacturing process used to manufacture a part. For some parts, a combination of cold forming and some other secondary process makes the most sense.

For certain metals (high carbon alloys, which don’t form well at room temperatures), cold heading may not be the best and most economical approach. If very strong applications are needed, cold headed part can be heat treated or case hardened. Other variables that affect the viability of cold heading include asymmetrical of the part’s geometry. To learn more about it, please continue reading.