I've worked in the forging industry for the past 30 years and have found that
a lot of terms are loosely used throughout the industry. I the case of
forging vs. stamping, Randall is quite correct in assuming that the forged
parts
were probably drop-forged using a Drop-Hammer, thus the term. The "stamped"
connecting rods were probably made on a Forging Press, with the connecting rod
"stamped" out of bar. While this is somewhat of a misnomer, that particular
term has been somewhat misused in the industry.
For example our company currently uses a 1600 ton press to forge connecting
rods (from 4140 material), for a company that manufactures after-market Harley
parts and Harley type engines. We also forged crankshafts for small 2/cycle
engines using a 3000LB Drop Hammer. In either case the end result is about the
same, Forging presses are faster but are sometimes limited to shape
complexity or material flow, Hammers are usually slower but can usually produce
more
complicated shapes or parts with difficult material flow. Unfortunately it is
a
labor and capital intensive process and we are getting creamed by Indian and
Chinese competition which offer finished products at prices that are close to
or less than our raw material cost.
Like everything else, these are generalities and only address hammer and
mechanical press forging, there are all sorts of different forging methods that
I
won't get into here.
Well, I'll be quiet now, I'm sure that's more than anyone wants to know about
forging.
BTW, I am in the process of job hunting, any one need a good, VP of
manufacturing, operations manager, or general manager?
Gary Bouffard
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