Closed-die and open-die forging for steel, aluminum and titanium parts, with finish machining held to ±0.005 mm and full material traceability. Send a drawing and a quantity; we return a quote and DFM notes within 12 hours.
Most forging failures are decided before the die is cut. These are the ones we see most often.
A closed-die tool costs money before a single part ships. At 200 pieces the tooling can cost more than the parts. Ask what the annual volume really is before committing to a die, and price open-die or machining from plate as a parallel quote.
Forging needs draft so the part releases from the die. That surface is not flat and not square. If the drawing calls for a 0.05 mm flatness on a forged face, the die has to leave enough stock for the mill to clean up, or the feature will be cut into decarburized skin.
A crank arm or a steering knuckle gets its fatigue life from grain running along the load path, not across it. When the drawing only gives a shape, the forge shop picks a direction. That decision is made at the die, and it cannot be corrected later.
Hot steel oxidizes. A surface layer that is soft or carbon-depleted will fail a hardness check even when the core is correct. If the print does not say how much stock must be removed after forging, the shop may leave too little to machine away.
One supplier for the forged blank and the finished geometry, so the stock allowance is decided by the people who will cut it.
Not every part should be forged. A bracket with three pockets and a 6 mm wall is cheaper as a billet machined on a 3-axis mill. A lever with a long grain path and a fatigue load is not. We look at the load direction, the wall thickness and the annual volume, then say which route fits.
For parts that do belong in a die, the draft, corner radii and parting line are set with the downstream machining in mind. Stock allowance is sized so the finish pass removes the full decarburized layer without leaving the part thin.
A forged blank arrives with scale, a parting line and no reliable datums. First operations establish the datums from the as-forged surfaces. Everything after that is measured from those datums, which is why the first setup matters more than the last.
Sixteen simultaneous 5-axis centers handle the parts with features on several faces. A Ø400 mm rotary table covers the round and angular work. For long shafts, travel goes to 4,000 × 400 × 150 mm.
Use this to decide which process the drawing actually needs.
| Factor | Forging route | Machined from billet |
|---|---|---|
| Annual volume | Pays off above roughly 1,000 pieces | Best from one piece to a few hundred |
| Grain flow | Runs along the load path | Cut across the grain, weaker in fatigue |
| Tooling lead time | Weeks before the first blank | None, cutting starts in days |
| Geometry freedom | Needs draft and a parting line | Undercuts and thin walls are fine |
| Near-net shape | Less material removed per part | Most of the block becomes chips |
| Design changes | Die rework is slow and costly | Edit the program and rerun |
Forging is one step. These are the operations that turn it into a part you can assemble.
Closed-die and open-die blanks sourced through our supplier network, with the material grade and heat lot documented before machining starts.
Sixteen simultaneous 5-axis centers cut angled faces, ports and pockets in one setup, which removes the datum stack-up of three separate fixtures.
Sixteen mill-turn centers handle shafts, hubs and round flanges, so turning and milling happen without a second workholding setup.
Normalizing, quenching and tempering arranged before or after machining, depending on whether the print calls for hardness in the core or at the surface.
Anodizing, electroless nickel, zinc plating, black oxide, bead blasting and polishing. Laser marking is available down to 1.5 mm character height.
Dimensional reports, material certificates and hardness results supplied on request, with 100% inspection before shipment.
The numbers that decide whether your part fits on our floor.
| Item | Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Machining tolerance | ±0.005 mm (±0.0002 in) | On machined features, not as-forged |
| Surface finish | Ra 0.2–0.8 μm fine | Ra 1.6–3.2 μm as-machined also available |
| Largest travel | 4,000 × 400 × 150 mm | Long shafts and rails |
| Medium travel | 750 × 1,150 × 550 mm | Most forged housings and brackets |
| Compact travel | 500 × 500 × 450 mm | Small high-volume parts |
| Rotary table | Ø400 mm | Round and angular features |
| Forging materials | Steel, aluminum, titanium | 1018, 1045, 4130, 4140, 4340, 6061, 7075, TC4 |
| Order size | 1 to 10,000+ pieces | No minimum order quantity |
Fifteen years of production in Dongguan, with a second plant in Singapore for Southeast Asian delivery.
Held on machined features after the forged blank is located and squared in the first operation.
Drawing review comes back within 12 hours, with the stock allowance and datum plan called out.
Once the blank is on hand and the program is proven, cutting can begin within 24 hours.
Raw material check, in-process monitoring and final inspection before every shipment.
From a single prototype to a 10,000+ part run, on the same inspection standard.
Forged steering and suspension parts need grain flow along the load path, then machined bores that hold position.
Brackets and fittings are judged on traceability and on how much stock is removed after forging.
Link arms and gear blanks need repeatable datums so the second batch locates the same as the first.
Forged stainless instrument parts must be cleaned of scale before any feature is cut to final size.
When the part carries a repeated load and the grain direction matters, or when annual volume is high enough that less material removal pays for the tooling. A lever, a knuckle or a connecting rod qualifies. A housing with deep pockets usually does not.
The volume break-even sits around 1,000 pieces for a simple closed-die part. Below that, machining from billet is usually faster and cheaper, and we will quote it that way.
It depends on which faces need to be cut and how thick the decarburized layer is. For hot steel the layer can run 0.3 mm deep, so a face that needs a clean finish gets more stock than one that stays as-forged.
We set the allowance from the drawing, not from a fixed rule. If the print calls for a flatness or finish on a forged face, that face is sized so the finish pass clears the scale completely.
Yes. Send the blank with its material grade and heat lot, and we will inspect the as-forged condition before setup. A hardness check on the first blank catches a soft or over-hard lot before the program runs.
If the blank arrives without a usable datum, the first operation creates one. That step is quoted separately because it changes the fixture.
Carbon and alloy steels including 1018, 1045, 4130, 4140 and 4340, plus tool steel. Aluminum grades include 6061, 6061-T6, 7075 and 6082. Titanium covers TA1, TA2 and TC4 (Ti-6Al-4V).
Stainless is usually supplied as bar or casting rather than forging, but 17-4PH and 316L forged blanks are available on request.
Both, and the choice changes the process. Hardening before machining means the cutter has to deal with the final hardness, which limits tool life and the shapes you can cut. Hardening after machining means distortion has to be planned for.
For parts that need a hard case and a tough core, we rough machine, heat treat, then finish machine to hold the tolerance after the part has moved.
There is no minimum on the machining side, from one part upward. Forging itself has a practical floor because of the die, so a single forged prototype usually means machining from billet instead.
If you need one part to test the fit before committing to a die, we quote that as a billet-machined version of the same geometry.
Raw material is checked on arrival, the process is monitored during cutting, and every part is inspected before shipment. Dimensional reports and material certificates are available on request.
For features called out on the print, we measure from the datums set in the first operation, which is the same reference the customer will use on the receiving inspection.
Yes. Uploads are secure, and we sign a non-disclosure agreement on request before the drawing is reviewed.
Your files are not shared outside the quoting and production team working on the order.
Tell us the material, the annual quantity and which faces need machining. We will come back with a price, a stock allowance and the datum plan.
12-hour quote100% inspectionNo minimum order quantityNDA on request
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