Here at CFI, Qualiforming ® has been on our minds as of late. In our somewhat biased opinion, we would happily call ourselves as one of the best component companies in the world. Our Qualiforming ® Cold Form Isolation process played a big role to our current prosperity.
Standard Cold Forming and Cold Heading is simply the process of forging metals at near-room temperatures – much cooler than the standard temperatures where metals are forged. When the lamen hears the word ‘forge’ all they will think of is heat. But, cold forming actually increases the hardness, tensile strength, and yield of the alloys.
As Qualiforming ® Cold Form Isolation process itself, while room temperature doesn’t sound so ‘cold’ to the average person, just for reference, the standard forging temperature of steel stands at over 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit; Nickel is 2,000; and Titanium is over 1,700. So, a comfortable room temperature of 70 degrees Fahrenheit is quite cold, indeed.
That said, there are a few metals that better for cold forming than others. CFI’s engineers can give you a full list of the metals that are capable of going through the Qualiforming ® Cold Form Isolation process, but the following allows will give you a good starting point.
Suitable Alloys Cold Formability
Copper Excellent
Gold Excellent
Silver Excellent
Brass Good
Platinum Good
Steel Good
Titanium Fair – If pure Titanium is Used
Nickel Fair – If pure Nickel is Used
Iron Fair – Pure Iron
Advantages over machining
Like any other company, we can’t exactly go into specifics for our proprietary Qualiforming ® Cold Form process, what we can tell you what our patented process gives you over other Cold Form Isolation processes. Unlike machining, Qualiforming ® prevents scrap as there is no scrap during the production of a part, driving down overall production cost, both in tooling and overall production. In fact, Qualiforming’s tooling costs can be a fraction of the traditional machining.
Plus, the lack of the machining process prevents breakage – allowing the production of smaller pieces as well as the use of softer, or more brittle materials and metals. Thanks to the lack of machining, there is a lack of chipping that can sometimes result from machining the metals in small components.
Ultimate Shape Freedom
Finally, Qualiforming ® allows for complete freedom of shaping. Like other types of cold forming, the lack of burrs and edges presents a real advantage over machining or milling parts. The amount of shapes that can be made through cold forming is massive including threads, knurls, grooves, tapers, heads, and more.
However, there are limits. There are some features that cannot be directly made with Cold Forming such as threading, rolling and pointing. If you have any questions about our Qualiforming ® process, please call us at 847-918-0333.
