coldheading

Cold heading, also known as cold forming, is a metal forming process in which a blank or slug is shaped into a finished part by high-pressure deformation at or near room temperature. It is widely used to produce headed components such as bolts, screws, rivets, pins, and other fasteners.

In a heading operation, a punch drives the blank into a die, upsetting material to form the head. The process can be single-station or multi-station, with secondary steps including trimming to remove flash, piercing, or additional forming features. Lubrication is typically required to reduce tool wear and manage friction, and tooling is built to withstand repeated high loads.

Materials commonly used include ductile metals such as low- and medium-carbon steels, stainless steel, aluminum, brass, and copper alloys. With proper tooling and process control, high-strength steels can also be headed. The method is particularly well suited to producing large quantities of small to medium-sized headed parts, such as fasteners and rivets.

Advantages of cold heading include high production rates, energy efficiency (no heating required), good dimensional accuracy, a smooth surface finish, and improvements in strength from work hardening. Limitations include the need for ductile materials, significant tooling costs and wear, generation of flash that must be trimmed, and restrictions on the complexity of geometries. Brittle or low-formability materials are poor candidates unless heated or specialized tooling is used.

Applications span automotive, aerospace, electronics, and general manufacturing for mass-produced fasteners and related components. Quality control focuses on dimensional tolerances, surface finish, and material integrity, with scrap material recycled in most facilities.