What is Cold Heading?

Cold heading is also called cold forming, making these terms interchangeable. Cold heading or forming can be defined as the process of continuously forming a specific shape or design from a metal wire without adding heat. This is aided by high-speed hammers, dies, and punches.

Cold Headed Parts

Cold forming begins with a slug cut from a progressive coil or wire; then, the cold heading machine uses a chain of strong hammers and dies to form a part. Cold heading can also be defined as a process that applies force from a punch to the end of a metal blank in a die. The force must surpass the metal’s elastic limit or yield strength in order to permit plastic flow.

Cold Headed Rivets

Cold heading can be considered a forging operation without the use of heat. It is performed together with other cold heading processes such as blank rolling, piercing, pointing, thread rolling, sizing, and trimming. Cold heading is also an industrial process that acts as the primary way to make metal threaded fittings and fasteners.

The cold heading process involves forging at very high speeds where the coiled wire is carefully sheared to length at room temperature and the correct pressure. Then it is moved through continuous die and tool openings to displace and shape the working metal to form the required product. The cold heading process can decrease or increase feedstock diameters and lengths and can remove small amounts of material through piercing and trimming. All cold heading processes and operations are done in a continuous, planned process.

Historically, cold heading was only used for making very simple fasteners. Currently, cold heading is an automated high-speed and multi-station method that is able to economically produce composite fasteners and other components. With the improvement of technology and growth in cold heading, the equipment has the ability to cold form parts from tougher metals, including higher-temperature alloys and stainless steels.