Headed Products, also referred to as Cold Forming and Cold Heading, is a high speed and efficient process to make standard and specialty fasteners and specialized components.  This process is performed using a cold heading machine that cuts a length of wire from a coil of material, transfers that material into a die and punch cavity, or series of die and punch cavities, to form a cold headed blank that will become a fastener or specialized component after threading and any other operations, like heat treating and/or plating.  Almost all standard fasteners in the world are made on cold heading machines.

The Cost Savings advantages of Headed Products verses Machined:

Headed Products

• Hi speed production, up to 300 pieces per minute
  • Cost effective for high production
• Little or no wasted material
• More consistent dimensionally – all parts made in the same die
• Unbroken grain flow allows for stronger parts
  • Increased fatigue life, ultimate tensile and yield strengths

Machined

• Very slow process – sometimes less than 1 piece per minute
  • May be cost effective for low production runs, samples
• Much wasted material
• Less consistent dimensionally – cutting tools wear
• Broken grain flow 
  • reduced fatigue life, ultimate tensile and yield strengths compared to Headed Products

The pictures below show the advantage of Headed Products with the grain structure:

 

Here is an example of a part that was successfully converted from a machined part to a Headed Product.  The average lot size for this part was about 10,000 pieces.

 
The machined part started as a slug cut from a bar that was as large in diameter as the largest diameter on the finished part.  The slug weight was 3 pounds.  Machine time was excessive.

The Headed Product started as a coil of wire, the diameter suited to cold head the part efficiently.  The cutoff blank weight was 0.4 pounds, a savings of 2.6 pounds per part. Headed product was produced at 50 parts per minute.

Zip Fastener Products Application Engineers are well versed in helping our customers convert machined parts into Headed Products for cost savings and stronger parts.  Better yet, contact Zip Fastener Products engineers when you are in the design stages and realize this cost savings from day 1.

For more information on how converting machined parts to Headed Products can benefit your company please explore Zip Fastener Products website at www.zipfastener.com or call 815-316-3232.