Metal forging business. DIY cold forging technology

Architects and designers often use forged elements in their work. Openwork metal grilles covering fireplaces or beautiful balusters on the stairs look elegant and noble.

If you know how to forge and learn this craft, you can create original products yourself.

This activity is suitable for anyone who likes to do physical work and who is ready to get acquainted with the technology and features of choosing a metal.

What you need to know about forging?

Forging is a process of processing a special workpiece. Its purpose is to give the metal the required dimensions and shape. There is a distinction between hot forging and cold forging.

The master needs to get acquainted with both varieties in order to know the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Hot forging method

In the hot method, the metal workpiece is heated strongly. As a result, the metal becomes ductile. Hot forging gives the workpiece the required dimensions and desired shape. The master has a variety of work options available to him.

Heating a metal workpiece also has its disadvantages. First of all, it is necessary to arrange a special room. You will need to buy a forge, for which you will have to buy fuel.

Fire safety rules must be followed; it is important that the master knows how to work with fire.

Having an idea of ​​the temperature conditions used in the forging process, you can easily select the desired type of forging.

Cold forging method

Cold forging is a labor-intensive process. To achieve the desired shape from a metal workpiece, it is bent, pressed and welded. The technique is a little simpler compared to the hot method.

The workshop does not require a lot of space, and to set it up you do not need to purchase a special forge; it is enough to buy a forging machine.

The manufacturing process of a product involves working with semi-finished products. If a mistake has been made, it is impossible to correct it.

Choosing metal

Metals with certain properties are suitable for hand forging. The more ductile the metal, the easier it is to change its shape. However, ductility is inextricably linked with strength.

An increase in one characteristic inevitably entails a decrease in another. When buying a workpiece, the master must know exactly what its composition is.

Craftsmen make decorative forging elements from copper, steel, duralumin or brass. In addition, alloys can also be used. Information about metals that can be easily forged can be found in the Steel and Alloys Guide.

What tools are needed for forging?

Inventory varies depending on the forging method. A forge with an anvil and hammers with tongs will be needed for hot forging.

For the cold method, you need a “Gnutik” tool, which allows you to bend the workpiece at an angle, and a “Snail” machine for forging, which you can make yourself. The latest machine allows you to create decorative elements with a spiral shape.

Pay attention!

In addition to the basic tools for the cold method, “Flashlight”, “Wave”, “Twister”, a ring machine and others can be additionally used.

The modern market offers industrial machines designed to perform technological operations. In the photo of forging you can see a product made on the “Master 2” machine from the MAH company.

Hand forged

In order for the workpiece to acquire the desired shape, the master must use different techniques and methods in his work. You will need to purchase various tools and master different technologies.

The cold forging method does not require an application from the master special effort. The work includes the following stages:

• creating a drawing or sketching a decorative element;
• procurement of workpieces;
• forging process.

Today, you can make a drawing using a computer program yourself or order it from professionals. The project will allow you to calculate before starting work how much metal blanks you need to purchase.

Pay attention!

The main forged elements are represented by the following groups:

• Paws. The end of the metal rod is given a certain shape.
• Curls. The ends of the rod can be bent in one or two directions.
• Rings. Decorative elements are made from rods with a square or round cross-section.
• Torsion. It is characterized by helical twisting along the axis.

3 generally accepted technologies are used: drawing, bending and twisting.

• The hood allows you to increase the length of the metal workpiece, reducing the value of its cross-section.
• Bending makes it possible to bend any part of the workpiece at an angle.
• Twisting is a technology in which the workpiece is twisted along its axis. A Twister machine is used for twisting.

All elements are assembled together and secured by welding. These operations are performed on a special table. Homemade cold forging does not require any special skills.

DIY forging photo

Pay attention!

Business idea: cold forging of metal products
Where we do business from: garage, territory of a private house
Main costs: purchase of equipment
Required equipment: welding machine, cutting machine, vice, drill
Consumables: metal, varnishes, paints
Initial capital: no more than 30,000 rub.
Payback period: several months
Possible profit: 50,000 rub. per month

A business idea based on cold forging of metal products. This idea can be classified as a business with small financial investments; at the initial stage, you will only need skill and no more than 30,000 rubles.

At the initial stage of organizing this business, it is better for you to learn for yourself all the intricacies of making cold forged items. To start, you will need a room that can be used as a garage or area near a private house. Also a set of equipment:

1. Welding machine
2. Grinding machine (grinder)
3. Vise
4. Drill, drilling machine
5. Other small instrument

The main skill will be the ability to use a welding machine.

Once you become familiar with cold forging, learn how to make simple items, and perhaps find your first clients, you can purchase an additional set of bending equipment that will help you make complex items. The cost of such a kit is about 55,000 rubles. This kit will help you make complex subjects, make bends of the same shape at the same angle and many other useful things.

Basic decorative elements are purchased separately. Such elements include: flowers, peaks, monograms and others. All you need to do is weld them to the finished product, then clean them welding seams sanding machine and paint the product in the desired color. The main color in which products are painted is matte black, but the ability to work with paint will help you create truly unique products. By mixing paints, you can achieve the color of aged bronze or copper, which will give your product some special character.

Cold forging, unlike hot forging, gives many advantages and allows you to produce unique products, such as fences, gratings, fences, canopies, flower beds, door hinges, accessories for fireplaces, , smokehouses, chandeliers, candlesticks, figurines of people and animals as decorative elements and much more.

Find a good supplier of decorative elements, usually a good supplier will have over 1000 different elements.
The final price for metal cold forging products consists of the cost of raw materials, the complexity of the work, the resources spent (fuels and lubricants, electricity), plus 100% of your work. That is, the profitability of a cold forging business is at least 100%.

How can you realize your abilities?
At the initial stage, it is better to take a training course, at least self-training in forging. If there are forging courses in your city, extreme case- welder, go through them. If there are no such courses, then study on your own. Surely in your city there are already companies that produce forged products; offer them your services as an independent craftsman, in case of a large number of orders. It will be good if you are offered a job, you can study and at the same time receive money; forging masters earn an average of 40,000 rubles. per month, with such an income, you can save up for a good set of equipment. When working in a company, keep in mind the main goal - to create your own company for the production of forged products.

Sales of cold forging products.
As a rule, all products are made to order according to individual wishes and sizes, so making products for sale is not the best option. It will be better if you start looking for clients. Which you can see in the faces of the owners of country houses. These are the main clients.

Legal entities can also become good clients, this is the design of cafes, restaurants, bars, the exterior design of buildings, from gratings to porches.

To summarize, we can say that the business of cold forging of metal products is not devoid of a creative process, not in the manufacturing of the objects itself, but also in the options for marketing the finished product. Based on this, the conclusion suggests itself - the more creative abilities you have, the more you can achieve in this business. Happy forging!

Ideas for Business from the section:

The constant technological progress inherent in modernity is gradually displacing from our lives handicraft (manual) production and crafts that have come down to us from our ancestors.

But cold forging can undoubtedly be classified as a craft that not only maintains competition, but is also gaining increasing popularity.

Forging elements are actively used:

• in the construction and design of country houses, residential premises and offices,
• in the production of furniture products,
• in the funeral business.

It is very difficult to imagine the exterior of a modern building without beautiful wrought iron grilles, gates and gazebos. Due to this cold forging products are in great demand and relevant. This is one of the main factors that budding businessmen pay attention to.

Forging combines art and ancient craft, thanks to which the cost of products is assessed not by the cost of the material, but by the complexity and beauty of the created structure.

Thus, the sale of finished products or the provision of cold metal processing services to the population is a very profitable and promising line of business for beginners.

Features of production organization

Forging is usually associated with traditional blacksmithing, when manipulations with metal occur after it is heated. Such forging requires special training and a certain level of skill from the blacksmith, which is honed over the years.

The process of “hot” forging is very labor-intensive and time-consuming: the metal is heated in special furnaces until it becomes “soft” and is shaped using hammers, presses and other devices. required form, after which the part is cooled.

Today, cold forging technology has gained popularity..

Craftsmen process metal using special equipment, so the process takes less time, and the finished products are much cheaper for customers.

It is much easier to master this technology, which is attractive for beginning entrepreneurs. However, according to reviews from professionals, the cold forging business has its own specifics, which should be taken into account when organizing the business.

Market analysis and competition

Before starting any business, it is necessary to analyze the sales market, determine consumer preferences and identify the level of competition. However, cold forging products do not fall into the category of essential goods, which complicates the solution of these problems.

In the process of determining the need for forged products the following points need to be clarified:

• The number of workshops and forges that are already operating in your region.
• What is the demand for forged products and in what volume?
• Where can you sell your products?
• Determining the seasonality of business.
• What price category product will satisfy user needs?

Once the answers are received, entrepreneurs will be able to make a final conclusion: is it necessary to start a cold forging business in your area?

Mastering technology

Without special knowledge and skills, it is difficult to organize a cold forging workshop.

An entrepreneur will be very tempted to hire an experienced specialist, but at the initial stage of the business this is not recommended, since he will need to pay a large salary and you will be very dependent on him.

Therefore, before starting a business, a businessman will need to undergo training himself. Theoretical knowledge can be gained even through the Internet: there is a lot of information on the Internet on artistic and cold forging technologies.

However, in order to learn how to cold metal work, you need practice:

• You can get a job as a production worker or become an apprentice to one of your competitors.
• An experienced professional should only be hired if there is no other choice. But even in this case, be sure to agree with the master that he will teach you his craft.

After the entrepreneur goes through the training process, he needs draw up a detailed business plan for the implementation of your idea. In this case, it is necessary to use the information obtained in the process of market analysis and training.

The success of a business will depend on how well the business plan is drawn up and how accurately it is implemented.

It is worth noting that in some regions of Russia there are programs for state subsidies for small businesses, and financing of the idea is carried out on the basis of a business plan.

What will you need at the start?

Practical steps to organize any business should start with state registration . The procedure is described step by step in the law “On State Registration of Legal Entities and Private Entrepreneurs”. In accordance with the law, a person engaged in entrepreneurial activity and receiving a permanent income must register as an individual entrepreneur or LLC.

Selecting a room

The room must first meet all fire safety requirements. The minimum workshop area should be 20 square meters. m. In addition, electricity must be installed.

An insulated garage can be an ideal place for a workshop. It is worth making sure that production noise does not disturb the inhabitants of nearby residential buildings.

The cold forging process involves welding, which cannot be done in a small enclosed room. In addition, you will need a place to store finished products. For these purposes it is necessary to organize a canopy at the workshop.

An entrepreneur must ensure that the premises had a wide access road for trucks. Otherwise, the process of unloading raw materials and loading finished products will become more difficult.

Equipment and tools for the workshop

It is impossible to imagine a cold forging workshop without special equipment and tools. One of the main expense items is investment in fixed assets.

At the initial stage for manual cold forging you need:

• Welding machine.
• Gnutik, used for bending metal. It is the main tool for cold forging.
• Wave. Serves to give the metal a wave-like shape.
• Snail. It will help to give a spiral shape to metal rods.
• Twister. Used to twist a metal rod around an axis.
• "Flashlight", which is one of the varieties of twister.
• Workbench, with a vice.
• Bulgarian.
• Grinder for cleaning the surface of metal structures.
• Hammer, which may be needed when installing finished products.

At the initial stage, this equipment will be sufficient in the workshop.

The most famous brands on the market that produce high-quality equipment are the German Eizenkraft and Metalkraft.

The process of making curls using the cold forging method using a snail, see the video:

Purchase of raw materials

For that, To save time and not miss an urgent order, you should stock up on raw materials in advance.

The cold forging process uses:

• Low carbon steel blanks.
• Various metal profiles: square, sheets, corners, rods, etc.
• Auxiliary components: anti-corrosion paint, primer, solvent and electrodes.

It is necessary to purchase raw materials from trusted suppliers, which can also be found via the Internet. In this case, it is worth paying attention to the consistency of price and product quality.

Product range

Ideally, a cold forging workshop should work to order, because in this case there is no need to sell the goods.

However, for new entrepreneurs, especially if there is a lot of competition in the market, it is difficult to get an order. That's why at the first stage of work, you can start producing current products and their subsequent sale.

As the portfolio expands and authority emerges, large orders will come.

At the initial stage, it makes sense to produce the following types of products:

• Metal bars on windows.
• Wickets.
• Canopies for the porch.
• Fences for various purposes.
• Fireplace accessories.
• Garden gazebos and garden furniture.

Example of financial calculations

Costs for starting a business - 720,000 rubles.

One-time expenses– 635,000 rub.

• State registration – 10,000 rub.
• Organization of work space (repair and equipment of the workshop) – 25,000 rub.
• Purchase of a minimum set of equipment and tools – 400,000 rubles.
• Purchase of the minimum volume of raw materials – 200,000 rubles.

Monthly expenses– 85,000 rub.

• Rent of premises – 15,000 rub.
• Salary fund for employees (2 craftsmen) – 50,000 rubles.
• Utility costs – 10,000 rub.
• Other expenses - 10,000 rubles.

The average markup is 200% on the cost of production. In a fiercely competitive market, this is the most common markup on cold forging products.

For example: the production of 1 m of lattice for a garden 2 m high costs 535 rubles. (metal – 500 rubles, anti-corrosion paint – 15 rubles, electrodes – 20 rubles). To this amount is added the corresponding share of current expenses (85,000 rubles/250 products per month = 340 rubles).

The planned markup is added to the resulting amount (535+340=875 rubles). As a result, the minimum cost of 1 meter of grating is 2,600 rubles.

Conclusion

Cold forging is more related to the service sector, therefore To determine the profitability of a business, it is necessary to calculate finished products.

It is worth noting that the success of your business will depend on how well you manage it. If an entrepreneur manages to use all production capacities and quickly sell finished products, then the profit from the business will be large and constant.

Welcome to the website for making money Business Ideas. Today we’ll talk about organizing a small business producing forged products using the cold forging method.

Based on the title cold forging is the processing of metal without increasing the temperature. This means that this method does not require expensive and costly forging furnaces, forges, the use of which is necessary for standard metal forging. Well, it’s clear that you don’t need to spend money on a pneumatic hammer or spend physical strength wielding a forge hammer. Products produced using cold forging are durable, which allows them to outperform stamping and casting.

Mostly units and machines for cold forging act on the material with mechanical force, bending the source material (rods, sheets, pipes, strips, fittings) and giving it the shape intended by the manufacturer. The impact on the metal is carried out by manual force using levers and turn signals or by means of a machine with an electric motor.

The machines are equipped with various equipment, which allows the production of a large number of identical parts. From which this or that object will subsequently be assembled. The range of possible products is directly related to the number of operations that the equipment is capable of. One can accept this fact as negative, although with only imagination and this number of operations is enough to create a huge number of metal processing options.

An approximate list of areas where it is possible to use cold forging and further implementation:

• Various fences, gates.
• Decorations of residential buildings, namely lantern holders, fencing for balconies, verandas, stairs.
• Gazebo decorations, garden furniture.
• All kinds of gratings.

When organizing your own business based on cold rolling of metal by hand, you should pay attention to some nuances that make cold forging an excellent start for an entrepreneur practically from scratch. To get up to speed on the above-mentioned nuances, you need to have a specific understanding of what stages production consists of and, naturally, the required forging equipment.

DIY cold forging equipment

Naturally, we need to start from the imagination. In other words, you need to clearly present the finished product.

Sketch construction. If you have sufficient artistic skills, you can create a sketch yourself or ask an artist for help. Well, of course the Internet, on at the moment You can find a huge variety of different sketches on the Internet.

Bringing the sketch to the natural size of the product. This is done in order to calculate the number of required elements that will be used in further assembly.

Calculation of materials used. Preparation of base material, cutting and planning.

Before any manipulations, the metal must be cleaned of rust, if any.

Direct cutting and slicing of starting material.

The planned elements of the future product are produced using a cold forging machine.

Product assembly. This process can be carried out in stages or in one go. It depends on the sketch that precedes the work.

Upon completion of installation, the welding areas are cleaned, and the assembled product is primed and painted.

At the end of the completed manipulations, you simply need to install the product in its intended place.

To produce things through cold forging, you need to stock up necessary equipment, such as:

• Gnutik. It is used when bending a square, circle, or turning a rod at an angle.
• Wave equipment. As the name suggests, the material processed in this way takes on the shape of a wave.
• The snail allows you to roll the rod into a spiral.
• The twister twists the rod along the longitudinal axis; the distance for this can be adjusted.
• A flashlight is essentially the same twister, only you can additionally twist several elements of the starting material at once.

Machines for cold metal forging

Please note that the devices suggested above require physical effort. In this regard, the use of a square or pipe with a bark diameter exceeding 1.4 cm is a rather difficult process in terms of human physical strength.

Machines are not the only required equipment; you should definitely purchase add-ons:

• Circular saw or grinder with a milling cutter. These tools are required when cutting pipes, rods, etc.
• Welding machine.
• Tools for cleaning metal from rust and grinding welded seams.

Required financial investments

Six machines in the case of metal rolling through cold welding You can buy it for approximately 100 thousand rubles. Additional tools cost 50 thousand rubles. You can often find advice that to save money you should place production in your own garage. But this idea is not entirely successful. You just need to put yourself in the place of your neighbor, who constantly hears the sounds of working tools. In this case, conflicts cannot be avoided. A good option production will be located in a rented warehouse somewhere in the industrial zone.

The size of the room must be at least 60 square meters. It is desirable to have a covered ramp that will allow you to store metal reserves and finished products. And it will not complicate the process of loading or unloading products that need to be installed.

The workshop must be equipped with workbenches, stocks and work surfaces. The workshop must be well ventilated, that is, a high-quality ventilation system should be installed.

Preparation of the production premises will cost approximately 60 thousand rubles. The result is 305 thousand rubles.

Expenses in the present

Production requires approximately five people:

• Two employees who will be employed in the production of individual components, with a salary of 20 thousand rubles per month each.
• Welder with a salary of 30 thousand rubles.
• Two auxiliary workers with a salary of 15 thousand rubles each.

Payment for the labor activities of the staff will be 100 thousand rubles. The cost of purchasing electrodes, special clothing and payment for consumed electricity is 15 thousand rubles.

The average cost estimate for the required material is 25 thousand rubles. The approximate weight of one span of a 2 by 2 meter fence is 30 kg. The workshop can produce 30 spans per day. 900 kg of material will be spent in one day, and 27 tons in a month. Based on these calculations, 675 thousand rubles per month will be spent on providing metal.

Profit and payback

The approximate price of a fairly simple span of forged fence on the market is 8 thousand rubles. The workshop produces 30 spans per shift, that is, the income per day is 240 thousand rubles. As a result, the profit for the month is 720 thousand rubles. Net profit will be equal to 6,409,500 rubles. The initial investment will pay off in about a week. It may seem that expectations are too high, but the business will be profitable even if only 5 sections are sold per day. Naturally, payback periods increase.

The peculiarity of this type of business lies in the fact that if the product is complex, its artistic value increases, increasing the profit from sales. Observed geometric progression in increasing complexity and price.

It is easier for a company to start with simple designs, but in the future it is necessary to grow professionally.

The same applies to machines. When starting a business, you can also use homemade equipment. And the staff will be limited to two employees. Do not forget that cold forging requires a lot of physical effort, and the productivity relative to the costs is not high. If production is fully automated, the costs will be 2 million rubles.

Watch the video