PARUL INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY, LIMDA

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

Class : B.E. – 1ST YEAR Subject : WORKSHOP

Practical No. : 6 Subject Code : M - 110012

SMITHY SHOP

Introduction:

Forging is the process of shaping metals by impact or very high pressure. The
metal in this process is squeezed to attain the desired shape and this requires the
metal to be in plastic state. This plastic state or plasticity is brought about either
by heating or increasing the stress level beyond elastic limit.

When the metal is heated to plastic temperature and shaped, it is called hot
forging.

When the metal is deformed and shaped at room temperature raising the stress
level beyond elastic limit, the process is called cold forging.

Forging as a manufacturing process is intended to produce components of high

strength of wrought iron, steel, aluminum alloys, brasses etc. It must be
remembered that, all metals can not be forged. For example, brittle metals like
Cast Iron can not be forged. Components such as connecting rod, crankshaft,
leaf spring etc. are all forged.

Hand forging and Machine forging:

Hand forging is done by blacksmith in a section of workshop called Smithy.
Heating of metal is done in an open fire or hearth and hand tools are employed
for forging. Job works of smaller size are handled in the smithy section.
Machine forging is done in a section called Forge, where closed furnaces are
used for heating the jobs and power hammers or presses are used for shaping
them.

Tools and equipments used in Smithy:

1. Hearth:
In forging process the hearth is used for heating the job. Coal, coke or
charcoal is used as fuel to heat the job. A blower provides blast of air to
produce rapid combustion.
2. Anvil:
The anvil is an important tool used in smithy. It is used for supporting the job
while it is struck with
hammer. The body of
the anvil is made of
mild steel. The beak is
soft like the anvil body
and its shape makes it
useful for bending
round section to
different diameters. In
the top of the anvil, is
a square and a round
hole. The square hole
known as hardie hole
is used for square shank shaping tools like bottom fullers, swages and
hardie. The round hole is used for admitting the ends of the punches or
drifts. The hole is also used for bending round bars of different curvatures.
The anvil is placed either on a wooden block or on cast iron stand such
that the top face is about 600 mm to 700 mm from the floor.

3. Hammers:
The hammers commonly used in forging are of the two types

(a) Hand hammer, (b) Sledge hammer. Hand hammers are classified as
Ball peen, Cross peen and straight peen hammers depending on the
shape of the peen. The sledge hammers are used by smith’s helper. The
mass of sledge hammer varies from 5 to 8 kg.

4. Tongs:
The blacksmith requires suitable tongs to handle the work while forging.
These are made of mild steel. The various types of tongs commonly used
for holding job are as follows:
a) Closed mouth tong: A closed mouth tong is used for holding thin
sections.
b) Open mouth tong: An open mouth tong is suitable for holding heavier
stock.
 c) Round hollow tong: A round hollow tong is used for holding round,
hexagonal and octagonal section.
d) Square hollow tong: A square hollow tong is used for holding square,
hexagonal and octagonal section.

e) Pick up tong: A pick up tong is used for picking up round bars, but not
for holding work during forging.

5. Swages:
The swages are used to get different sectional shapes like round, square
and hexagon. The bottom part having square shank fits into the hardy hole
on the anvil. The top part having a handle is held by the smith.

6. Swage block:
The swage block is generally made of cast iron and has round, square,
rectangular and half round grooves. In addition to this, it is provided with
holes which are useful for holding bars while bending and knocking up
heads.
 7. Fullers: These are used for reducing the cross section of a job. They are
used in pairs just as swages.

8. Flatter: This is used for flattening and smoothing the surface of a job.

Forging operations:

1. Upsetting: It is the process of increasing the cross section of a job at the

expense of its length. It consists of heating that portion of the job increase in
cross section is required and hammering in an axial direction.

2. Drawing: It is the process of reducing the cross section of a bar and increasing
its length.

3. Setting down: It is a process of local thinning down effected by the set

hammer. The job is first fullered down using fullers and then finished a flatter.

4. Punching: It is the process of producing holes by forcing a punch through the

work.

5. Bending: It is an important operation in forging and is very frequently used.

6. Welding: Forge welding is different from other welding processes. In this
process no filler material is used. The welding is brought by bringing the two
ends to be welded to the welding temperature in a hearth and hammering
them together.

7. Cutting: Cutting of tough jobs is facilitated by heating and cutting. Hot

chisel is used for the purpose.

Cold forging:
Forging of most metals at room temperature requires stresses to be induced in
the metal much in excess of the elastic limit so that a permanent deformation
becomes possible. This requires lot of energy to be expended. But yet the
process of cold forging is used where accuracy and high finish are required.

Many hot rolled products are cold rolled in the end to get better dimensional
accuracy and surface finish.
Also cold forging causes increase in strength and hardness of the component.
This method of increasing hardness without heat treatment is called work
hardening or strain hardening.

EXERCISE

1. What is forging? Explain the difference between cold forging and hot
forging.
2. Explainthe use of swage block
3. Explain the use of upsetting and drawing
4. Write the sequence of operation followed by you for producing the job