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The Art of Forging
DorothyRecek -
Monday, July 13, 2009 - 10:30pm
article | arts | forging | term paper | term pepers | The Art of Forging (Article ideal for term papers or other papers) Forging is a type of metal art by which pieces of metal are shaped through compressive forces. It is one of the oldest form of metal craft (12th century). The smith (the one who forges) uses a heavy hammer and an anvil to shape the metal. In the earlist times, specifically in Medival Period, forging is used to create swords. Smiths also use forging to create other metal works. There are generally two basic means of forging through temperature: hot forging and cold forging. Hot forging involves high temperature to shape the metal. It is cost-efficient but requires great labor. The metal is deformed due to applied temperature above its recrystallization temperature. Cold forging, otherwise, is forging below the metal's recrystallization temperature. Its main advantage is that it requires only a little finishing. The four types of forging are: 2. press forging 3. drop forging, and 4. roll forging. Metals that are commonly forged are: nickel, stainless steel, titanium, aluminum, alloy steels, carbon, and magnesium. Nickel metals are meant for high temperatures and corrosive environment such as engines and power generation applications. Stainless steel is meant for temperature and corrosion resisting environments. Titanium is a ligh-weight, high strength material commonly used in aircrafts. Alloys are a mixture of other metallic elements. There are modern approaches in forging which makes the process simpler. There are machineries for efficient production, but in spite of these, the hammer and anvil, however classic, is still being used nowadays. (For other term paper topics, refer to other metal craft or art) Author's Profile: |
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ArtMetal
Forging has been around
Forging has been around since waaaay before Medieval times! People were doing both cold and hot forging from even before the beginning of the Bronze age, probably starting with copper nodules found lying around or from copper accidentally smelted in campfires. The Medieval Period, from around 900 AD to 1500 AD, is pretty "modern" compared to the Bronze Age, which began around 3000BC in the East and ran until the beginning of the Iron Age, around 1000 BC. So you can see that the Medieval Period was hardly the beginning of forging!
I would also add that the four types of forging listed are only a superficial view of industrial forging processes, and certainly fail to include hand forging, both hot and cold, open-die forging using power hammers and hydraulic presses, forging with fly presses and extrusion forging, to name just a few that come readily to mind.
Carbon, by the way, is not a metal. There are carbon steels, and carbon is present in many/most organic compounds, but it is not a a metallic element and is not forgeable. It does add many unique and fascinating properties to iron when it is alloyed with it, resulting in metals ranging from cast iron to high-carbon tool steels. Without the addition of carbon, the phase change of steel wouldn't happen the way it does. Metallurgy is a complex, fascinating science and an art, too.
Rich Waugh