Swage
Encyclopedia
Swaging is a forging
process in which the dimensions of an item are altered using a die
or dies, into which the item is forced. Swaging is usually a cold working process; however, it is sometimes done as a hot working
process.
The term swage can apply to the process of swaging (verb), or to a die or tool used for swaging (noun).
. This may also be referred to as "tube swaging." The second category involves two or more dies used to hammer a round workpiece into a smaller diameter. This process is usually called "rotary swaging" or "radial forging."
Tubes may be tagged (reduced in diameter to enable the tube to be initially fed through the die to then be pulled from the other side) using a rotary swager, which allows them to be drawn on a draw bench
. Swaging is normally the method of choice for precious metal
s since there is no loss of material in the process.
(the shape must have a constant cross-section). Swaging a bearing into a housing means either flaring its groove's lips onto the chamfer of the housing, or flaring the housing's material over the edge of the bearing. The flaring is done with a pair of rolls that travel around the hole and are fed down into the part, deforming the metal in a controlled, predicted way. Grease is often used to lubricate this swaging process, which is also called roller swaging.
A swaging machine works by using two or four split dies which separate and close up to 2000 times a minute. This action is achieved by mounting the dies into the machine's spindle which is rotated by a motor. The spindle is mounted inside a cage containing rollers (looks like a roller bearing). The rollers are larger than the cage so as the spindle spins the dies are pushed out to ride on the cage by centrifugal force, as the dies cross over the rollers they push the dies together because of their larger size. On a four-die machine, the number of rollers cause all dies to close at a time; if the number of rollers do not cause all pairs of dies to close at the same time then the machine is called a rotary forging machine, even though it is still a swaging process.
A variation of the rotary swager is the creeping spindle swaging machine where both the spindle and cage revolve in opposite directions, this prevents the production of fins between the dies where the material being swaged grows up the gap between the dies.
There are two basic types of rotary swaging machine, the standard (also known as a tagging machine), and the butt swaging machine. A butt swaging machine works by having sets of wedges that close the dies onto the workpiece by inserting them between the annular rollers and the dies, normally by the use of a foot pedal. A butt swaging machine can allow a workpiece to be inserted without the dies closing on it, for example a three foot workpiece can be inserted 12 inches and then the dies closed, drawn through until 12 inches remain and the dies are then released, the finished workpiece would then, for example, be four feet long but still of its initial diameter for a foot at each end.
assembly individual connector pins are sometimes pressed/swaged into place using an arbor press
. Some pins have a hollow end that is pressed over by the arbor's tool to form a mushroom shaped retaining head. Typical pin diameter range from 0.017 to 0.093 inches or larger. The swaging is an alternative or supplement to soldering.
s or cable
s (also called wire rope
s); the parts loosely fit together, and a mechanical or hydraulic tool compresses and deforms the fitting, creating a permanent joint. Pipe flaring machines are another example. Flared pieces of pipe are sometimes known as "swage nipples," "pipe swages," "swedge nipples," or "reducing nipples." In furniture, legs made from metal tubing (particularly in commercial furniture) are often swaged to improve strength where they come in contact with the ground, or casters.
s, a swage is used to flare large bandsaw or circle saw teeth, which increases the width of the cut, called the kerf
. A clamp attaches a mandrel and die to the tooth and the eccentric die is rotated, swaging the tip. A much earlier version of the same operation used a hardened, shaped swage die and a hand held hammer. Saw teeth formed in this way are sometimes referred to as being "set." A finishing operation, shaping, cold works the points on the tooth sides to flats. It might be considered as a side swage. This slightly reduces the tooth width but increases the operating time between "fittings." Swaging is a major advance over filing as the operation is faster, more precise and greatly extends the working life of a saw.
, swaging describes the process of the bullet
entering the barrel and being squeezed to conform to the rifling
. Most firearm
bullets are made slightly larger than the inside diameter of the barrel, so that they are swaged to engage the rifling and form a tight seal upon firing. Compare to obturate
.
In ammunition
manufacture, swaged bullets are bullets manufactured by swaging room temperature
metal
s into a die to form it into the shape of a bullet. The other common manufacturing method is casting, which uses molten metals poured into a mold
. Since metals expand when heated and contract when cooled, cast bullets must be cast with a mold slightly larger than the desired finish size, so that as the molten metal cools, it will harden at just the right point to shrink to the desired size. In contrast, swaged bullets, since they are formed at the temperature at which they will be used, can be formed in molds of the exact desired size. This means that swaged bullets are generally more precise than cast bullets. The swaging process also leads to fewer imperfections, since voids commonly found in casting would be pressed out in the swaging process. The swaging process in reference to cold flow of metals into bullets is the process not of squeezing the metals into smaller forms but rather pressing smaller thinner items to form into shorter and slightly wider shapes.
Individuals who make their own bullets usually are not aware of available manual specialized equipment and dies required for swaging bullets, and thus choose to make cast bullets. To get high precision results, it is common to cast the bullets slightly oversized, then swage the resulting castings through a die to do the final forming. Since the amount of pressure required to size the bullet is far less than that required to form a bullet, a simple mechanical press can be used, often the same press used for handloading
ammunition.
Swaging bullets using the cold flow method with manual hand tools, presses and dies is often credited to Ted Smith, author of the 45-page book The Bullet Swage Manual. Swaging is used to form unjacketed bullets, usually made of a mix of lead and some antimony to improve working properties (lead alone is usually too soft). The styles of bullets swaged usually have a wadcutter
or semiwadcutter
profile.
Many reloading equipment manufacturers started by marketing both reloading and bullet swaging dies and equipment. Historically many swage dies sold by well known reloading manufacturing companies were actually made by Ted Smith in his die shop then stamped with the name of the marketing company.
All of the larger manufacturers of reloading equipment have abandoned making or marketing bullet swaging equipment due to the downturn in the popularity of the manual methods and the subsequent loss of sales. Currently there are only a few die makers who manufacture and market bullet swaging equipment. Four die and equipment makers, CH/4D, RCE, Corbin, and Kaine Dies, manufacture the bulk of bullet swaging equipment in the United States.
, the thread used in sutures is often swaged to an eyeless needle in order to prevent damage as the needle and suture thread are drawn through the wound.
, bassoon
, oboe
and flute
need swedging when years of key movement has worn or compressed the metal of the hinge tube they swivel on and made it slightly shorter, so that the key can travel along the rod it is mounted on instead of being held firmly between the posts attaching the rod to the body of the instrument. This gives rise to floppy keys and a poor air-seal and needs to be corrected by lengthening (swedging) the hinge tube. This is a job that needs to be done by hand, and swedging pliers with highly-polished oval holes in the jaws to fit common sizes of hinge tubes are often used to achieve this, though various proprietary designs of swedging tools are available to do the same job more efficiently.
to describe when two panels were brought together, an edge of one panel was swaged so to overlap the other to create the impression of one continuous surface. This usually occurred in the vicinity of the beltline or waistline. As styling and production evolved and one-piece doors became possible, the swage line had become a popular element—whether separating the colors with two-color paint schemes or hidden by beltline mouldings—becoming a feature line. Nowadays, the term refers to any raised, continuous, bodyside crease or feature line.
, a loose fitting metal ring, is deformed around a pin with locking grooves. The tool engages onto the pintail, the joint is pulled together and the conical shaped cavity of the tooling is forced down the collar, which reduces its diameter and progressively swages the collar material into the grooves of the harder pin. As the force required for swaging increases during the process, the installation is finalised when the pintail breaks off.
: swāj). Another (less common) pronunciation sometimes heard in the metalworking industries is /ˈswɛdʒ/ (AHD format: swĕj) (perhaps influenced by sledge as in sledgehammer
).
Forging
Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which it is performed: '"cold," "warm," or "hot" forging. Forged parts can range in weight from less than a kilogram to 580 metric tons...
process in which the dimensions of an item are altered using a die
Die (manufacturing)
A die is a specialized tool used in manufacturing industries to cut or shape material using a press. Like molds, dies are generally customized to the item they are used to create...
or dies, into which the item is forced. Swaging is usually a cold working process; however, it is sometimes done as a hot working
Hot working
Hot working refers to processes where metals are plastically deformed above their recrystallization temperature. Being above the recrystallization temperature allows the material to recrystallize during deformation. This is important because recrystallization keeps the materials from strain...
process.
The term swage can apply to the process of swaging (verb), or to a die or tool used for swaging (noun).
Manufacturing process
As a general manufacturing process swaging may be broken up into two categories. The first category of swaging involves the workpiece being forced through a confining die to reduce its diameter, similar to the process of drawing wireWire drawing
Wire drawing is a metalworking process used to reduce the cross-section of a wire by pulling the wire through a single, or series of, drawing die. There are many applications for wire drawing, including electrical wiring, cables, tension-loaded structural components, springs, paper clips, spokes...
. This may also be referred to as "tube swaging." The second category involves two or more dies used to hammer a round workpiece into a smaller diameter. This process is usually called "rotary swaging" or "radial forging."
Tubes may be tagged (reduced in diameter to enable the tube to be initially fed through the die to then be pulled from the other side) using a rotary swager, which allows them to be drawn on a draw bench
Draw bench
A Draw bench is a machine used to do cold work on a metal, such as changing the shape of the metal without applying heat and applying only pressure.- Machine Construction :...
. Swaging is normally the method of choice for precious metal
Precious metal
A precious metal is a rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical element of high economic value.Chemically, the precious metals are less reactive than most elements, have high lustre, are softer or more ductile, and have higher melting points than other metals...
s since there is no loss of material in the process.
Rotary swaging
Rotary swaging process is usually a cold working process, used to reduce the diameter, produce a taper, or add point to a round workpiece. It can also impart internal shapes in hollow workpieces through the use of a mandrelMandrel
A mandrel is one of the following:* an object used to shape machined work.* a tool component that grips or clamps materials to be machined.* a tool component that can be used to grip other moving tool components.- Variants :...
(the shape must have a constant cross-section). Swaging a bearing into a housing means either flaring its groove's lips onto the chamfer of the housing, or flaring the housing's material over the edge of the bearing. The flaring is done with a pair of rolls that travel around the hole and are fed down into the part, deforming the metal in a controlled, predicted way. Grease is often used to lubricate this swaging process, which is also called roller swaging.
A swaging machine works by using two or four split dies which separate and close up to 2000 times a minute. This action is achieved by mounting the dies into the machine's spindle which is rotated by a motor. The spindle is mounted inside a cage containing rollers (looks like a roller bearing). The rollers are larger than the cage so as the spindle spins the dies are pushed out to ride on the cage by centrifugal force, as the dies cross over the rollers they push the dies together because of their larger size. On a four-die machine, the number of rollers cause all dies to close at a time; if the number of rollers do not cause all pairs of dies to close at the same time then the machine is called a rotary forging machine, even though it is still a swaging process.
A variation of the rotary swager is the creeping spindle swaging machine where both the spindle and cage revolve in opposite directions, this prevents the production of fins between the dies where the material being swaged grows up the gap between the dies.
There are two basic types of rotary swaging machine, the standard (also known as a tagging machine), and the butt swaging machine. A butt swaging machine works by having sets of wedges that close the dies onto the workpiece by inserting them between the annular rollers and the dies, normally by the use of a foot pedal. A butt swaging machine can allow a workpiece to be inserted without the dies closing on it, for example a three foot workpiece can be inserted 12 inches and then the dies closed, drawn through until 12 inches remain and the dies are then released, the finished workpiece would then, for example, be four feet long but still of its initial diameter for a foot at each end.
Electronics
In Printed Circuit BoardPrinted circuit board
A printed circuit board, or PCB, is used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using conductive pathways, tracks or signal traces etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate. It is also referred to as printed wiring board or etched wiring...
assembly individual connector pins are sometimes pressed/swaged into place using an arbor press
Arbor press
An arbor press is a small hand operated press. It is typically used to perform smaller jobs, such as staking, riveting, installing and removing bearings and other press fit work. Punches, inserters, or other tools/dies may be added to the end of the ram depending on the desired task. Arbor presses...
. Some pins have a hollow end that is pressed over by the arbor's tool to form a mushroom shaped retaining head. Typical pin diameter range from 0.017 to 0.093 inches or larger. The swaging is an alternative or supplement to soldering.
Pipes and cables
The most common use of swaging is to attach fittings to pipePipe (material)
A pipe is a tubular section or hollow cylinder, usually but not necessarily of circular cross-section, used mainly to convey substances which can flow — liquids and gases , slurries, powders, masses of small solids...
s or cable
Cable
A cable is two or more wires running side by side and bonded, twisted or braided together to form a single assembly. In mechanics cables, otherwise known as wire ropes, are used for lifting, hauling and towing or conveying force through tension. In electrical engineering cables are used to carry...
s (also called wire rope
Wire rope
thumb|Steel wire rope Wire rope is a type of rope which consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a helix. Initially wrought iron wires were used, but today steel is the main material used for wire ropes....
s); the parts loosely fit together, and a mechanical or hydraulic tool compresses and deforms the fitting, creating a permanent joint. Pipe flaring machines are another example. Flared pieces of pipe are sometimes known as "swage nipples," "pipe swages," "swedge nipples," or "reducing nipples." In furniture, legs made from metal tubing (particularly in commercial furniture) are often swaged to improve strength where they come in contact with the ground, or casters.
Saw blade teeth
In sawmillSawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
s, a swage is used to flare large bandsaw or circle saw teeth, which increases the width of the cut, called the kerf
Kerf
Kerf and similar can mean:* kerf, the width of a cut* Kerf, a poetry collection by Peter Sanger* Kerala E.N.T. Research Foundation , a hospital at Kollam in Kerala in India...
. A clamp attaches a mandrel and die to the tooth and the eccentric die is rotated, swaging the tip. A much earlier version of the same operation used a hardened, shaped swage die and a hand held hammer. Saw teeth formed in this way are sometimes referred to as being "set." A finishing operation, shaping, cold works the points on the tooth sides to flats. It might be considered as a side swage. This slightly reduces the tooth width but increases the operating time between "fittings." Swaging is a major advance over filing as the operation is faster, more precise and greatly extends the working life of a saw.
Firearms and ammunition
In internal ballisticsInternal ballistics
Internal ballistics, a subfield of ballistics, is the study of a projectile's behavior from the time its propellant's igniter is initiated until it exits the gun barrel...
, swaging describes the process of the bullet
Bullet
A bullet is a projectile propelled by a firearm, sling, or air gun. Bullets do not normally contain explosives, but damage the intended target by impact and penetration...
entering the barrel and being squeezed to conform to the rifling
Rifling
Rifling is the process of making helical grooves in the barrel of a gun or firearm, which imparts a spin to a projectile around its long axis...
. Most firearm
Firearm
A firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...
bullets are made slightly larger than the inside diameter of the barrel, so that they are swaged to engage the rifling and form a tight seal upon firing. Compare to obturate
Obturate
Obturate means to block or obstruct. With reference to firearms and airguns, obturation refers to the process of a bullet or pellet, made of soft material and often with a concave base, flaring under the pressure of firing to seal the bore and engage the barrel's rifling...
.
In ammunition
Ammunition
Ammunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...
manufacture, swaged bullets are bullets manufactured by swaging room temperature
Room temperature
-Comfort levels:The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers has listings for suggested temperatures and air flow rates in different types of buildings and different environmental circumstances. For example, a single office in a building has an occupancy ratio per...
metal
Metal
A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...
s into a die to form it into the shape of a bullet. The other common manufacturing method is casting, which uses molten metals poured into a mold
Molding (process)
Molding or moulding is the process of manufacturing by shaping pliable raw material using a rigid frame or model called a pattern....
. Since metals expand when heated and contract when cooled, cast bullets must be cast with a mold slightly larger than the desired finish size, so that as the molten metal cools, it will harden at just the right point to shrink to the desired size. In contrast, swaged bullets, since they are formed at the temperature at which they will be used, can be formed in molds of the exact desired size. This means that swaged bullets are generally more precise than cast bullets. The swaging process also leads to fewer imperfections, since voids commonly found in casting would be pressed out in the swaging process. The swaging process in reference to cold flow of metals into bullets is the process not of squeezing the metals into smaller forms but rather pressing smaller thinner items to form into shorter and slightly wider shapes.
Individuals who make their own bullets usually are not aware of available manual specialized equipment and dies required for swaging bullets, and thus choose to make cast bullets. To get high precision results, it is common to cast the bullets slightly oversized, then swage the resulting castings through a die to do the final forming. Since the amount of pressure required to size the bullet is far less than that required to form a bullet, a simple mechanical press can be used, often the same press used for handloading
Handloading
Handloading or reloading is the process of loading firearm cartridges or shotgun shells by assembling the individual components , rather than purchasing completely assembled, factory-loaded cartridges...
ammunition.
Swaging bullets using the cold flow method with manual hand tools, presses and dies is often credited to Ted Smith, author of the 45-page book The Bullet Swage Manual. Swaging is used to form unjacketed bullets, usually made of a mix of lead and some antimony to improve working properties (lead alone is usually too soft). The styles of bullets swaged usually have a wadcutter
Wadcutter
A wadcutter is a special-purpose bullet specially designed for shooting paper targets, usually at close range and at subsonic velocities typically under 800 ft/s . They are often used in handgun and airgun competitions...
or semiwadcutter
Semiwadcutter
A semiwadcutter or SWC is a type of all-purpose bullet commonly used in revolvers. The SWC combines features of the wadcutter target bullet and traditional round nosed revolver bullets, and is used in both revolver and pistol cartridges for hunting, target shooting, and plinking...
profile.
Many reloading equipment manufacturers started by marketing both reloading and bullet swaging dies and equipment. Historically many swage dies sold by well known reloading manufacturing companies were actually made by Ted Smith in his die shop then stamped with the name of the marketing company.
All of the larger manufacturers of reloading equipment have abandoned making or marketing bullet swaging equipment due to the downturn in the popularity of the manual methods and the subsequent loss of sales. Currently there are only a few die makers who manufacture and market bullet swaging equipment. Four die and equipment makers, CH/4D, RCE, Corbin, and Kaine Dies, manufacture the bulk of bullet swaging equipment in the United States.
Rubber components with mold bonded metal sleeves
This process provides a more controlled and cost-effective alternative to 'shooting' the rubber part into a metal sleeve, where an intensive and less dependable secondary operation is needed to finish the product. A metal can with a bonding component (such as phosphate) is painted to the inside diameter, and molten rubber is injected into the metal sleeve. This creates a product that when cooled may be swaged to the desired size. The second reason for this is that the product is more reliable, and during the swaging process the rubber is more relaxed when the outside can to which the rubber is bonded has its diameter reduced, changing the springrate (K) values and dampening the co-efficient (C) of the rubber. After swaging, any inconsistencies in the metal and rubber have been minimized.Suture needles
In surgerySurgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
, the thread used in sutures is often swaged to an eyeless needle in order to prevent damage as the needle and suture thread are drawn through the wound.
Musical instrument repair
In musical instrument repair the usual term on both sides of the Atlantic is swedging, not swaging, though it is generally acknowledged that the former derives from the latter. Keyed instruments such as the clarinetClarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
, bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
, oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
and flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
need swedging when years of key movement has worn or compressed the metal of the hinge tube they swivel on and made it slightly shorter, so that the key can travel along the rod it is mounted on instead of being held firmly between the posts attaching the rod to the body of the instrument. This gives rise to floppy keys and a poor air-seal and needs to be corrected by lengthening (swedging) the hinge tube. This is a job that needs to be done by hand, and swedging pliers with highly-polished oval holes in the jaws to fit common sizes of hinge tubes are often used to achieve this, though various proprietary designs of swedging tools are available to do the same job more efficiently.
Car styling swage line
As swaging is a technique in which cold metal is formed over a grooved tool or swage, the term was adopted in the field of automotive stylingAutomotive design
Automotive design is the profession involved in the development of the appearance, and to some extent the ergonomics, of motor vehicles or more specifically road vehicles. This most commonly refers to automobiles but also refers to motorcycles, trucks, buses, coaches, and vans...
to describe when two panels were brought together, an edge of one panel was swaged so to overlap the other to create the impression of one continuous surface. This usually occurred in the vicinity of the beltline or waistline. As styling and production evolved and one-piece doors became possible, the swage line had become a popular element—whether separating the colors with two-color paint schemes or hidden by beltline mouldings—becoming a feature line. Nowadays, the term refers to any raised, continuous, bodyside crease or feature line.
Lockbolts
Swaging is the generic term for setting a lockbolt and collar assembly. During the installation cycle of a lockbolt a collarCollar
Collar may refer to:Human neckwear:*Collar , the part of a garment that fastens around or frames the neck*Ruff collar*Slave collar*Collar , a device of any material placed around the neck of the submissive partner in BDSM...
, a loose fitting metal ring, is deformed around a pin with locking grooves. The tool engages onto the pintail, the joint is pulled together and the conical shaped cavity of the tooling is forced down the collar, which reduces its diameter and progressively swages the collar material into the grooves of the harder pin. As the force required for swaging increases during the process, the installation is finalised when the pintail breaks off.
Pronunciation note
Swage is most often icon (AHD formatThe American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language is an American dictionary of the English language published by Boston publisher Houghton Mifflin, the first edition of which appeared in 1969...
: swāj). Another (less common) pronunciation sometimes heard in the metalworking industries is /ˈswɛdʒ/ (AHD format: swĕj) (perhaps influenced by sledge as in sledgehammer
Sledgehammer
A sledgehammer is a tool consisting of a large, flat head attached to a lever . The head is typically made of metal. The sledgehammer can apply more impulse than other hammers, due to its large size. Along with the mallet, it shares the ability to distribute force over a wide area...
).