Cold heading and cold forming quickly turn raw metal into strong, nearly finished parts. But achieving the tight tolerances and surface quality required for assembly usually takes one more precise step and that’s where we can help.
These metal shaping methods use dies and punches to move the material rather than cut it, reducing waste and work-hardening the metal for added strength. That’s why cold heading is widely used for fasteners, automotive components, and medical parts in large volumes.
What Cold Heading and Cold Forming Produce
While cold heading and cold forming get the metal roughly where it needs to be, fine-tuning is usually required to meet the exact assembly specs. These processes can produce a wide range of components across various materials.
Parts produced by cold heading and cold forming:
- Fasteners (bolts, screws, studs)
- Pins and shafts
- Automotive components
- Bearing components
- Medical / precision small parts
Materials commonly used:
- Carbon steel
- Stainless steel
- Aluminum
- Tool steels
- Specialty alloys
Why Cold-Formed Parts Often Need Secondary Grinding
Even though cold heading gets parts close to their final size, small differences in thickness, flatness, and parallelism can go beyond what assembly allows. The process also adds surface stress, which can affect important features. For parts like bearings, precision fasteners, and pins, even tiny differences can cause problems.
Double-disc grinding tackles these challenges by providing:
- Consistent thickness across the part
- Flatness within 0.0003″
- Parallel surfaces
- High-quality surface finish
This process does not add heat or extra stress, so the quality of the cold-formed material stays the same.
Why Double-Disc Grinding Is the Right Fit for Cold-Formed Parts
Double-disc grinding works especially well for cold-headed parts because it grinds both sides simultaneously, conforming to the natural symmetry of these parts. It is efficient and can handle orders from 250 up to 1,000,000 pieces and beyond.
This method can be used on the same materials as cold heading, such as carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum, tool steels, and specialty alloys. It also keeps cycle times fast, which helps lower the cost per part. ASG can hold thickness tolerances as tight as 0.0002 inches, keep parallelism within 0.0001 inches, and achieve surface finishes as fine as 16 RMS. For parts that require high precision, double-disc grinding ensures every piece meets strict assembly standards.
Find out more about our double-disc grinding services and see why working with ASG is the best next step for your cold-formed parts.
Frequently Asked Questions About Cold Foaming
What’s the difference between cold heading and double-disc grinding?
Cold heading and cold forming shape metal into near-final parts using dies and punches. Double-disc grinding is a secondary finishing step that corrects thickness, flatness, and parallelism to meet exact assembly tolerances.
What tolerances can double-disc grinding achieve?
ASG can hold thickness tolerances as tight as 0.0002″, parallelism within 0.0001″, and surface finishes as fine as 16 RMS.
What order volumes does ASG support?
Double-disc grinding is efficient at both small and large scale, supporting orders from 250 pieces up to 1,000,000+.
Does grinding affect the cold-formed material’s properties?
No. Double-disc grinding adds no heat or extra stress, so the strength and integrity gained during cold forming are fully preserved.
Request a Quote for Precision Grinding of Cold-Formed Parts
Want to improve the quality of your cold-formed parts? Contact ASG for a grinding quote. Our team will help make sure your parts meet your exact tolerance and surface finish needs.