FALL 2024

156 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S

156 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK LAURENCE CLAUS RECOGNIZING COMMON FLAWS IN COLD HEADED FASTENERS from page 148 FIGURE 11: “BASEBALL CAP” HEADS FIGURE 9: ETCHED SAMPLE SHOWING FOLDS ON FLANGE SURFACE Flaws From Upsetting During the forming process part features such as the head are almost always created in iterative steps. When the tooling from one step to the next is not aligned it can result in a lapping, folding over, or doubling of material . Therefore, folds usually occur around the intersection of one feature to another. Folds are commonly seen around the hex to flange intersections on both bolts and nuts. Figure 9 illustrates a fold around the periphery of a hex flange head. FIGURE 10: EXAMPLE OF HEAD SLIVERS Slivers are formed when the pin used to form the head or internal recess is set a little too deep resulting in some flash forming around the periphery of the pin. This is then pushed back down onto the surface during the next blow to the head. Figure 10 illustrates this condition. This final upsetting problem is colloquially referred to as a “Baseball cap” for its resemblance to the same (Figure 11). This occurs when the upset tool is worn out or not working properly. The tool is unable to properly constrain the material, so that the material moves in the path of least resistance squishing out to one side and creating the characteristic hat-like form. Material Flow Problems One of the advantages of cold heading is the conservation of material. Unlike machining operations which generate the final shape by cutting material away, cold heading moves material around. In most instances the part volume going into the machine as a straight piece of cylindrical wire is the same volume emerging from the machine as a net shape part. When the raw material is hot rolled, the metal grains are distributed in long, continuous lines, much like the long grain in a block of wood. When features like heads, collars, and flanges are formed the material is redistributed and these longitudinal grain lines are bent around to follow the shape of these newly formed features. This significantly increases the strength of these parts. CONTINUED ON PAGE 162

THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 157 NATIONAL FASTENER DISTRIBUTORS ASSOCIATION 3020 Old Ranch Parkway #300, Seal Beach CA 90740 TEL 562-799-5509 EMAIL nfda@nfda-fastener.org WEB www.nfda-fastener.org SCOTT McDANIEL ELECTED NFDA PRESIDENT FOR 2024-25 by Amy Nijjar Scott McDaniel of Martin Fastening Solutions has been elected as the 2024-2025 president of the National Fastener Distributors Association. Ed Smith of Wurth Revcar will serve as vice president, Christian Reich of Goebel Fasteners will serve as associate chair, and Jim Degnan of S.W. Anderson will remain on the Board as immediate past president. Melissa Patel of Field, Angela Philippart of AFC Industries, and Christian Reich of Goebel Fasteners have been elected to serve on the Board of Directors effective June 12, 2024. Continuing on the NFDA Board are Steve Andrasik of Brighton-Best International, Gigi Calfee of Copper State Bolt & Nut, Jake Glaser of Sherex Fastening Solutions, Alex Goldberg of AMPG, and Scott Longfellow of Huyett. ASSOCIATION ARTICLE Recognition was paid during the meeting to retiring Board members Mike Robinson of LindFast Solutions Group and Nick Ruetz of AIS. For more information about NFDA, visit www.nfdafastener.org or contact Amy Nijjar, amy@nfda-fastener.org, or telephone 562-799-5519. NATIONAL FASTENER DISTRIBUTORS ASSOCIATION