A Canadian manufacturer of specially cold formed products has solved the perennial problem of how to make high quality stainless steel parts, cost effectively, that have to be cold headed and subsequently machined or fabricated from the same feed stock. A special stainless steel from Carpenter boosts productivity and tool life. Typically, most stainless steels with excellent heading characteristics do not machine well when secondary fabrication is required. Similarly, a stainless alloy designed to provide exceptional machining properties is not a likely candidate for cold heading. Ready Rivet & Fastener, Ltd., however, found that it could get superior cold forming and machinability performance from a single stainless grade used to mass produce ball studs for an automotive application. The shop increased productivity by two thirds and tool life by 50 percent by using 302HQ-FM~R stainless (S30431), an alloy developed by Carpenter Technology Corporation.
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