The Tool Forge
GEDORE stands for the highest quality in the manufacture of hand and special tools. What many of our products have in common begins in the GEDORE Tool Forge: with high-quality steel, experienced employees and state-of-the-art forging technology. At our forging centres at two locations in Germany, we manufacture forgings under our own brand and develop bespoke solutions for demanding applications. In doing so, we combine traditional forging craftsmanship with automated production processes, robot-assisted manufacturing and advanced forging simulations. From the initial design and engineering through to toolmaking and production, we create precisely tailored, efficient and durable forgings designed to withstand the demands of everyday use.
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More than 100 years of forging expertise
Robots, automated production lines and high-performance computers alongside steel, heavy drop hammers, dies and glowing tool blanks. At the GEDORE tool factory, progress and traditional forging craftsmanship go hand in hand. Since 1919, this long-established manufacturer has been producing its tools at the Remscheid site, bringing together more than 100 years of forging expertise. Our employees are skilled in traditional processes, such as free-form pre-forging on an air hammer, as well as modern, highly automated processes, such as automatic, robot-guided forging on a top-pressure hammer. This combination of tradition and modernity ensures that every forging – the basis for each individual hand tool – is manufactured to the highest quality standards.
The Forge
The heart of GEDORE
The production of many tools begins in the forge. GEDORE’s forge uses drop hammers. Working with these large hammers requires considerable strength and even greater endurance. On average, a blacksmith lifts around 3,000 kg per day. The blacksmith must also have extensive experience and a keen feel for operating the drop hammers in order to control the forces generated by the equipment. All drop hammers are mounted on special spring elements. Even so, the powerful blows are immense.
Every day, several kilograms of steel are brought into the desired shape in the forge. The steel is supplied by our suppliers in bar form and includes stainless and acid-resistant steels, steels resistant to low and high temperatures, structural steels and high-grade steels. The bars are cut into what are known as slugs under eccentric presses. These are then heated to approximately 1,250°C in a pusher furnace before being placed under the hammer.
A team of three colleagues works at each drop hammer: the blacksmith, the heater and the remover. The heater takes the glowing slug from the furnace and places it on a designated rest for the blacksmith. The blacksmith sets the working rhythm. They activate the hammer blows and place the glowing steel into the die, which has been manufactured by GEDORE’s in-house toolmaking department.
In-house toolmaking: dies for metal forming
“Everything from a single source” is an integral part of GEDORE’s corporate philosophy. Accordingly, we also manufacture the dies for our tool production in our own toolmaking department. We use only high-quality tool steel for our dies, which are produced on modern CNC EDM and milling machines. The precision and quality of a tool are significantly influenced by the die – for example, in the manufacture of our spanners, ratchets and sockets.
The blacksmith holds the glowing slug in the die cavities. With every blow of the drop hammer, the slug is gradually formed into a tool. After the fourth blow, the steel already has its basic contours. The heater feeds the slugs into the gas-fired pusher furnace.
Depending on the type of hammer and the tool being forged, the remover takes the finished forged blanks from the blacksmith. They either place them in a transport container for subsequent processing or remove the flash while the blanks are still hot, using an eccentric press. This removes the excess steel created at the sides during forging.
Whether flash is removed cold or hot depends on the force required. The hotter the forging, the easier it is to remove the flash. A wide range of products from the GEDORE portfolio undergoes this process, including spanners, ratchets, pliers, pullers, hammer heads and axe heads.
Flash removal
During forging, excess steel flows out at the sides, forming what is known as flash. This is removed in the flash-removal area using eccentric presses. The tool is essentially punched out. The flash-removal tool consists of a cutting plate and a punch. The operator positions the forged material ready for flash removal. The machine setter is responsible for setting up and dismantling the machine.
Smaller spanners can have the flash removed while cold. Above a certain size, the material must be de-flashed while hot, as otherwise too much force would be required. In this process, the pre-formed spanner is placed, glowing hot, into the cutting plate and the flash is cut off in a single stroke. The more precise the cut, the less the tool dimensions need to be reworked during grinding.