GEDORE Tool Forge
Over 100 Years of Tool Expertise
Robots, automated production lines and high-performance computers next to steel, heavy drop hammers, dies and red-hot tool blanks. Progress and traditional forging go hand in hand at the GEDORE tool factory.
Since 1919, the traditional manufacturer has been producing its tools at the Remscheid site, bringing together 100 years of forging expertise. Our employees have mastered traditional processes such as shape-free forging on the air hammer as well as modern, high-tech processes such as automatic, robot-guided forging on the top pressure hammer. Through this interplay of tradition and modernity, every forged part - the basis for every single hand tool - is manufactured to the highest quality.
The Forge
The Heart of GEDORE
The production of many tools begins in the forge. So-called drop hammers are used in the GEDORE forge. Working on the large hammers requires a great deal of strength and even more stamina. On average, a blacksmith lifts around 3,000 kg of weight per day. In addition, the blacksmith must have experience and feeling in handling the drop hammers in order to be able to control the forces of the device. All drop hammers stand on special spring elements. Nevertheless, the massive blows are enormous.
Every day, several kilogrammes of steel are shaped into the desired form in the forge. For this purpose, rust- and acid-resistant as well as cold- and heat-resistant steels, structural steels and stainless steels are delivered from the suppliers in bar form. Under eccentric presses, the bars are cut into so-called slit pieces, which are then heated in the pusher furnace at approx. 1250°C before they are put under the hammer.
A team of three colleagues works on the drop hammer: the blacksmith, the warmer and the downer. The warmer places the red-hot slit piece for the smith from the furnace on a tray provided for this purpose. The blacksmith sets the working rhythm. He triggers the hammer blows and places the red-hot steel in the die that the in-house toolmaking department has made.
The smith holds the red-hot split piece in the moulds of the die. With each blow of the drop hammer, the split piece is deformed step by step into the tool. After the fourth blow, the steel already has the rough contours. The warmer loads the gas-powered pusher furnace with the split pieces.
Depending on the type of hammer and the tool that has been struck, the forger takes the finished blanks from the smith. He either places them in a transport container for later processing or deburrs them hot under an eccentric press. This removes the excess steel from the sides during the forging process.
Whether deburring is done cold or hot depends on the force required. The warmer the forging, the easier the deburring. A large number of products from the GEDORE range go through this working process: spanners, ratchets, pliers, pullers, hammer heads and axe heads.
The Burr
During the forging process, the excess steel yields laterally and forms the so-called burr. This is removed in the deburring shop under eccentric presses. The tool is virtually punched out. The trimming tool consists of a cutting plate and the cutting punch. The setter places the forged material ready for deburring. The setter is responsible for the set-up and the trimming of the machine.Small key sizes can be deburred cold. Above a certain size, the material has to be deburred hot, otherwise too much force has to be applied. In this process, the preformed key is inserted into the cutting plate while it is glowing and the burr is cut off with one stroke. The more exact the cut, the less the dimensions of the tool have to be reworked during grinding.