May 2024 Volume 6

INDUSTRY NEWS

demand. These are molded onto the tool handle. In the 1980s, the company enhanced the comfort and durability of its vinyl grip with the introduction of its Shock Reduction Grip®. “Our handle appli cation is proprietary. Nobody else in the world does it this way, and we’ve never seen anything else that comes close to ours,” says Jack Ryan, Vice President of Engineering.

in inventory, until which time they are loaded into the plant for the fitting of handles and final finishing.

Newly-forged hammers cooling on a mesh conveyor. The raw forgings placed into inventory are assigned their SKUs (stock keeping units) for inventory management. When the time comes for the raw forgings to be finished, they are brought out of inventory and loaded into the plant for processing, the extent of which varies by product type. On any given day there may be up to 20 different SKUs in process through the plant. Raw forgings from inventory initially go through automated polishing. Certain hammers, in contrast, may first have the waffle pattern on its striking face milled into it. If it’s a nail hammer, the claw (or split) will be ground into the tool at this time. But before any of these nearly-finished products can be used, they must be thermally treated to gain the hardness, toughness, and durability they will need in service. Whereas many forging compa nies send their products out to commercial heat treaters, Estwing’s management is proud of the fact that they do all their proprietary thermal treatment in-house. Once heat-treating is completed, the various tools can be gripped and fully finished. After the grip is applied, the tool is ready for final finishing. Finishing is done by automation and by hand, using finer and finer belts “to get the shine we like on our products.” And as the last step, the tool is given a coating to prevent any rust during shipment or on a retailer’s display.

Blacksmith’s hammer

Production Estwing manufactures its products from its plant in Rockford, which employs about 200 people. The blue and yellow labels found on its products honor the colors of the flag of Sweden, the native land of founder Otto Estwing, but the phrase “Made in America” is a proud part of the company’s manufacturing persona. The production process begins with the receipt of steel bars, bought exclusively from domestic suppliers. Bundles of SBQ (special bar quality) steel arrive in bundles of 18-ft. lengths and are then sheared into billet lengths ranging from 5- to 40-inches, which vary based on the size and type of tool being made. Shearing is performed on either a mechanical or hydraulic shear. Sheared billets are loaded into vibratory feeders that lead to the induction heaters, through which the billets are brought to forging temperature. Each of the plant’s four production lines has its own induction station, from which a heated billet comes out every 11 seconds or so. At this point, a carefully choreographed production sequence takes the billet through two proprietary preform opera tions – one automated, one manual – before it is ready for the forging hammer. All this has to be done in a timely manner, lest the billet becomes too cold to forge properly. “The four production lines are centered around Lasco hydraulic hammers of 4,000- to 6,000-lb capacity, which form workpieces to into raw forgings,” said Flosi. Starting about 20 years ago, the company invested in automation in the form of Kuka robots for its forging operation. More recently, the addition and integration of more robotic arms has helped automate the post-forging processes. After each raw forging is struck, the operator removes it from the tooling and places it into a special nest held by a robotic transfer arm. Once the nest is removed from the forging hammer, another robot picks the part from the nest for post-forging operations. When these operations are complete, the raw forgings are placed on a wire mesh cooling conveyor for air cooling. These raw parts are stored

An associate performs post-forging operations.

FIA MAGAZINE | MAY 2024 67