PROBLEM
Header Die and Tool, Inc. (HDT) is a leading licensed producer of Torx, Torx Plus, and Strux tooling. Strict proprietary licensing standards require precise head tolerances. The heads are cold-formed in one stroke, with dies forming the external head profile. The same stroke includes a high-pressure forming operation, with multiple punch pins forming the Torx drive recesses.
Solution
Wear in Torx drive recess forming pins was unacceptable during early tests. A PVD TiN coating improved pin life up to 100,000 blanks, but the company aimed higher. Using FortiPhy XVD technology, the same pins produced 415,000 blanks of exceptional quality. In another operation, pins that once produced 480,000 parts made 950,000 after a FortiPhy surface treatment.
It really is possible
As a high-precision shop, HDT produces all types of replaceable tooling used to make fasteners, rivets, and bearings for a variety of automotive and aerospace manufacturers. HDT was an early test user and then adopter of FortiPhy XVD technology, and uses it to increase toughness and extend the life of cold-forming tooling in operations throughout the company.
“For a licensed manufacturer, maintaining precise head tolerances from beginning to end on a long production run is no easy task. FortiPhy XVD technology makes a huge difference.”