Brockhaus HEUER GmbH Oestertalstr. 54 D-58840 Plettenberg
+49 (0) 23 91 / 6029-0 info@heuer.de
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Like the large Heuer, our vice, the small Heuer is forged entirely from steel and so promises the same quality as its big brother. Whatever this pair grip in their jaws, they don’t let go.
Forging is a chipless forming process that is one of the oldest crafts in the world. Compared to other processes (e.g. casting), the material structure is very beneficially defined, making the HEUER vice a true Made in Germany quality tool. The HEUER vice is the work colleague everyone wants to have.
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The red-hot material was once shaped on an anvil using hammer blows. Coal was generally used a combustible to heat the material. The required temperature was achieved targeting a supply of oxygen using manually operated bellows.
Today’s industrial forging process, knows as drop-forging, uses a split mould - the forging die. It is made of two hardened steel blocks into which the required workpiece shape is milled. There is an upper and a lower die. The lower die is rigid while the upper die is moved upwards.
C45 grade round bar steel with a diameter of it Ø 14 mm is delivered from the steelworks in 6-metre-long bars and first sawn into 126 mm sections.
The steel sections are heated in a gas oven to approximately 850° C so that the steel is easier to shape. The red-hot material is positioned on the lower die using forging tongs. Once the forge is released, the upper die drops down onto the lower die 2 or 3 times, and forms the annealed steel into the specified shape.
The excess material swells out of the sides of the mould and the piece can be extracted from the die.
After cooling, the shape of the small vice is already clearly visible.
The excess material - the ‘burr’ - is removed in a trimming press. The small vice is then sandblasted to remove mill scale (also known as ‘hammer blow’ or ‘burn off’) from the surface.
The jaws are milled at a CNC processing centre and the hole where the keyring will later be attached is drilled.
Finally, the bottle opener is nickel-plated to protect it from corrosion for many years to come.
To learn more about the HEUER vice, the history of vices, available accessories such as the flap, protective jaws, rotary clamp or the Brockhaus Heuer company, see our website for full information. It provides complete details on our products, technical specifications, usage and care instructions, a product configurator and videos.
Simply send an email with your name and address to arbeitskollege@heuer.de and your forged vice-shaped bottle-opener will be on its way to you!
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