Step 5 of 10
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Forge die building: why this course exists
The eight decisions that set forge die life before the first hit, and why the build is a chain where the weakest link sets the floor.
Step 5 of 10Decision 5 — Distortion budget
Distortion is allocated across rough machining, heat treat, finish machining, EDM, and nitride. The cavity tolerance sits at the end of the stack. If finish leaves 0.002 inch of stock and heat-treat distorts 0.004 inch, the cavity is undersize and there is no path to reclaim it without breaching the case. Lesson 6 covers how to allocate the budget so the cavity survives the build.
Quick check
A cavity print calls for 0.001 inch positional tolerance after nitride. The build sequence is rough machine, heat treat, finish grind, EDM, polish, nitride. Where does the distortion budget have to sit, and what happens if it lands at heat treat instead?