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.

7 min readLesson 1 of 13

Step 7 of 10Decision 7 — Surface treatment sequence

Rough, stress relieve, semi-finish, heat treat, finish grind, EDM, polish to remove recast, nitride, optional light polish, optional PVD. The order is not negotiable. Reorder any step and a failure mode follows. Lessons 8, 9, and 10 walk the sequence and the failures that show up at each transition.

Quick check

A shop is debating whether to polish the cavity before nitride or after. The vendor proposes a heavy polish after nitride to "buff the case to spec." What is wrong with that proposal?