Custom Cold Drawing

Rathbone Precision Metals, founded in 1905, specializes in cold drawing custom profiles in a wide range of metals, including high- and low-carbon steels, free-cutting alloys, 300 and 400 series stainless steel, and precipitation hardened stainless steel. Our customers span a variety of sectors, including power generation, medical, gas and oil, firearm, hand tools, and lawn and garden markets. We take quality very seriously, as an ISO certified and accredited manufacturer.

Cold Drawing Materials

We pride ourselves on the wide range of materials we work with, which include:

Low Carbon Steel
High Carbon Steel
Free Cutting Steel
Alloy Steel
300 Series Stainless Steel
400 Series Stainless Steel
Precipitation Hardening (PH) Stainless Steel
Copper
Brass
Nickel Alloys
High Temp Alloys
Tool Steels
Bronze
Nickel-Copper

Key Advantages of Cold Drawing

Cold drawn steel demonstrates a number of characteristics that are advantageous to many industries and applications, such as:

Tighter tolerances and section properties – Cold drawing decreases the loss of material that occurs during machining and requires less handling to meet the tolerances of the specified application.
Improved surface finish – Cold drawn steel requires less finishing and presents a cleaner working surface for manufacturing processes like welding.
Better mechanical properties – The Cold drawing process also improves mechanical properties for improved tensile strength, hardness, and higher yield strength.
Better machinability – Cold drawn stock features a high degree of uniformity and tighter dimensional tolerances, making reducing the machining processes necessary to create many designs.
Cost-efficient – Since less material is lost and it requires less time to machine and finish, cold drawn steel is a cost-efficient choice for a broad range of applications.

Facts About Cold Drawing:

Cold Drawing is a process that dates to the early 1800’s and is still a viable means of producing quality metal profiles today. Cold Drawing involves pulling metal through a die or series of dies at room temperature. As the metal exits the end of the die cavity, it adopts the shape of the die.
Cold Drawing is the only process that increases the material’s strength properties. The drawing of the metal at room temperatures results in plastic deformation, which rearranges and strengthens the crystalline structure of the material. This process is known as strain hardening.
During the Cold Draw process, the material can be worked hardened and may need to be annealed. This is where the material is heated above their recrystallization temperature (1700° C) and allowed to cool per specific methods. When the material returns to room temperature it can then be further worked.
It is not uncommon for a profile to be initially shaped using the cold roll process to give initial shape to the raw stock, it is then further shaped by the cold drawn process.

Cold Drawing Specifications/Tolerances

	S/O	Value
Size/Cross Section	Standard Optional	Typical Range of .032" to 2" Profile Dependent
Linear Tolerance	Standard Optional	±0.002"* ±0.0005"*
Radial Tolerance	Standard Optional	Small Radii: ±0.005"* Large Radii: ±0.010"* ±0.002"*
Corner/Fillets	Standard Optional	Up to 90°: 0.015" R max Obtuse: blend of angle intersection Up to 90°: 0.005" R max Obtuse: Profile Dependent
Surface Finish	Standard Optional	125 Ra 40 Ra
Straightness	Standard Optional	±0.020"* / Foot Cumulative ±0.005"* Cumulative
Twist	Standard Optional	± 2° per foot Profile Dependent
Temper	Standard Optional	As Cold Drawn Stress Relieved, Annealed or Heat Treated (OSP)
Decarburization	Standard Optional	See Optional 0.005" max total and or partial Requires Surface Improved starting raw stock
Lengths	Standard Optional	Coil: Max Weight Bar: Random Mill Lengths (RML 7' - 14') Bar: Specific Lengths Pieces: Specified Length (tolerances of ±0.005")
Packaging	Standard Optional	Bar: Reddi-Crate™ Coil: VCI wrapped Pieces: VCI Bag in cardboard box Bar: Banded Bundles, Wood Crate or Custom Coil: Spool, Wood Box, Drum or Custom Pieces: Wood Box or Custom
Testing Abilities	Standard Optional	Rathbone has several means of QA control - Call for details Outside Testing Service
Cutting Options	Standard Optional	Shear / Pinch or Saw Cut (Shape Dependent) Shaped Shear or Precision Cutting (Shape Dependent)
Approx. Hardness Range	Standard Optional	Carbon: HRB 75 to HRB 95 Alloy: HRB 90 to HRC 28 Stainless: HRB 90 to HRC 25 Hardness may be able to be adjusted by modification of the cold work process

	Value
Size/Cross Section	Standard: Typical Range of .032" to 2" Optional: Profile Dependent
Linear Tolerance	Standard: ±0.002"* Optional: ±0.0005"*
Radial Tolerance	Standard: Small Radii: ±0.005"* Large Radii: ±0.010"* Optional: ±0.002"*
Corner/Fillets	Standard: Up to 90°: 0.015" R max Obtuse: blend of angle intersection Optional: Up to 90°: 0.005" R max Obtuse: Profile Dependent
Surface Finish	Standard: 125 Ra Optional: 40 Ra
Straightness	Standard: ±0.020"* / Foot Cumulative Optional: ±0.005"* Cumulative
Twist	Standard: ± 2° per foot Optional: Profile Dependent
Temper	Standard: As Cold Drawn Optional: Stress Relieved, Annealed or Heat Treated (OSP)
Decarburization	Standard: See Optional 0.005" max total and or partial Optional: Requires Surface Improved starting raw stock
Lengths	Standard: Coil: Max Weight Bar: Random Mill Lengths (RML 7' - 14') Optional: Bar: Specific Lengths Pieces: Specified Length (tolerances of ±0.005")
Packaging	Standard: Bar: Reddi-Crate™ Coil: VCI wrapped Pieces: VCI Bag in cardboard box Optional: Bar: Banded Bundles, Wood Crate or Custom Coil: Spool, Wood Box, Drum or Custom Pieces: Wood Box or Custom
Testing Abilities	Standard: Rathbone has several means of QA control - Call for details Optional: Outside Testing Service
Cutting Options	Standard: Shear / Pinch or Saw Cut (Shape Dependent) Optional: Shaped Shear or Precision Cutting (Shape Dependent)
Approx. Hardness Range	Standard: Carbon: HRB 75 to HRB 95 Alloy: HRB 90 to HRC 28 Stainless: HRB 90 to HRC 25 Optional: Hardness may be able to be adjusted by modification of the cold work process