Custom Cold Rolling

Rathbone Precision Metals, founded in 1905, specializes in cold rolling 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 for cold rolling are typically in the power generation sector. We take quality very seriously, as an ISO certified and accredited manufacturer.

Cold Rolling 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 Rolling

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

Strength – Heating steel weakens it. The cold rolling process improves mechanical properties through cold working for improved hardness, tensile, and yield strength.
Surface finish – Cold rolled steel has a finished look, including more clearly defined corners and edges and a smoother surface finish.
Reduced lead times – Cold rolling is a faster and more efficient way of producing a profile when compared to cold drawing, due to die changes and additional processing time that cold drawing requires.

Facts About Cold Rolling:

Cold Rolling is a process that dates back centuries and yet it continues to be an economical means of producing shaped metal profiles today. With this process, the raw metal stock is passed through a set or series of shaped rollers at ambient temperatures to produce finished or semi-finished metal shapes, aka profiles.
With cold rolling, there are no adverse shrinkage effects as seen with hot rolling which can limit precision. The raw stock and process are ambient temperatures, which allows for tighter tolerances and greater dimensional stability from the first piece to the last piece.
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 Rolling Specifications/Tolerances

Label	S/O	Value
Size/Cross Section	Standard Optional	Typically Less than 1.5" Profile Dependent
Linear Tolerance	Standard Optional	±0.005" Radii Dependent Profile Dependent
Radial Tolerance	Standard Optional	±0.010"* Profile Dependent
Corner/Fillets	Standard Optional	Profile Dependent Profile Dependent
Surface Finish	Standard Optional	63 Ra 20 Ra
Straightness	Standard Optional	±0.020"* / Foot Cumulative ±0.005"* Cumulative
Twist	Standard Optional	± 2° per foot Profile Dependent
Temper	Standard Optional	As Cold Rolled 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

Label	Value
Size/Cross Section	Standard: Typically Less than 1.5" Optional: Profile Dependent
Linear Tolerance	Standard: ±0.005" Radii Dependent Optional: Profile Dependent
Radial Tolerance	Standard: ±0.010"* Optional: Profile Dependent
Corner/Fillets	Standard: Profile Dependent Optional: Profile Dependent
Surface Finish	Standard: 63 Ra Optional: 20 Ra
Straightness	Standard: ±0.020"* / Foot Cumulative Optional: ±0.005"* Cumulative
Twist	Standard: ± 2° per foot Optional: Profile Dependent
Temper	Standard: As Cold Rolled Optional: Stress Relieved, Annealed or Heat Treated (OSP)
Decarburization	Standard: See Optional Optional: 0.005" max total and or partial 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