Forging & Forming for medical devices

Forging is the oldest process in instrument making and remains the starting point for many surgical instruments in Tuttlingen. The reason is not tradition but microstructure: forming aligns the grain flow along the contour instead of cutting through it as machining from solid does. This yields higher fatigue strength from the same material — decisive for instruments that transmit force.

In practice this creates a chain: drop forging of the blank, deburring, heat treatment to the required hardness, straightening, then machining of functional surfaces and finally grinding, polishing and passivation. Each step influences the next, and defects in the microstructure cannot be machined away later.

For buyers, hardness testing, microstructure evidence and documentation of the heat treatment are therefore the real inspection points — not the dimensional accuracy of the blank. And because dies are an investment, ownership, tool life and replacement belong in the contract. The providers listed here range from pure forging operations to manufacturers covering the entire chain through to the finished instrument.