Extrusion vs.

Drawing
Two techniques used in metal working are the extrusion process and cold drawing
process. Both of these methods involve the passage of metal through a die. As their names
suggest, extrusion involves pushing billets of metal through the die whereas drawing pulls
the metal through a die. Although similar in general purpose, the differences between them
may be found in the metals each method caters to and the desired properties of the part
being produced.
Beginning with cost, the extrusion process is generally a cheaper process compared
cold drawing. Cold drawing often requires more extensive material handling devices
because of the way it is commonly used. Cold drawing provides an appealing process for
tube production offering high quality surface finishes and consistency in creating the
thickness of walls. Due to it being a cold process, these are advantages of the cold drawing
as well as offering a manageable way to control the surface hardness by simply altering the
amount of times it is drawn among the other associated steps. Additionally, handling costs
can be tied with the material which is most commonly used in the drawing process. That
material is usually heavier metals than what would be used in an extrusion process, but
mainly the reason for higher costs is because of the length of the yield drawing gets from a
piece of material stock. In forming wire and tubing these lengths may become great and the
repeated drawing steps continuously increases the handling difficulty involved as the
diameter continues to become smaller.
The extrusion process is limited to using softer materials such as aluminum and zinc;
this is especially the case in cold extrusions. In high temperature extrusion heavier metals
such as steel run into issues when being impact extruded because of a tendency of the steel
to weld itself to the die. Thus, typically the process sticks to softer metals. Cold drawing
works steel effectively and is the process chosen when producing steel wire, among other
types of metal wire, and tubes.
Both types of metal working are capable of being highly automated in manufacture.
Extrusions produced in the impact extrusion method are done by striking a slug of metal
with force enough that it fills the die and this striking action is suitable for automation at
high speeds. The cold drawing of wires or tubes is also easily automated although requires
intermediate adjustments during the process to attain the desired hardness and surface
finish qualities. Otherwise, wires can be drawn at high speeds and coiled onto an
accumulator block for storage. This is important to note due to the afore mentioned
handling issue as the stock material yields sometimes very long wires which must be
appropriately stored and high speed automation of this usage of the accumulator block
accommodates this.
Overall the two processes are very much similar but each one generally gets used for
specific reasons according to what is being produced. Extrusion is more commonly chosen
for mass production of parts that have geometries and shapes that the hot extrusion
processes are more capable of producing. Complex shapes are a specific advantage of
extrusions because all that is required to make a new shape is to swap out the die being
used. Cold drawing is a common choice for the production of tubing since the parameters of
wall thickness, hardness, surface finish quality, and the amount of reduction can very easily
be controlled through the continuous drawing process. So, the ability to make desired
changes in either process is very easily accomplished if the proper method is chosen for

what is being manufactured. Softer metals will be seen used in extrusion processes whereas
stronger metals like steel are more easily worked in a drawing process.