Bodies and Bonnets

Valves shells (bodies and bonnets) are usually manufactured from a combination of castings and/or forged or wrought components. The castings are made by pouring molten metal into a mold or pattern of the appropriate shape. The parts are then removed from the mold, cleaned up and machined as necessary. The forging process creates a component by shaping a red-hot piece of metal under high pressure in a forging press. This process yields parts that are free from the defects that often plague metal castings such as shrinkage and porosity. Wrought components are those that have been intensely rolled or squeezed through a mandrel, sometimes at room temperature and sometimes at very high temperatures. In valves, wrought components, which are usually round in shape, are found most often in stems or spindles. As cousins to forgings, wrought components also are devoid of the defects that often are found in castings.

You might wonder, if forgings and wrought components are so great, then why aren