What the heck is swedged?
Hi Mike, the word "swedge" is a derivative of the word "swage", basically it's about "forcing" metal, using an outside source, to conform to a specific shape!
It is the exact same procedure required when installing wrist-pin bushings in connecting rods, including the Flathead rods!
The tool actually "forces" the newly installed bronze bushing into the machining grooves left by the cutter used to bore the original hole.
We start by "heating" the pin-end of the rod (old bushing already removed), pressing in the new bushing (goes in relatively easy due to the heat), running the "swedging" tool thru, and then finish honing the bushing for the desired pin clearance!
This is one area for "swedging". There are many others.
Thanks, Gary in N.Y.
P.S. All the rod work above here gets done on a Sunnen rod machine, including the "swedging"! Sunnen has the tooling to get it all done the "right" way.