Hammer Forging
We process most commercially available materials
Engineering
We use state-of-the-art technology with engineering capabilities to ensure the best design possible.
Tool and Die
Our on-site die shop allows us to make any required changes to your tooling any time.
Finishing & Treating
CJ Forge provides a complete package of Heat Treating and Finishing services.
CJ FORGE - IMT FORGE
See us at Paris Air Show 2025 · Booth: A94
Clifford-Jacobs Forging sets the industry standard for quality, performance, craftsmanship, and customer service. Our steel forgings help the leading brands in the mining, gear, aerospace, energy, and defense industries run.
Champaign, Illinois (IL), United States
Aerospace, Mining, Oil · Gas · Energy
Products & Services
Aerospace
CJ Forge - IMT Forge
There is no margin for error when soaring at hundreds of miles per hour. So top aerospace firms–both public and private–rely on IMT to ensure their aircraft deliver dependable performance.
Whether it’s a wing flap actuator or a transmission gear, the aerospace industry knows that IMT employs only the highest-quality materials and engineers, and builds with the obsessive attention to detail that ensures excellence.
Whether it’s a wing flap actuator or a transmission gear, the aerospace industry knows that IMT employs only the highest-quality materials and engineers, and builds with the obsessive attention to detail that ensures excellence.
MINING
CJ Forge - IMT Forge
Clifford-Jacobs Forging accelerates its process and saves substantial costs by operating its own in-house die shop
Creating forgings for the mining industry is about understanding the environment in which miners operate–the cold dampness and limited visibility that characterize conditions 10,000 feet underground.
Clifford-Jacobs Forging engineers its products so that operators grappling with conditions like that can make them perform. In mining, avoiding delays and downtime can make all the difference, and the powerful, dependable standard and custom steel forgings from Clifford-Jacobs give you the advantage you need.
Next time, be precise about your forgings. Demand Clifford-Jacobs Forging.
Creating forgings for the mining industry is about understanding the environment in which miners operate–the cold dampness and limited visibility that characterize conditions 10,000 feet underground.
Clifford-Jacobs Forging engineers its products so that operators grappling with conditions like that can make them perform. In mining, avoiding delays and downtime can make all the difference, and the powerful, dependable standard and custom steel forgings from Clifford-Jacobs give you the advantage you need.
Next time, be precise about your forgings. Demand Clifford-Jacobs Forging.
ENERGY
CJ Forge - IMT Forge
Harnessing energy is one of the toughest jobs imaginable requiring tools generated by the very best die forging process–the kind that only Clifford-Jacobs Forging can deliver.
But it requires even more. Whether miles out to sea on an oil platform, in a remote field of wind turbines, or in reservoirs of natural gas, Clifford-Jacobs Forging has unparalleled experience in and around the energy industry.
It’s the strongest asset we have to use in producing the most powerful tools in your toolbox. Whether you need a standard or custom forging, we know your job is hard–but the choice is easy. Clifford-Jacobs Forging.
But it requires even more. Whether miles out to sea on an oil platform, in a remote field of wind turbines, or in reservoirs of natural gas, Clifford-Jacobs Forging has unparalleled experience in and around the energy industry.
It’s the strongest asset we have to use in producing the most powerful tools in your toolbox. Whether you need a standard or custom forging, we know your job is hard–but the choice is easy. Clifford-Jacobs Forging.
Defense
CJ Forge - IMT Forge
We have the capability to forge a wide variety of metals and alloys producing an array of defense products from aircraft to tanks to guided missiles.
Using our state-of-the-art engineering and manufacturing technologies –with a full range of inspection and testing equipment to ensure absolute reliability and accuracy – IMT is the preferred source for some of the world’s largest defense contractors.
Using our state-of-the-art engineering and manufacturing technologies –with a full range of inspection and testing equipment to ensure absolute reliability and accuracy – IMT is the preferred source for some of the world’s largest defense contractors.
People
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Paris Air Show 2025
About
We use the highest-quality materials expertly engineered to fit each customer’s individual needs from standard to custom die forgings. And our ready supply of raw materials and strategic location means we deliver faster.
From giant machines tunneling deep into the earth to military planes on the forefront of the battle, you’ll find our standard and custom steel forgings behind some of the best-known names in off-highway/construction equipment, mining, forestry, energy, railway, and aerospace industries.
Even more crucial than the parts themselves are the relationships we have forged with our customers–allowing us to truly understand and meet their needs every time. The dedication and skill of every Clifford-Jacobs Forging employee allow us to make quality job number one and to maintain the long-lasting customer relationships we earn with this commitment to excellence.
It was still early in the 20th century when W.E.C. “Cass” Clifford and David B. Jacobs established a new steel forging enterprise in Urbana, Illinois. The company’s 1919 founding set the stage for big success, although not without some tough challenges along the way.
In 1923, Clifford Jacobs Forging’s plant was destroyed by fire, prompting a move to nearby Champaign–Clifford-Jacobs’s home to this day. In the days following the fire, the company temporarily conducted business out of a boxcar, but quickly got operations back to full capacity, only to see the Great Depression hit six years later. The company was forced to cut back production to two days a week, but refused to give in to economic conditions and fought its way through the tough times–at one point operating with a single employee, who worked with Jacobs to fill an order from Chevrolet for 300 service hubs at a mere 50 cents apiece.
Unimpeded, the two men continued to cut, forge and trim parts, controlling shipping costs by personally delivering them to the local train station by wheelbarrow.
In the late 1930s, the partners ordered what was then the largest commercial forging hammer in North America–a 25,000-pound, steam-driven hammer that Jacobs himself helped to design. Soon thereafter, their courage, hard work and optimism were rewarded when America sought the company’s support for the effort to win World War II. Throughout the war years, Clifford-Jacobs hammered out thousands of tons of steel forgings for tanks, cannons, and armament–even forging a critical part for the 105-millimeter Howitzers that saved Egypt from falling to General Rommel’s forces.
The company’s outstanding performance in the war effort earned it a reputation for excellence as a defense supplier that continues to this day, with Clifford-Jacobs now producing many of the transmission gear forgings for the Apache and Chinook helicopters, as well as die forgings for a variety of other weapons, including the M-1 Abrams tank, the F-18 Navy Fighter and the F-22 Joint Strike Fighter.
Today’s Clifford-Jacobs Forging is capable, multifaceted, versatile, and innovative. Our customers trust us to forge parts for the most challenging tasks on the planet–from the harvesting of renewable forests, to the operation of giant equipment tunneling deep below the surface of the Earth, to the soaring defense of freedom high in the air.
From giant machines tunneling deep into the earth to military planes on the forefront of the battle, you’ll find our standard and custom steel forgings behind some of the best-known names in off-highway/construction equipment, mining, forestry, energy, railway, and aerospace industries.
Even more crucial than the parts themselves are the relationships we have forged with our customers–allowing us to truly understand and meet their needs every time. The dedication and skill of every Clifford-Jacobs Forging employee allow us to make quality job number one and to maintain the long-lasting customer relationships we earn with this commitment to excellence.
It was still early in the 20th century when W.E.C. “Cass” Clifford and David B. Jacobs established a new steel forging enterprise in Urbana, Illinois. The company’s 1919 founding set the stage for big success, although not without some tough challenges along the way.
In 1923, Clifford Jacobs Forging’s plant was destroyed by fire, prompting a move to nearby Champaign–Clifford-Jacobs’s home to this day. In the days following the fire, the company temporarily conducted business out of a boxcar, but quickly got operations back to full capacity, only to see the Great Depression hit six years later. The company was forced to cut back production to two days a week, but refused to give in to economic conditions and fought its way through the tough times–at one point operating with a single employee, who worked with Jacobs to fill an order from Chevrolet for 300 service hubs at a mere 50 cents apiece.
Unimpeded, the two men continued to cut, forge and trim parts, controlling shipping costs by personally delivering them to the local train station by wheelbarrow.
In the late 1930s, the partners ordered what was then the largest commercial forging hammer in North America–a 25,000-pound, steam-driven hammer that Jacobs himself helped to design. Soon thereafter, their courage, hard work and optimism were rewarded when America sought the company’s support for the effort to win World War II. Throughout the war years, Clifford-Jacobs hammered out thousands of tons of steel forgings for tanks, cannons, and armament–even forging a critical part for the 105-millimeter Howitzers that saved Egypt from falling to General Rommel’s forces.
The company’s outstanding performance in the war effort earned it a reputation for excellence as a defense supplier that continues to this day, with Clifford-Jacobs now producing many of the transmission gear forgings for the Apache and Chinook helicopters, as well as die forgings for a variety of other weapons, including the M-1 Abrams tank, the F-18 Navy Fighter and the F-22 Joint Strike Fighter.
Today’s Clifford-Jacobs Forging is capable, multifaceted, versatile, and innovative. Our customers trust us to forge parts for the most challenging tasks on the planet–from the harvesting of renewable forests, to the operation of giant equipment tunneling deep below the surface of the Earth, to the soaring defense of freedom high in the air.
