Abstract: To forge billets, the billets are fed end-to-end along a path which leads to a coating tank containing a lubricant and then through a heating station to a forging station. Within the coating tank, the line of billets is made to undergo a change of direction for example by passing over a hump in the feed path, such that an angular separation is created between adjacent end faces of successive billets. In this way, a better coating of the end faces of the billets is achieved.

Abstract: In making a plastic bag having a filling pipe, to overcome the difficulty of separating the overlying walls of a flattened tube of plastics material, one wall (11b) of the flattened tube (10) is cut to form a flap (17) and the opposite wall (11a) of the flattened tube is cut to form an opening (14), registering with at least a part of the flap; two pairs of clamping members (22, FIG. 4) engage the flap at the location of the opening and are moved to cause the flap (17) to extend out of the plane of the first wall of the tubing; and the filling pipe (26) is then inserted between the pairs of clamping members (22) and on the inner side of the displaced flap to enter the space between the overlying walls of the tube. Thereafter the walls of the flattened tube are sealed around the filling pipe.