Patent ID: 8387246

Claim:
A method of producing a metallic shaft member for a fluid lubrication bearing apparatus, the metallic shaft member integrally including a shaft portion and a flange portion provided on an end of the shaft portion, the method comprising: forming the shaft portion with a forging process including compressing a shaft material integrally having a region corresponding to the shaft portion and a region corresponding to the flange portion provided on an end of the region corresponding to the shaft portion in an axial direction of the shaft material by mold clamping a set of molds having a constant diameter that is larger than an initial constant diameter of the region of the shaft material corresponding to the shaft portion such that the region corresponding to the shaft portion deforms with an increase in diameter; and forming a concave at a tip face of a tip portion of the region corresponding to the shaft portion by applying compression force to the region corresponding to the flange portion by mold clamping the set of molds and pushing the shaft material against a protrusion at a bottom of a mold of the set of molds, during the forming of the shaft portion with the forging process, such that the tip portion deforms with an increase in diameter by a plastic flow with the forming of the concave, an amount of deformation of the tip portion being uniform in the axial direction.