Regulating the deformed metal's fl ow is an important condition for the knurling process. To achieve this, the knurling tool should have a special intake part, where all the main work of plastic deformation would be realized. Depending on the confi guration, the fi ns can be knurled in two ways: either by a radial feed of the tool or an axial feed of a billet (package of billets) or a tool. Using the radial feed method, most types of piece gear parts can be knurled using a more rational radial fl ow of the deformed metal. However, this process is usually characterized by low productivity. The axial knurling method is signifi cantly more productive. In this case, due to the undesirable axial fl ow of the deformed metal, it fl ows to the ends of the billets. As a result, it becomes necessary to introduce additional machining operations and metal waste increases. The article provides an analysis of existing methods of forming fi ns on a cylindrical surface. The authors analyze the advantages and disadvantages of applying the methods in modern conditions, select the most appropriate method, and substantiate the principles of developing tools for cold knurling of fi ns. The purpose of the work was to develop a tool for determining the forces acting in the cold knurling process and study their infl uence on the characteristics of the fi nal products.