AbstractThe forces required to compress billets of crystalline polymers below their melting points were determined and related to the initial billet dimensions and amount of deformation. The studies involved the use of three high‐density polyethylenes and an acetal copolymer. The results were found to obey an equation derived from plasticity theory using, at each temperature and for each material, a single parameter very nearly equal to the yield strength determined in ordinary tensile tests, and having the same temperature dependence. An empirical equation that describes the pressure required to form cups by backward extrusion of metal billets is also successful for the same process with polymers, using the yield parameter from the compression experiments. Cold working causes a high degree of orientation, increased clarity, and greatly increased tensile strengt