Metal Stamping
The industrial sector relies on metal stamping suppliers to create diverse components for their machinery and equipment or to aid them in specific operational processes. It is a quick, reliable, and effective way to produce intricate shapes from sheet metal.
The affordability, quality, and manufacturing speed that metal stamping offers are the major reasons why many industries choose this process to develop durable parts and products.
The history of metal stamping
Metal stamping evolved from the use of a stamping iron or hammer to create shapes on coins to the development of a screw press in the 14th century. Today, this metal forming technique is executed using more modern equipment and processes.
What is metal stamping?
Metal stamping also known as sheet metal stamping, involves the use of a stamping press and dies (tooling) to transform sheet metal into your chosen shape or design. The die surface and the tool use diverse techniques to work the metal until the desired shape or form is achieved.
Die refers to the tooling used in developing the final form of a workpiece. This manufacturing process is capable of supporting medium to high volume metal parts production projects or requirements at affordable prices.
Metal stamping techniques
The low-cost, high-speed, high precision manufacturing processes associated with metal stamping involve the application of diverse techniques, such as:
Blanking
The blanking process involves the removal of a workpiece from primary material to create the desired form. Unlike punching, the removed workpiece becomes the desired shape or blank.
Punching
This technique refers to the use of a die and a punch to cut sheet metal into the required form. During punching, the punch enters the material attached to the die and dispels pieces of metal to create the desired form in the remaining workpiece.
Coining
This technique involves the placement of the material between a die and a press or punch. The material is squeezed with extreme force during the press stroke to generate fine features and tolerances on the surfaces of parts.
Bending
Bending refers to processes that form sheet metal into desired bent shapes, which are generally the L, U, or V-shapes. The bending process is applied above the material’s yield point and around a single axis to form the desired shape.
Flanging
The flanging process involves the use of a die and a flange or flares produced by a flanging tooling section on a workpiece. The flange portion of the tooling and die form the desired shape in the workpiece.
Drawing/Forming
The drawing and forming stamping process involves the use of compressive force to form sheet metal into a cavity or produce a shaped form by wrapping the workpiece over the desired shape in the die.
Embossing
The embossing process involves the use of a die and a pressing or stamping machine to apply the shaped die onto the material. The embossed pattern or designed form is then imprinted on the workpiece.
Curling
The curling process is used to eliminate sharp edges or form sharp edges into hollow rings according to a specific design. Once performed, curling also increases the moment of inertia at the curled end of the workpiece.
Piercing
The piercing process involves punching or cutting out holes of closed shapes in a workpiece. The punched-out portion is discarded and the pierced pattern forms the end-use part.
These diverse metal stamping techniques are done individually and can be combined or done in multiple operations to form the intricate parts a project requires. The peculiarities of individual projects are the major determining factors when choosing which metal stamping techniques to apply.
For example, a simple bent design can be developed using bending while intricate tooling sections may combine flanging and piercing or any one of the other techniques outlined above.
Types of metal stamping
Pictured above: An exhaust tip manufactured by CHENGDU JINGBANG.
The different types of metal stamping utilize the diverse techniques that are applied to produce a finished part with high quality standards. There are three major types of metal stamping, and they are – Progressive die stamping, Deep draw stamping, and Fourslide stamping.
Progressive die stamping
With progressive stamping (also referred to as prog die stamping), we move strip metal through a progressive stamping press, where it passes from one station to the next. Each station performs a specific function, including forming, punching, bending, and cutting the metal.
In most cases, progressive stamping requires the use of multiple stations or stages, especially when a project involves complex parts. Progressive stamping offers the advantages of a quick turnaround and the creation of repeated, uniform pieces. It also has the lowest labor cost for each stamping type.
Deep draw stamping
Deep drawing is a technique that uses a punch to feed a blank into a die. It works best for projects in which a customer needs extreme depths on the part shape. Generally, parts with sweeping and deep shapes are used in the Automotive and Aerospace Industries. Deep drawing uses less raw material than other stamping processes. It also works well for producing less-complicated pieces at high volume.
Fourslide stamping
Fourslide stamping is a metalworking process that simplifies the creation of complex parts. It uses four tools that each bend the metal into the required shape simultaneously. While fourslide stamping doesn’t create pieces with as much uniformity as progressive stamping, it makes changing or adjusting the design easier when a project requires many parts with different bends.
Which metal stamping process is right for your project?
Metal stamping is a popular manufacturing process for developing parts with tight tolerances using sheet metal, like steel, copper, stainless steel, and aluminum. You can take advantage of metal stamping to manufacture products across diverse industries such as:
- Automotive
- Agricultural parts
- Aerospace
- Electronics
- Home appliances
- Lighting
- Healthcare
- Defense
- Telecommunications
Examples of stamping products
Pictured above: A chair leg cup manufactured by The Federal Group.
- Brackets
- Brake lever
- Bread cloche
- Conveyor cup
- Conveyor equipment
- Exhaust tips
- Exterior panels
- File cabinets
- Grating
- Radiant heaters
- Housings
- Ladder step
- Laptop and computer housing
- Leg cup / cap
- Pierced nut
- Plow discs
- Shelving
- Small appliances
- Springs
- Stair treads
- Stove top
- Toaster ovens
- Trailer bracket
- Washers
- Water fountains
A few factors play important roles in determining the correct metal stamping process and techniques to use. These factors include the manufacturing budget, shape and size of the manufactured part, production speed, quality, and production volume. Types of Metal Stamping:
Progressive Stamping:
For producing complex patterns in the automotive, aerospace, defense, and home-appliance industries.
Used for low to large-volume manufacturing.
Fourslide Stamping:
For producing domestic or home-appliance items, agricultural parts, and spare parts.
Supports mid to large-volume production runs.
Deep Draw Stamping:
Uses less material than the others and is applied in the automotive, aerospace, and home-appliance industries.
Supports low to mid-volume production runs.
Choosing the customization route
The table above does not account for the different scenarios every manufacturer faces when looking to apply metal stamping to develop quality stamping parts. In scenarios where your requirements are specific to your company and your industry’s standards, regulations, and needs, speaking with one of our Sales Engineers to help you with your project becomes the only decision to make.
CHENGDU JINGBANG custom metal stamping services include:
- The ideation phase – when your industry-specific needs, design requirements, and project goals are discussed to determine the best and correct techniques to be used in the stamping process for a given part
- The design phase – this involves choosing the metal stamping process and designing the required dies or patterns needed to produce optimized parts using computer-aided design (CAD) software
- The production phase – we employ our proprietary cutting-edge machinery to develop intricate or complex designs according to your project requirements
- The implementation phase – here, we provide the after-sales services you need to ensure the produced items are compatible with your systems
Pictured above: A water fountain reservoir manufactured by CHENGDU JINGBANG.
Learn more about our metal stamping services and capabilities
Equipment
- Multiple presses with various shapes and sizes
- From 5 to 800 tons
- Multiple openings, beds, strokes, and speeds
- Latest technology feeders to handle material of any weight
Capabilities
- Stainless steel between 7 and 30 gauge
- Tolerances to .0015 inches
- Single and progressive dies
- State-of-the-art die and tool shop with EDM capabilities
Kickstart a metal stamping project today
At CHENGDU JINGBANG, fulfilling your metal stamping parts requirements is important to us. These requirements may vary from simplistic projects to creating intricate components for your light and heavy types of machinery.
Whatever your industry-specific case may be, our metal stamping services are designed to optimize the production of the parts you need to meet your organization’s goals.
Get started with metal stamping by speaking to a Sales Engineer today.