Making a Business Work When Its in the Red

Posted on: 7 June 2015

If you are a project manager who is new to working in the manufacturing industry, then it is important that you have a basic understanding of the precision metal stamping process. Metal stamping is often used by manufacturers to create custom metal parts that are then used to make their products. Metal stamping is an alternative process to casting and molding, and it is often a cheaper process to utilize.

Here is some basic information for you about the process of creating custom parts using the precision metal stamping process:

Basics of the Metal Stamping Process 

Metal stamping refers to a process that uses a metal stamping machine and a metal blank to stamp out a new metal part. A blank is simply a sheet, wire, or block of raw metal. The blank is fed through the stamping machine and the machine stamps and cuts out the new part with great precision. Stamping requires only an initial setup of a plate to cut your part and then the stamping machine can continually cut out as many parts as required from the same plate.

Materials Used in the Metal Stamping Process

There is a wide variety of metals that can be used in metal stamping presses. Some of the most commonly used metal blanks are made of:

• aluminum
• copper
• ferrous alloys
• non-ferrous alloys
• stainless steel
• steel

In addition, many precious metals can be stamped, such as gold, platinum, and titanium. These metals are often used in the technology and automotive industries. Precision stamping is often used in this way because parts can be accurately stamped very closely together on a blank, and this saves manufacturers money by greatly reducing waste materials.

Factors Affecting the Finished Metal Stamped Part

There are many different factors that affect the resulting product in custom metal forming, including:

• the grain direction of the metal blank
• the hardness of the metal chosen
• the amount of spring-back after stamping
• the size of the forming area

Additionally, the thickness of the metal plays a large part in the final product. Thin metals are easier to stamp and create more precision parts with higher levels of accuracy. 

Conclusion

Now that you have a better understanding about the process of creating custom metal parts via the process of metal stamping, you are able to incorporate this knowledge into all of your future projects that involve custom metal parts. If you have additional questions about the metal stamping process, then you should contact a metal stamping company in your local area, such as Custom Stamping & Mfg Co.