Metal stamping and a wide range of fasteners go hand-in-hand for many manufacturing applications because metal stamping is often used to create a variety of shapes and products that, in turn, are fastened together. Metal stampings are used in a variety of industries because parts can be turned out at a very high rate, reducing overall production times and costs.
What is metal stamping? It’s a process that uses dies to transform flat metal sheets into shapes. There are literally millions of parts created by metal stamping because it is an efficient and cost-effective process used in manufacture parts for everything from appliances to automobiles. While metal stamping is used for producing parts for large machines, metal sheets can also be molded into shapes for household items like pots and pans.
There are the two basic types of stamping presses — mechanical and hydraulic. These metal stamping machines cast, punch, cut and shape metal sheets. To create three-dimensional shapes, a flat sheet of metal is inserted into a die and then a mechanical press is activated to create the object. Sheets of up to 1/4 inch thickness are molded into specified shapes and sizes. Aluminum, copper, zinc and stainless steel are some of the metals used in metal stamping.
Metal stamping machines perform a series of operations including blanking, metal coining, and fourslide forming. Blanking (also called fine blanking) is usually the first die in a series of dies that leads to one completed part. Metal coining (as the title implies) can be used to create coins, but it has other uses as well. During the fourslide forming process the slide, or ram, maintains movement to and from a motionless table called a press bed. The die shapes metal parts from the inserted sheet metal. The upper component of the die connects to the press slide, and the lower component connects to the press bed. A die component called the punch performs the necessary shaping operation by pushing the sheet metal through the die.
While we do not provide metal stamping services here at Electronic Fasteners, we do work with several leading stamping companies throughout New England. Our customers like the convenience of “one-stop shopping” for their manufacturing components such as fasteners and the stamped parts they hold together to create finished products. That’s why we’re happy to provide our customers with assistance and support in procuring just the right metal stamped parts for their application.
