THE PROCESS

Metal stamping is a cold-forming process that makes use of dies and stamping presses to transform sheet metal into different shapes. Pieces of flat sheet metal, typically referred to as blanks, is fed into a sheet metal stamping press that uses a tool and die surface to form the metal into a new shape. Production facilities and metal fabricators offering stamping services will place the material to be stamped between die sections, where the use of pressure will shape and shear the material into the desired final shape for the product or component. This article describes the metal stamping process and steps, presents the types of stamping presses typically employed, looks at the advantages of stamping compared to other fabrication processes, and explains the different types of stamping operations and their applications.