News

Aluminum stamping grade selection comes down to three alloys on most drawings: 5052, 6061 and 6063. This guide compares how each one behaves under a press, explains why the temper suffix changes the answer more than the alloy number does, and turns the comparison into drawing callouts and RFQ questions.

Blanking and piercing are both shearing cuts made by the same punch and die in one press stroke, yet the blanked outline and the pierced hole carry their size in opposite ways. This guide follows the size carrier, the clearance arithmetic and the burr direction, then turns all three into drawing callouts and inspection questions worth asking before a die is cut.

Long rails, channels and frames sit on the border between two processes. Roll forming bends a coil a few degrees at a time into a constant section; progressive stamping builds each part in one die. This guide compares tolerance, tooling and volume behaviour, then gives the section checks that settle the route.

Springback is the elastic share of every formed bend coming back once the punch withdraws. This guide covers where that recovery comes from, the five variables that decide how far a part moves, prediction methods, and the order in which overbend, die compensation, restriking and material flow control should be applied.

Bend radius is a forming limit rather than a drawing detail. This guide covers the inside and outside radius convention, the K-factor behind bend allowance and bend deduction, published minimum radii by material and thickness, grain direction, hole-to-bend clearance, and the springback that shows up after the ram lifts.

Automotive metal stamping programs are approved on evidence, not on samples. This guide walks through the PPAP package a customer asks for, the five inspection gates that produce it, the record fields behind traceability, and the eight checks worth completing before a first article is submitted.