4 Metal Stamping Issues To Consider

If the design team for your industrial facility has suggested metal stamping, it's worth considering. Stamping your pieces can be useful for in-house tracking and inventory purposes, while the process can also be beneficial for customers for aesthetic or other reasons. However, before you agree to it, think about these stamping issues to ensure completed pieces are customer-ready.

1. Evaluating Necessity

Having metal stamped is likely to require a bump up in fabrication costs. However, the cost shouldn't be an issue compared to the efficiency and increased sales that could result from the process. Just be sure that there is a clear, smart reason to stamp your pieces. For instance, if you're planning to stamp pieces with numbers to better facilitate customer calls for replacement parts, that's beneficial to both you and customers. However, if you're only stamping metal with the name of your company for vanity or branding reasons, you and your team should discuss whether other branding methods are more suitable.

2. Using Appropriate Metals

Because stamping requires pressure on blank metal sheets and pieces, you may need to reconsider the metal materials you use for your pieces. Cold-rolled steel, for instance, is generally preferable if you intend for your customers to see the stamped pieces. This steel type generally looks smoother, has fewer surface imperfections and other benefits that the warm-rolled variety does not. If stamping is only done for internal components customers will never see, warm-rolled steel could be a possibility.

You may want to ask for shop assistance when choosing metals if you're unsure of what to use. In fact, depending on your exact project, certain alloys may be better to use because of their malleability, which is required for a good stamp.

3. Checking Font and Size

The numbers and letters stamped on each piece need to be legible. Do your best to start with small samples so you can discuss with others whether the font and size are appropriate.

4. Considering Finishes

To preserve the numbers or letters stamped into your pieces, you'll want to carefully consider different finishes. You may think about hot blackening, powder coating and other finishes that will protect the piece and the stamping that has been done to avoid fading.

With these stamping suggestions, you can better plan for this kind of fabrication. Working with a shop and your own design team, you should end up satisfied with how the pieces look. For more information, contact a company like Precision Stamping.

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