Stamping and forming processes

What tolerances can metal stamping achieve?

Sources

1. Metal Stamping Tolerances: Charts & Standards | Balford
   Do these reference values apply to stainless steel and aluminium too? The ranges shift with the material. Stainless steels work-harden and spring back more than mild steel; aluminium forms easily but marks and scratches easily and needs more care in handling. The reference table above is a starting ...
2. Metal Stamping Tolerances: Charts & Standards | Balford
   Metal Stamping and Sheet Metal Tolerances: Charts and Standards Published: February 14, 2024 This article pulls the key points from GB/T13914-2002 (Dimensional Tolerances for Stamping Parts) and applies them to real shop-floor conditions. Meeting tolerance specs is non-negotiable, but you also have ...
3. Sheet Metal Gauge Chart - Gauge to mm and inch
   Two other traps come with the number. A gauge is nominal: the mill tolerance on cold-rolled sheet is not zero, so a "1.2 mm" coil can arrive a few hundredths either side of 1.2 mm. And gauge says nothing about the material condition or the direction of the strip, both of which affect how the part fo...
4. Metal Stamping Tolerances: Reading A Drawing Before Quoting
   Metal Stamping Tolerance Standards: How To Read A Drawing Before Quoting Which tolerances a stamping tool can hold, which ones need machining, and how to read a drawing so the quote matches the part you actually need. Most quotation arguments are tolerance arguments in disguise. A drawing that appli...
5. Surface Finish Chart: Ra Values By Process
   Home › Blog › Metal Stamping Services Engineering Data · Surface Finish Surface Finish Chart: What Ra Value Comes From Which Process Published October 1, 2026 · Balford Technical Team Ra is the number on the drawing, and it is also the most over-specified number on the drawing. A bl...
6. Metal Stamping Tolerances: Reading A Drawing Before Quoting
   In metal stamping, tolerances are process-dependent. Pierced and blanked features in thin material can typically hold tighter tolerances than formed features, because forming adds springback, thinning and radius variation. Hole-to-hole position depends on piloting and strip layout; wall thickness on...

What an engineer still needs from you

• material and material condition (grade, temper)
• material thickness, plus the key diameter, height and wall thickness
• tolerances, burr direction and the visual acceptance standard
• annual volume - it decides whether tooling is single-hit, progressive or transfer
• surface finish, and any secondary machining, annealing or plating

This page is an engineering answer, not a quotation and not a dimensional acceptance. It is generated from Balford's published material and held to the verified company fact sheet.