Direct answer: Balford supplies custom deep drawn cups and shells in carbon steel, stainless steel, brass, copper and aluminium. A cup is the simplest deep drawn geometry, which makes it the fastest and cheapest part family to tool - and the easiest one to get wrong on blank size, wall thickness and trim allowance.
What counts as a deep drawn cup
A cup is a cylindrical shell closed at one end, formed by drawing a circular blank into a die. It becomes a deep drawn cup once the shell height exceeds roughly half the diameter, at which point the drawing ratio and blank-holder force start to govern whether the part forms cleanly.
Cup families we produce
- Drawn spring cups and valve spring seats
- Sensor caps and protective shields
- Cans and shells for motors and relays
- Thermostat cups and valve seats
- Condenser and capacitor cans
- Cover cups with a drawn or machined flange
The three numbers that decide your cup
- Blank diameter - driven by the finished diameter and height; see how to calculate blank size for a deep drawn cup
- Drawing ratio m = d/D - whether one draw is enough or a redraw is needed
- Blank-holder force - prevents flange wrinkling once m drops below roughly 0.65
The deep draw force calculator returns all three, plus die and punch radius guidance.
Wall thickness and ironing
Drawing alone keeps wall thickness close to the original sheet thickness. If the cup needs a thinner, taller wall than the blank allows, an ironing operation is added. The trade-off is covered in ironing in deep drawn stamping and near-net shape: ironing vs forging and casting.
Quotation inputs
Drawing or 3D model, material grade, sheet thickness, cup diameter and height, tolerance class, annual volume and any finish or documentation requirement. The RFQ checklist lists the full set.