Capacity & equipment

Machinery & Equipment List

The numbers buyers ask for first: up to 350 t, deep drawing up to Ø250 mm, transfer, progressive and deep-draw tooling, and a complete in-house tool room that machines, wire-cuts and welds its own dies — with a small furnace kept for emergency die repairs and bulk heat treatment handled by audited partners.

Send your drawing See the tool room

350 tMaximum press capacity

Ø250 mmMaximum deep draw diameter

In-houseTool room, EDM, metrology

In-houseMetrology & inspection

OutsourcedHeat treatment, slow-wire EDM, finishes

Capacity at a glance. Balford forms deep drawn and stamped metal parts on presses up to 350 t, with a maximum deep draw diameter of Ø250 mm. Transfer, progressive, compound and single-operation tooling are all designed and built in our own tool room, and tooling-related machining, grinding, EDM, welding and maintenance are carried out in-house. A small furnace is kept for emergency die repairs; bulk heat treatment of tooling and all heat treatment of production parts is performed by audited partners, as are slow-wire EDM and specialty finishes.

Forming and press capacity

Item	Specification	Status
Press capacity	up to 350 t	In-house
Maximum deep draw diameter	Ø250 mm	In-house
Transfer press stamping	Multi-station transfer tooling, part carried between stations	In-house
Progressive die stamping	High-volume strip tooling with carrier web	In-house
Compound, blanking and bending dies	Washers, caps, brackets and formed sheet metal parts	In-house
Deep drawing stages	Multi-stage drawing with inter-stage annealing where needed	In-house
Materials	Carbon steel, stainless steel, brass, copper, aluminium, special alloys	In-house
Press list detail	Number of presses per tonnage band and bed sizes	Available on request

Tool room equipment

Equipment	Role in die making	Status
Internal / external cylindrical grinders	Grinding round die components, punches, pilots, core pins and bushings to final size	In-house
Engine lathes (3 units)	Turning punch blanks, ejector pins, guide posts and tool room components	In-house
CNC lathe (1 unit)	Precision turned components for die and mould assemblies	In-house
CNC milling machines	Die plates, pockets, cavities and mounting features in hardened and pre-hardened steels	In-house
Precision surface grinder	Flat grinding of die plates, strippers and inserts to tight parallelism	In-house
Large surface grinder	Large die plates and tool bodies that do not fit standard machines	In-house
Drilling machines	Dowel, screw and water-line holes across die sets and fixtures	In-house
Medium-speed wire EDM (5 units)	Die openings, punch profiles and contoured sections	In-house
Fast-speed wire EDM (1 unit)	Roughing and vent or slot cutting where finish demand is lower	In-house
EDM hole drilling / perforator	Start holes for wire EDM and small deep precision holes	In-house
Slow-wire EDM	Ultra-fine finish and taper-critical die details	Outsourced partner
Automatic tapping machines	Threading die plates, strippers and parts with consistent pitch and depth	In-house
Die cold welder	Cold-weld repair of die wear, chips and scratches without heat distortion	In-house
Argon arc (TIG) welder	Building up worn edges and repairing tool steel with controlled heat input	In-house
Pneumatic die grinders	Bench and hand finishing of radii, fillets and draw surfaces	In-house
Demagnetizer	Removing residual magnetism after grinding and EDM	In-house
Heat treatment furnace (small)	Emergency hardening and tempering of die components so a repair can be finished on site	In-house (emergency use)
Bulk die and tool heat treatment	Hardening and tempering of die components, with hardness and microstructure documentation returned to us	Outsourced partner

The tool room, photographed

Every machine in the table above stands in Balford's own tool room in Zhuji, Zhejiang. The photographs below were taken on our shop floor — this is the equipment your dies are built, maintained and repaired on.

Balford tool room in Zhuji, Zhejiang, where stamping and deep drawing dies are machined and assembled — **The tool room**Design, machining, assembly and try-out in one room, so a change found at try-out is fixed in hours instead of days.

Wire-cut EDM bay with five medium-speed and one fast-speed wire EDM machine — **Wire-cut EDM bay**Five medium-speed and one fast-speed wire EDM machines cut die openings, punch profiles and contoured sections.

Engine lathe turning a punch blank in the Balford tool room — **Engine lathes — 3 units**Turning punch blanks, ejector pins, guide posts and other tool room components.

CNC lathe used for precision turned components of stamping dies — **CNC lathe — 1 unit**Repeatable precision turning for die and mould assemblies.

Manual milling machine cutting a die plate in the Balford tool room — **Milling machines**Die plates, pockets, cavities and mounting features in hardened and pre-hardened steels.

Radial drilling machine boring dowel and water-line holes in a die set — **Radial drilling machine**Dowel, screw and water-line holes across die sets and fixtures.

Tapping centre threading die plates and strippers in the tool room — **Tapping centre**Threading die plates and strippers with consistent pitch and depth.

Automatic tapping machine threading stamped parts at Balford — **Automatic tapping machine**Repeatable threads in strippers and formed parts, in-die or as a secondary operation.

EDM hole drilling machine cutting start holes for wire EDM — **EDM hole driller**Start holes for wire EDM, plus small deep holes a drill cannot hold.

Precision surface grinder finishing a die plate in the Balford tool room — **Precision surface grinder**Flat grinding of die plates, strippers and inserts to tight parallelism.

Universal cylindrical grinder finishing punches and core pins — **Universal cylindrical grinder**Grinding punches, pilots, core pins and bushings to final size.

Finishing and secondary operations

Operation	Where it runs	Why it matters
Deburring and edge break	In-house	Safe handling, coating adhesion and clean mating surfaces
Tapping (in-die or secondary)	In-house	Thread pitch and depth control without re-fixturing
CNC turning and milling	In-house	Sealing faces, bearing seats and concentricity after drawing
Grinding (tool room)	In-house	Die plates, punches and tooling components to final size
Hardening and tempering (production parts)	Outsourced — qualified partner	Hardness and toughness after forming, with certificates returned to us
Annealing and stress relief (production parts)	Outsourced — qualified partner	Restores ductility between draw stages
Demagnetisation (production parts)	Outsourced — qualified partner	Controls residual magnetism on solenoid and sensor parts
Emergency die heat treatment	In-house (small furnace)	Lets a die repair be finished on site without waiting for a partner
Passivation (stainless)	Outsourced — qualified partner	Restores corrosion resistance after drawing and machining
Electropolishing	Outsourced — qualified partner	Removes surface peaks, improves cleanability
Plating: zinc, zinc-nickel, nickel, chrome	Outsourced — qualified partner	Corrosion protection and conductive or decorative surfaces
Phosphating and pickling	Outsourced — qualified partner	Pre-treatment for bonding or further forming
Powder coating and painting	Outsourced — qualified partner	Colour, durability and electrical insulation

Every outsourced finishing partner sits inside Balford’s audited supplier network. Freight, packaging and inspection between our plant and the finishing partner are managed by us, so the customer receives one order, one delivery and one set of documents — and any process change on a finished part runs through PPAP change control rather than being handled informally.

Measuring and inspection equipment

Instrument	What it verifies	Quantity
2.5D optical measuring projector (3D Family)	Profile, radius, angle and form on drawn and stamped features	1 unit
Instant vision measuring system (flash measurement)	Rapid full-part dimensional checks on small components	In service
Digital height gauge, 0.001 mm resolution	Heights, steps and reference faces	In service
Portable surface roughness tester	Ra / Rz on sealing faces and machined surfaces	1 unit
Rockwell hardness tester	Hardness verification after heat treatment	1 unit
Salt spray test chamber (model 20)	Corrosion resistance on plated, passivated and coated parts	1 unit
Outside micrometers	External diameters and wall thickness	10 units — 7 at the 50 mm range, 1 at the 100 mm range
Three-point bore micrometers	Internal diameters of drawn bores and sleeves	5 units
Inside caliper gauges and plug / go-no-go gauges	Holes, slots and thread fits	Full sets
Concentricity gauge	Coaxiality and runout on housings and sleeves	In service

Dimensional inspection runs against the drawing, and inspection records ship with the parts. Because the gauging is in-house, first article inspection, capability studies, PPAP dimensional results and incoming inspection of outsourced finishes are all measured on the same instruments — which is why we can quote a tolerance and then prove it, rather than forwarding a supplier’s certificate.

Inside the plant: inspection, stores and despatch

The areas a visiting buyer walks through, from in-process inspection to the loading bay. Approved projects are welcome to arrange a plant visit and see them in person.

Machining workshop at Balford with turning, milling and EDM equipment — **Machining workshop**Turning, milling, drilling and EDM under one roof, next to the press shop.

Inspection room with the 2.5D optical projector and gauging at Balford — **Inspection room**The 2.5D optical projector and gauging sit in a temperature-stable room off the shop floor.

Workshop inspection room where stamped parts are checked against the drawing — **Workshop inspection room**Final and in-process inspection, positioned where the parts are actually made.

Sorting room where bulk stamped parts are sorted and counted before packing — **Sorting room**Bulk parts are sorted and counted before packing, with samples pulled for inspection.

Warehouse and stores holding raw coil and finished stamped parts at Balford — **Warehouse and stores**Raw material and finished goods are stored separately, and coil is issued against the work order.

Production office handling order release and scheduling at Balford — **Production office**Order release, scheduling and the paperwork that ships with your parts.

Display cabinet of reference stamped and deep drawn parts at Balford — **Reference parts on display**Sample parts kept on the floor for first-article and customer comparison.

Tooling and production engineers reviewing a try-out stamped part — **Tooling review at the bench**Design, toolmaking and production review a try-out part where the die runs.

Frequently asked questions

What is your maximum press tonnage?

Press capacity at Balford runs up to 350 t, which covers deep drawn housings and stamped parts where the required forming force is set by the draw ratio, material grade and wall thickness.

What is the largest diameter you can deep draw?

Maximum deep draw diameter is Ø250 mm. Above that, the limiting factor is usually the draw depth and material rather than the press, so the part is reviewed case by case during DFM.

Which steps are outsourced?

Heat treatment — hardening, tempering, annealing, stress relief and demagnetisation of production parts, plus bulk heat treatment of dies — and slow-wire EDM, passivation, electropolishing, plating, phosphating and painting. Machining, grinding, medium and fast wire EDM, tapping and welding of tooling run in-house, and a small furnace is kept on site for emergency die repairs.

Can I visit the workshop or see the equipment?

Yes. Equipment lists, tool room photos and — for qualified projects — factory visits or video walkthroughs of the press line and tool room can be arranged through the contact form.

What inspection equipment do you use?

A 2.5D optical measuring projector, an instant vision measuring system, a digital height gauge with 0.001 mm resolution, a portable surface roughness tester, a Rockwell hardness tester and a model 20 salt spray chamber, supported by outside micrometers, three-point bore micrometers, inside caliper gauges, plug and go-no-go gauges and a concentricity gauge.

Tell us the part, we will tell you which machine it runs on

Send the drawing with material, tolerance and annual volume and we will come back with the press, tooling route and estimated capacity for your project.

Send your drawing for a DFM review

Measuring and inspection equipment in detail

The instruments listed above are covered individually, with photographs and what each one is used for, on the inspection lab page.

Metrology detail, and which tolerances a drawn housing can hold, are covered under housing tolerances.

Prototype and short-run work uses the smaller end of the press range — see how single-operation tooling is used for prototyping.