Secondary operations
A stamped or deep drawn part is rarely finished when it leaves the press. Balford completes the operations that change geometry inside our own plant — deburring, tapping, CNC machining, assembly and grinding — and manages heat treatment, plating, passivation and other specialty finishes through audited partners. You get one order, one delivery and one set of documents.
| Operation | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Deburring and edge break | Safe handling, coating adhesion and clean mating surfaces |
| Tapping (in-die or secondary) | Thread pitch and depth control without re-fixturing the part |
| CNC turning | Sealing faces, bearing seats and turned steps after drawing |
| CNC milling | Flats, slots, ports and mounting features on formed parts |
| Assembly and sub-assembly | Ready-to-fit assemblies combining stamped, drawn and machined parts |
| Tool room grinding (tooling) | Die plates, punches and inserts to final size and finish |
| Emergency die heat treatment | A small furnace lets a die repair be completed on site instead of waiting on a partner |
| Operation | Why it matters | Control |
|---|---|---|
| Heat treatment: hardening, tempering | Hardness and toughness after forming | Audited partner, certificates returned |
| Annealing and stress relief | Restores ductility between draw stages | Audited partner, hardness data returned |
| Demagnetisation | Controls residual magnetism on solenoid and sensor parts | Audited partner, magnetic readings returned |
| Bulk die and tool heat treatment | Die components hardened and tempered under controlled atmosphere | Audited partner, hardness and microstructure data |
| Passivation (stainless) | Restores corrosion resistance after drawing and machining | Audited partner, certificate and salt-spray data |
| Electropolishing | Removes surface peaks, improves cleanability | Audited partner, Ra report |
| Plating: zinc, zinc-nickel, nickel, chrome | Corrosion protection, conductive or decorative surfaces | Audited partner, thickness and salt-spray data |
| Phosphating and pickling | Pre-treatment for bonding or further forming | Audited partner, process certificate |
| Powder coating and painting | Colour, durability, electrical insulation | Audited partner, colour and adhesion test |
| Slow-wire EDM (tooling) | Ultra-fine finish and taper-critical die details | Audited partner, dimensional report |
Heat treatment and surface finishing run through long-term partners we audit, with agreed process parameters and return documentation for every batch.
We manage the transport, packaging and re-inspection, so the customer deals with Balford rather than with three separate suppliers.
Hardness, coating thickness, appearance and, where specified, salt-spray performance are checked on the instruments listed in our equipment list.
A change of heat-treatment cycle or plating line on a PPAP part is treated as a process change and notified, not absorbed silently.
No. Plating, passivation and electropolishing are performed by audited finishing partners. Machining, grinding, deburring, tapping and assembly run in-house, and we manage sourcing, logistics, inspection and documentation for the outsourced steps.
Heat treatment of production parts — hardening, tempering, annealing, stress relief and demagnetisation — is outsourced to audited partners, and so is bulk heat treatment of dies. A small furnace is kept in-house so an emergency die repair can be finished on site.
Yes. Coating and plating suppliers provide material declarations that we consolidate into the IMDS submission for the part. See the IMDS and material compliance pages linked below.
It adds a logistics leg, so finishing lead time is quoted separately and included in the PPAP timing plan rather than being hidden inside a single number.
Send the drawing with the surface finish, hardness and documentation the part needs, and we will come back with the full process route — in-house and outsourced — and the lead time for each step.
Send your drawing for a DFM review