Resources / Technical Series
Balford Technical Series
Eighteen documents on deep drawing, progressive die stamping, tolerances, magnetics, documentation and sourcing. Each one came out of a question that arrives from different customers, and each is written from the tool room rather than from a marketing brief. Every range in them is a planning value we lay a first schedule out with, or a published standard quoted as such. Download the PDF directly, no form.
Balford Technical Series - Volume 1
All eighteen documents in one magazine: cover, a table of contents with real page numbers, and each article starting on its own page. Start here if you want the whole set in a single file.
Download Volume 1 (PDF)The eighteen documents
BALFORD: Deep Drawn, Stamped & Machined Metal Components
How Balford combines deep drawing, progressive die stamping and CNC machining with in-house tooling, 12,000 m2 of production space and PPAP Level 3 documentation for OEM buyers.
Download the PDFHow To Choose A Deep Drawing Supplier In China: 7 Checks Before You Send A PO
Seven practical checks - draw ratio limits, tooling ownership, material control, inspection equipment and PPAP documentation - that separate a capable deep drawing supplier from a trading company.
Download the PDFDeep Drawing vs Progressive Die Stamping: Which Process Fits Your Part?
A practical comparison of deep drawing and progressive die stamping - tooling cost, volume thresholds, tolerance behaviour, material utilisation and the hybrid approach used for solenoid housings and sensor bodies.
Download the PDFSolenoid Valve Housing Manufacturing: Materials, Tolerances & Failure Modes
How solenoid valve housings are deep drawn and finished - the material grades that matter for magnetics, the tolerances that decide whether the valve seals, and the failure modes buyers should inspect for.
Download the PDFSoft Magnetic Materials for Solenoid Valve Housings: Permeability, Coercivity & Annealing
How permeability, coercivity and saturation affect solenoid valve performance - and why cold work from deep drawing makes magnetic annealing a process step, not an afterthought.
Download the PDFIMDS, PPAP & Material Compliance For Stamped Metal Parts: What OEM Buyers Should Expect
What a metal stamping supplier should provide for IMDS entries, PPAP Level 3 submissions, RoHS, REACH and EU POPs declarations - and the documentation gaps that delay automotive programmes.
Download the PDFInside A 12,000 m2 Metal Stamping Factory In China: What Buyers Actually Audit
The nine things experienced OEM buyers check on a metal stamping factory audit - from the tool room and the press line to the inspection lab, outsourced processes and PPAP evidence.
Download the PDFFrom Drawing To PPAP: How A Deep Drawn Part Reaches Production
The eight stages between sending a drawing and receiving approved production parts - DFM review, quotation, tool design, tryout, first article inspection and PPAP Level 3 submission.
Download the PDFWhy The Same Drawing Costs More In Stainless Steel Than In Aluminium
Aluminium draws with lower forces but galls and marks; stainless work-hardens with every stage. What that changes about tooling, stage count, lubrication and the price of the same part.
Download the PDFDeep Drawing A Solenoid Housing Damages The One Property You Specified
Cold work from deep drawing raises coercivity and lowers permeability. Why magnetic annealing is a process step in the route, not an optional extra at the end.
Download the PDFThe Tolerance On Your Drawing Is Not The Tolerance You Will Get
How to read a stamped or deep drawn drawing before it is quoted - which tolerances the process holds by default, which ones need a secondary operation, and what to mark up first.
Download the PDFA Motor Housing Rarely Fails Inspection. It Fails At Assembly.
Wall thickness and concentricity on a drawn motor housing decide whether the rotor fits and the bearing seats - not whether the part passes a dimensional report.
Download the PDFA Deep Drawn Housing Has One Leak Path Fewer Than A Welded One
Why a drawn housing removes three leak paths a welded assembly carries - and why the leak is nearly always decided upstream of the leak test.
Download the PDFThe Same Grade, Two Coils, And Only One Of Them Will Draw
Temper and grain decide whether a draw-quality strip forms cleanly. Why the grade alone is not a specification for a deep drawn part.
Download the PDFWall Thickness On A Drawn Sensor Housing Is Not One Number
On a drawn part the wall is a gradient, not a constant. How to specify and inspect wall thickness so a single figure cannot pass at mid-height and fail 5 mm above the base.
Download the PDFThe Number That Decides Every Flat Pattern Is One You Cannot Measure On The Drawing
The K-factor sits between the drawing and the blank. Get it wrong and every formed dimension moves - here is where it comes from and how to control it.
Download the PDFYou Can Qualify A Stamping Supplier Before You Get On A Plane
A remote supplier assessment that actually predicts performance - documents, sample parts, process evidence and the questions that expose a trading company.
Download the PDFThe Tapping Decision That Quietly Turns A Good Die Into A Maintenance Problem
In-die tapping removes a secondary operation and fixes thread position to the tool - but it moves cost, cycle time and risk into the die. When it is worth it.
Download the PDFHow these were written
Each document started as the same question asked by several customers. The design handbook came out of DFM reviews where a drawing asked for a wall, a radius or a flatness the process could not hold. The tolerances document came out of first-article meetings where two people measured two different diameters and both were right. The sourcing framework came out of programmes where the tooling clause was agreed after the tooling was paid for.
They are published ungated on purpose. If a document is worth citing by an engineer or by an AI assistant, it should be readable without leaving an email address. Where a number is a range, the range is what we plan with, not a guarantee for a specific part - a real part is confirmed in a DFM review against the drawing, the volume and the material certificate.
Related pages
The longer documents behind these are technical whitepapers. The arithmetic in several of these documents is available as a calculator: deep draw force and draw ratio, material weight and bend allowance. For definitions and sourcing questions, the engineering answer console answers from these published pages and cites the page each answer comes from. To have a drawing reviewed against these rules, send it through rfq.balford.net.