Progressive die aluminum metal stamping for heat sinks, brackets, housings and clips in 1050, 1060, 3003 and 5052 — aluminum sheet metal stamping with dies built in our own tool room, run on 21 presses from 25 to 110 tons at up to 300 SPM, held to ±0.005 mm on piloted features.
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PARTS WE STAMP
Aluminum lands on the parts where weight and heat matter: heat sinks, battery brackets, housings, covers and clips. These four families cover most of the stamped aluminum parts that run here, and each one has its own temper, die approach and finishing route. Alloy and temper are settled at DFM, because on aluminum the temper moves the bend, not the other way round.
Stamped fin heat sinks, thermal spreaders, base plates and shield cans in 1050 and 1060 dead-soft, usually 0.5 to 2.0 mm. Fins are blanked and formed in the die, not machined, so fin height and spacing stay repeatable coil to coil. Flatness at the mounting face is the feature we inspect, because that is what sets thermal contact.
EV brackets, module frames, busbar supports and mounting plates from 3003-H14 and 5052-H32, 1.0 to 3.0 mm. These are stiffness parts, so the die is built for bend accuracy rather than deep draw, and hole positions for fasteners are piloted so a stacked assembly still lines up.
Shallow drawn housings, enclosures, covers and EMI shields in 3003 and 5052 from 0.5 to 1.5 mm. Aluminum draws without the galling risk of stainless, but the soft surface marks easily, so the die entry is polished and the visible face runs away from the stripper. Anodizing is applied after stamping through a partner line.
Retaining clips, card guides, contact holders and small brackets in 5052 and 6061-T6. This is where we push back: aluminum is not a spring alloy, so a clip that must hold force over millions of cycles gets moved to stainless or phosphor bronze at DFM instead of quoted in aluminum and left to relax.
INSIDE THE PLANT
Real equipment and inspection floor from our Dongguan plant — 25–110T high-speed presses, in-house tool room, and a CMM lab running first-article inspection on every program.
WHERE ALUMINUM GOES WRONG
Aluminum is soft, light and cheap to form, which is exactly why it fails quietly: temper drifts between coils, the surface picks up on tool steel, aluminum blanking at 0.05–0.5 mm rolls a burr instead of cutting one, and a heat sink base twists after forming. Four things we engineer out of custom aluminum stampings before production.
01
The Challenge
Springback scales with yield strength over modulus, and aluminum's modulus is about 69 GPa as an industry figure — roughly a third of steel. Dead-soft 1050 and 1060 barely move, while 5052-H32 and 6061-T6 spring back enough to miss a 90° bend by degrees. Same die, same drawing, two tempers, two different parts.
Our Solution
The die is compensated for the temper named on the PO, and try-out runs on the production coil rather than a sample. Overbend is dialed in per station and formed angles are signed off on a CMM at first article. If a customer switches from O to H32 mid-program, the bend stations are re-cut, not assumed to carry over.
02
The Challenge
Soft aluminum smears onto tool steel, and the oxide that reforms in seconds is abrasive. Once pickup starts, every stroke drags the surface and the part comes out with score marks and a rising burr. On dead-soft 1050 the smear shows up in a few thousand strokes if the die is left bare.
Our Solution
Forming inserts are hardened and polished, and the stations that see the most sliding get a coating rather than bare tool steel. Lubricant is matched to the alloy and temper instead of being carried over from a steel job, and the tool room polishes on counted strokes. Surface and dimension are checked in the same inspection loop.
03
The Challenge
At 0.05 to 0.5 mm, aluminum shears differently from steel: it tears before it cuts cleanly, burr rolls over on the soft side and slugs pull back up through the die. A punch that is a fraction dull leaves a rolled edge that measures in tolerance and still jams the customer's assembly.
Our Solution
Die clearance is set per gauge rather than per material family, and punches are ground on a counted-stroke schedule. Slug control uses a die entry geometry that keeps the slug from climbing, plus an air or mechanical eject where the cut is long. Burr height and the acceptable burr face are fixed on the drawing at DFM.
04
The Challenge
A long heat sink base or a bracket with two bends does not come off the press flat by default: residual stress from blanking and overbending shows up as twist, and on a thermal part twist is a contact-resistance problem. Soft surfaces also mark at every transfer and in the deburr bowl.
Our Solution
Flatness is a controlled dimension on the drawing, not a note: bases are checked on a surface plate or CMM and the straightening station is adjusted until the part sits. Where the part is cosmetic or thermal, deburring moves to a controlled process and parts run in trays rather than bulk to stop the scratches.
HOW WE STAMP IT
The values we quote on aluminum work and inspect against at first article — matched to what the alloy and temper can actually hold, part by part, not to a rounded number on a brochure.
| Specification Parameter | What We Hold | How It Is Controlled |
|---|---|---|
| Strip thickness | 0.05–3.0 mm | Coil certificate plus in-process thickness check |
| Positional tolerance | ±0.005 mm on piloted features | First-article CMM at 0.001 mm resolution |
| Stamping speed | up to 300 SPM | Thin-gauge aluminum on the high-speed frames |
| Press fleet | 21 presses, 25–110 tons | Light heat sinks and covers on the fast frames, 3.0 mm plate on the larger presses |
| Dies | 100% designed and built in-house | 30 machining machines behind the tool room |
| Quality system | IATF 16949:2016 · ISO 9001:2015 · ISO 14001:2015 | PPAP, mill certificates, lot traceability |
| Inspection | 20 inspection stations | CMM, optical and profile, in-line CCD on fin and hole features |
| Surface and finishing | deburr, ultrasonic clean, laser mark in-house | Anodizing and chromate conversion coating through approved partner lines, first-article and lot checks |
Aluminum stamping dies designed, machined and assembled under one roof — where springback, pickup and burr are actually solved rather than blamed on the material.
Thin aluminum heat sinks and covers on the high-speed frames at up to 300 SPM; brackets and plates from 1.5 to 3.0 mm on the larger presses.
First-article CMM at 0.001 mm, optical and profile for fin geometry and edges, in-line CCD on the features the drawing controls.
Vibratory deburring, ultrasonic cleaning and laser marking in-house; anodizing, conversion coating and spray painting handled by approved partner lines.
From Drawing to Production
Alloy and temper, bend radii, burr side, flatness call-out and finishing route settled before a die is cut.
Progressive layout combining blanking, forming and any straightening stations; die machined and assembled in our tool room.
Run on the production coil and temper, formed angles and flatness verified on the CMM, PPAP documentation raised.
Counted-stroke tool maintenance, in-line vision on critical features, SPC on the dimensions the drawing controls.
STRIP AND SUPPLY
We are a stamper, not a metal distributor — we do not sell aluminum. Stamped aluminum is quoted as material plus conversion: we choose the alloy and temper the part needs, and the price is coil plus press time. Where a drawing lands as aluminum stamped parts with no grade on it, we ask before we quote.
O, H14, H32 and T6 do not run the same way. Dead-soft 1050 and 1060 draw deep and mark easily — that is the deep-drawable aluminium strip call for housings and cans; 3003-H14 gives stiffness with moderate springback; 5052-H32 holds bends but cracks at tight radii; 6061-T6 resists forming. A temper change mid-program is a die change, not a substitution.
Mill finish is the default when the part gets anodized or painted after stamping, because the finish goes on last and covers handling marks. A stamped aluminum sheet that will be anodized has to leave the press without a stripper rub, so the visible face runs away from the stripper. Pre-painted coil skips the paint line but the die has to protect the coating at every bend; where the part is fed from stamped aluminum sheets rather than coil, blanking and straightening are quoted as separate lines.
Either you supply coil to your own specification, or we procure the alloy, temper, width and surface you name and quote material plus conversion with the mill certificate on file. If the alloy is still open, we compare 1050, 1060, 3003, 5052 and 6061 against the bend and stiffness the part needs before tooling.
Grades we run
BEFORE YOU SEND THE DRAWING
Eight checks worth making on custom aluminum stamping drawings before tooling — the ones that decide whether the part runs at rate or fights the die for a year.
INDUSTRY CASES
Oct 20 · 1 min read
A set-top box OEM hit a thermal ceiling in a slimmer enclosure. Their extruded heat sink was being replaced with a stamped copper fin part, but the first supplier run…
Oct 20 · 1 min read
An appliance timer control builder was staging two suppliers: brass springs from one, silver contact rivets from another, and a manual riveting cell of its own. At…
Oct 20 · 1 min read
A regulator maker's stamped clips shipped in gridded trays, three per cell. In transit the clips shifted, nested, and tangled; operators picked up two or three at a…
ORDERING & FAQ
From drawing to delivered parts: a four-step path with engineering review at the front and 100% dimensional inspection at the back — then the questions buyers ask us most.
Step 1
Submit CAD & Specs
Send 2D/3D drawings (STEP, DWG, PDF) with quantity, material, and tolerance requirements.
Step 2
DFM Feedback & Quotation
Our engineering team conducts DFM analysis and follows up with a competitive quote after the review.
Step 3
Precision Manufacturing
High-speed progressive die stamping, secondary forming, finishing, and surface treatment per your specifications.
Step 4
100% QC & Express Shipping
100% dimensional inspection, anti-corrosion packaging, and global express delivery.
Either. We are a stamper, not a metal distributor, so we do not sell aluminum. You can supply coil to your own spec, or we procure the alloy, temper, width and surface you name and quote material plus conversion.
1050 and 1060 for deep thermal parts, 3003 for housings and brackets, 5052 where bends need strength, 6061-T6 in blank-and-form work, 7075 only in minimal-form blanks. Any other grade gets a stampability check first.
0.05 mm at the thin end of our range and 3.0 mm at the heavy end. Thin aluminum runs on the high-speed presses; plate thicknesses go on the larger presses in the fleet.
Anodizing, chromate conversion coating and painting run through approved partner lines; deburring, ultrasonic cleaning and laser marking stay in-house. We mask the zones the drawing calls conductive, because anodizing insulates and will break a ground path.
±0.005 mm on piloted positional features, confirmed on the CMM at first article. Formed dimensions carry springback and bend count, so the critical ones are agreed at DFM and held with SPC in production.
Choose aluminum for weight, thermal path or a corrosion-resistant exterior. Skip it where you need stiffness in a thin section, a real spring, or a conductive joint to copper — low modulus and low yield mean a thin aluminum bracket deflects where steel would not.
Judge the aluminum stamping suppliers you shortlist on three things: who builds the die, who signs the first-article report, and what happens when a temper drifts mid-coil. Here all three sit in one building, so a temper change is a die adjustment rather than a supplier argument — and the aluminum stamping supplier who quotes you is the one who runs the press.
The same process, two spellings. Aluminium stamping is what UK, EU and Commonwealth drawings say; aluminum stamping is the US spelling that dominates trade searches. Both land on the same die — the aluminium stamping parts we ship are held to the same tolerance either way.
Yes. Prototype aluminum stamping runs from soft tooling or laser-cut blanks formed on a brake — enough to prove form, fit and finish before a progressive die is committed. Once volume is there, custom aluminum stamped parts move onto a hard die and run at rate.
Most of the time. Progressive stamping aluminum suits parts that need blanking, fin forming and trim in one pass, because fin height and spacing stay repeatable coil to coil. On a simple bracket at low volume a compound die or a turret punch is cheaper and we say so. For aluminum metal stamping parts that combine a formed edge with a coined flat, the progressive route is usually the only one that holds flatness at rate.
Ready to Start Your Precision Stamping Program?
Send your drawing today — engineering runs a free DFM review and detailed pricing follows the review.
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