Spring clips, EMI shields, medical diaphragms and housings from 301, 304, 316L and 430 strip — stainless steel metal stamping where grade, temper and die are decided together. Dies are designed and built in our 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
Stainless gets specified where corrosion, hygiene or a spring has to survive without a coating. These four families cover most of the stainless steel stamped parts that leave the floor, and each one carries its own grade call-out, die approach and inspection plan. Stamping stainless steel parts to print is the easy half — the grade and temper call-out is the half that decides the program.
Clips, contact springs, retaining fingers and battery contacts from 301 in quarter-hard to full hard. The same work-hardening that gives 301 its spring also fights the press, so radius and angle are set by a coining station inside the die, not by an operator adjusting the ram.
Shields, cans, covers and small enclosures from 304 and 430 at 0.2–0.8 mm. 304 draws cleanly and solders predictably; 430 is the cheaper magnetic option for shield boxes that need to sit against a magnet or a reed switch. Die entry is eased and radii kept open.
Diaphragms, valve discs, cannula brackets and instrument parts from 316L and 304 where the part is cleaned, sterilized or thrown away after one use. 316L resists chlorides; it also work-hardens fast and galls, so forms are split across stations and the strip runs with a chloride-free lubricant.
Brackets, mounting plates, appliance frames and sensor holders from 304 and 430 up to 3.0 mm. 430 is ferritic, magnetic and the lowest-cost grade here, but it cracks at tight bends and welds poorly, so bends stay at R≥1.0t and any welded joint moves to 304 at DFM.
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 STAINLESS GOES WRONG
Stainless metal stamping is a different animal from carbon steel: it work-hardens as it forms, galls on tool steel, springs back further and shears on a tighter clearance. These are the four things that decide whether a stainless program runs at rate or fights you for a year.
01
The Challenge
301 and 316L get stronger every time they are bent. A three-station form that works on mild steel comes out short of angle on stainless, and the second station is forming already-hardened metal. Push the strain too far and the outside of the radius cracks instead of moving.
Our Solution
Bend allowance is calculated for the annealed condition, then the die is cut over-bent by the measured springback of the actual production coil. Heavy forms are split across more stations with a lower strain per hit, and where a part needs full-hard spring we coin the radius instead of bending it.
02
The Challenge
Stainless is the worst common strip for picking up on the tool. The passive oxide layer tears under pressure, fresh metal welds to the punch, and the smear becomes a scratch on the part and a growing burr on the die within a few thousand strokes.
Our Solution
Forming inserts run in hardened tool steel with a PVD coating, polished to a finer finish than we would use on brass, and the stations most at risk get carbide. Lubricant is chosen for film strength rather than price, and polish intervals are set by stroke count so galling is caught as maintenance, not as a reject.
03
The Challenge
Stainless shears with a large burnish band and a short fracture zone, so the clearance that works on carbon steel tears the edge here. A torn edge work-hardens, throws a burr on the mating face, and on a thin shield or contact finger it becomes a crack starter in service.
Our Solution
Clearance is set tighter than on carbon steel, typically near 5% of thickness per side, and the burr side is fixed in the die layout. Punches are sharpened on a counted-stroke interval, break-to-shear ratio is measured at first article, and thin-gauge parts get a round-edge or deburred condition when the edge is a fatigue feature.
04
The Challenge
The stamping is rarely the last process. Laser-trimmed edges come off with a heat tint that has to be removed before passivation, welded 304 can sensitize and rust at the seam, and cold-worked 301 turns slightly magnetic, which upsets sensor-based assembly and reed-switch designs.
Our Solution
The finish route is agreed at DFM: heat tint is removed and the part passivated through approved partner lines, welded seams in wet service move to 316L, and where magnetism matters the part stays in 304 or is annealed after forming to restore the austenitic structure.
HOW WE STAMP IT
Quoted values for stainless work, kept to what the press and the tool room can actually hold on stamped stainless steel in 301, 304, 316L and 430 — no ranges added for the page, and nothing the CMM cannot verify.
| Specification Parameter | What We Hold | How It Is Controlled |
|---|---|---|
| Strip thickness | 0.05–3.0 mm | Coil certificate + 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 | Speed set by form count and galling risk, not by the calendar |
| Press fleet | 21 presses, 25–110 tons | Thin stainless on high-speed frames, 1.5–3.0 mm on 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 critical features |
| Surface and finish | passivation, nickel or tin | Approved partner lines, salt-spray verification, in-house ultrasonic cleaning |
Progressive die design, machining and assembly in one shop — where springback compensation, clearance and galling resistance are decided, not discovered.
Thin clips and contacts on the high-speed frames at up to 300 SPM; 1.5 to 3.0 mm structural and housing parts on the larger presses.
First-article CMM at 0.001 mm, optical and profile for radii and edges, in-line CCD on the features the drawing actually controls.
Passivation, nickel and tin through approved partner lines with salt-spray verification; ultrasonic cleaning and deburring stay in-house.
From Drawing to Production
Grade, temper, bend radii, grain direction, burr side and the post-process route settled before a die is cut.
Progressive layout with springback compensation built into the form stations; inserts coated and polished for stainless; machined and assembled in our tool room.
Run on the production coil, not a sample — formed angles and radii verified on the CMM, PPAP documentation raised.
Counted-stroke punch sharpening, polish intervals set by galling risk, in-line vision on critical features and SPC on the controlled dimensions.
STRIP AND SUPPLY
We are a stamper, not a steel service center — we do not sell coil. Metal stamping for stainless steel is won or lost at material selection: we pick the grade, temper and surface the part needs and quote it as material plus conversion, with the mill certificate on file.
301 in quarter-hard through full hard is the spring grade: most of the 301 stainless steel stampings here end up as a clip, a contact spring or a battery contact. 304 is the general structural default and takes the bulk of 304 stainless steel stamping — housings, brackets and shields that see washdown or sterilization. 316L is the chloride grade, and 316 stainless steel stamping in the L grade is the usual call for medical and marine duty; 430 comes in when a magnet or a reed switch is in the design and cost matters. Heat-resisting grades are quoted case by case: 321 and 347 where the part runs hot, 17-7PH where it is formed soft and aged afterwards. Temper is named on the purchase order because it changes the die.
2B, BA and No.4 finishes all run here. BA is the bright finish for visible faces; 2B is the workhorse for formed internal parts. Stainless steel forming is unforgiving of a dull die face, so the visible face runs away from the stripper and forming inserts are polished on a stroke count. Pre-nickel or pre-tin plated coil is workable when the die is built for gentler entry, and passivation after stamping stays on approved partner lines with salt-spray verification.
Either you supply coil to your own mill spec, or we buy the grade, temper, width and finish you name and quote material plus conversion with the mill certificate on file. If the grade is still open, we recommend between 301, 304, 316L and 430 before tooling.
Grades we run
BEFORE YOU SEND THE DRAWING
Eight checks worth doing on custom stainless steel stampings before tooling — the ones that decide whether the part forms cleanly or cracks at the radius.
INDUSTRY CASES
Oct 20 · 1 min read
A door-hardware brand running multi-country assembly plants was qualifying a second source for a long stainless spring clip. The incumbent part bowled out of spec…
Oct 20 · 1 min read
An IV-set maker runs a flow-through valve with a pulsating pump. Inside sits a stamped steel disc that rides against the pump; because the whole valve is thrown away…
Oct 20 · 1 min read
A prime contractor feeding ammunition-handling systems ordered a million annealed spring-steel link cartridges against a six-to-eight-week window, to a mil-spec print…
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 steel distributor — we do not sell coil. You can supply to your own mill spec, or we procure the grade, temper and finish you name and quote material plus conversion.
301, 304, 316L and 430 are the grades that run here. 301 for springs and clips, 304 general purpose, 316L for chlorides and medical duty, 430 where magnetism and cost matter.
0.05 mm at the thin end, up to 3.0 mm at the heavy end. Thin stainless runs on the high-speed presses with a guided stripper; heavy gauge moves to the larger presses in the fleet.
Yes, pre-nickel and pre-tin coil both run, provided the die is built for gentler entry and the parts are not tumbled afterwards. Where the drawing wants selective plating, post-plating is usually the cheaper route.
±0.005 mm on piloted positional features, verified on a CMM at first article. Formed dimensions carry springback, so critical angles are agreed at DFM and held with SPC in production.
If the part sees moisture, washdown, sterilization or a corrosive fluid, stainless earns its price. Indoors, dry and painted, galvanized or cold-rolled steel is cheaper and easier to form; we say so at DFM.
Often, yes. Send the part, we measure it and quote stainless stamping against a reverse-engineered drawing that you approve before tooling. If the original drawing still exists that is faster and cheaper for both of us.
Progressive stamping stainless steel pays back somewhere in the low tens of thousands of parts a year; below that a compound die, or laser-cut blanks formed on a brake, is the cheaper route and we quote it that way. At up to 300 SPM the die cost is spread across volume, so the crossover is arithmetic rather than preference.
Yes. Prototype stainless steel stamping starts from soft tooling or laser-cut blanks formed on a brake — enough to prove form, fit and finish before a progressive die is committed. When volume is confirmed the same part moves onto a hard die in our own tool room.
The stainless steel stamping services here run from DFM and die design through stamping, in-die tapping, deburring and ultrasonic cleaning, with passivation and plating on approved partner lines. The part ships finished instead of moving between three suppliers.
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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