What is Metal Drawing?

When it comes to the world of custom metal stamping, there are countless processes and procedures available to you. One very important procedure is known as metal drawing, or deep drawing. Now before you start picturing someone drawing a picture of metal, let me stop you. Metal drawing is a process that has been around for as long as metal has been available to produce parts from. But what exactly is metal drawing and what type of product can you expect with it?

Metal Drawing, by definition, is the process of stretching metal material and forming it using tensile, or pliable, force. This process is done in cold temperatures to help ensure precise tolerances. Firstly, let’s take a look at the two main types of metal drawing:

  1. Sheet Metal (Deep Drawing) – With sheet metal drawing, you begin with developing a curved axis. From there, you can deform, or manipulate, the material over the curved axis.
  2. Wire, Bar, & Tube Drawing – In order to complete wire, bar, and tube drawing, you must first run the material stock through a die. This reduces the diameter whilst also increasing the length.

Once the type of metal drawing that is being done has been determined, then you get into the different options of forming techniques available. Depending on the intricacy of a design, there could be few techniques required or many. The main intention is to produce a piece with both symmetrical and asymmetrical parts. Some of the possible metal drawing techniques include:

  • Bottom Piercing
  • Coining
  • Extruding
  • Marking
  • Notching
  • Side Piercing
  • Threading
  • Trimming 
  • Beading
  • Bulging
  • Curling
  • Ironing/wall thinning
  • Necking
  • Rib Forming
  • Stamping

It is with a combination of these processes that a unique, custom metal stamped piece can be produced. These pieces can include cups, housings, enclosures, stand alone products or support pieces to use in larger productions. Once a custom die has been created, there are almost no limitations to the products that can be created. Here are some of the most popular categories these metal drawing products can fall into:

Can you already see which one of these categories your part or parts might fall into? Maybe it will even take a combination of different types of parts to create your overall product. Perhaps you have a design for the product you’re interested in but not sure how it would translate to a metal drawing product. If that’s the case, feel free to reach out to us today and our team of highly skilled metal drawing fabricators can help you decide the best option(s) for your needs.