In everyday stamping shop practice, the process family splits cleanly into two camps: separation and forming. Separation covers blanking, punching, trimming, and shaving—operations where the material is deliberately fractured along a shear line. For a typical 2.0 mm thick mild steel sheet, the die clearance should sit between 5% and 10% of material thickness per side, meaning 0.10–0.20 mm. Too little clearance produces secondary shear and excessive burr; too much pulls the break line and leaves a heavy rollover. When quoting a blanking die, always factor in the punch-to-die alignment tolerance (±0.01 mm for precision work) and the expected tool steel grade—DC53 or SKD11 for runs above 500,000 strokes, while Cr12MoV remains a cost-effective choice for medium batches.

Forming operations—bending, drawing, flanging, and coining—demand a different mindset because the material is plastically deformed without fracture. The minimum bend radius for low-carbon steel is roughly 0.8 times the sheet thickness; below that, you risk cracking on the outer fiber. For deep drawing, the limiting drawing ratio (LDR) for a cylindrical cup in cold-rolled steel is about 2.0–2.1 without intermediate annealing. That means a 100 mm diameter blank can be drawn into a cup of about 48–50 mm diameter in one hit. But watch the blank holder force—typically 20–30% of the drawing force—to prevent wrinkling. Springback is another quoting killer: for a 90° bend in 1.5 mm DP600, expect 2–4° of angular recovery, so compensate in the die angle or add a coining step.

From a quoting perspective, the single biggest mistake is quoting a progressive die as if it were a simple blanking tool. A progressive die with 8 stations—pilot hole, trim, bend, and cutoff—can easily have a die life of 10–20 million strokes, but the initial tool cost is 3–5 times higher than a single-operation die. Always calculate the cost per part over the expected production volume, not just the die price. Also, remember that press tonnage is not a free variable: a 200-ton press with a 100-ton die is fine, but a 400-ton press running a 60-ton die wastes energy and accelerates guide-post wear. For accurate sourcing, list the material grade, thickness, tolerance class, and annual volume on every RFQ. For more mold sourcing data and die design benchmarks, visit MoldWorld (www.moldw.com) for verified toolmakers and process guidelines.