About Deep Draw Pressing

What is deep draw pressing?

Deep draw pressing is a manufacturing process that creates seamless metal components.

Why deep drawn pressings?

The ability to manufacture parts that have traditionally been manufactured by other processes such as turning, casting or assembly offers many benefits to the designer and production engineer:

• less material is used in the deep drawing process, thereby reducing material waste and ultimately cost
• deep drawing can produce complex designs that are often not possible with other manufacturing techniques without using costly secondary operations.
• component quality is often better than other processes and shows better repeatability in production batches.

Where are deep draw pressing components used?

The items that can be manufactured using deep draw pressing ranges from very small catheter holders to large enclosures. The process can create components that are rectangular, square and cylindrical. This gives the items a huge versatility

Some common household items that benefit in terms of cost and aesthetics by using deep draw pressed components include:

• batteries
• lipstick tubes / cosmetics containers
• asthma inhalers
• metal pen lids
• metal ball point pen refills.
• “widgets” in beer cans.
• plumbing and heating fittings

In short, any item that features a seamless metal tube could include a component that has been deep drawn pressed and they are used in a huge variety of industries.

What materials can be used for deep draw pressing?

Many metals are suitable for deep draw pressing. The most common are stainless steel, aluminium, brass, copper and cold rolled steel. The principal requirement is that the metal should be ductile so that the part can be created without putting any undue stress on it which could lead to cracks or weaknesses in the finished component.

What is the deep draw pressing process?

The process first involves creating a series of geometric dies. These are installed on the deep draw press. A blank metal component is then passed through the press, being pressed (or drawn) into each die in turn. At the end of the process, the final shape is achieved. Typical production speed is 60 parts a minute.

The process can be repeated if a particularly complicated shape is required.

Progressive die pressing, sometimes known as stamping is a similar process, but one that is only capable of producing relatively shallow components. The progression pressing process is very similar to that of deep draw pressing, with the exception that instead of blanks being fed into the machine, thin sheet metal is used. Typical production speed for progression pressing is 250 parts a minute.

When are deep draw pressing components used?

Where large volumes are involved, deep draw pressing is an extremely cost-effective process. This is because once the dies have been installed on the deep draw press, the process is entirely mechanical. We have engineered deep drawn components that have offered more than 85% reductions in unit cost when compared to the original machined parts. This makes the process ideal for high volume, low retail price items.