A stamped part is priced by its die, not by the part: a single-stage die makes a few hundred pieces cheaply and a progressive die makes a hundred thousand cheaply, and the same drawing goes to one or the other depending on how many you need. That is the first decision in stamping, and it is made before the strip is chosen. Everything on this page — clips, caps, terminals, brackets, bushings — follows from it.
EKINSUN LTD is a custom parts manufacturer that makes stamped, deep-drawn and bent metal parts to drawing: insert bushings pressed into plastic housings, spring clips and retaining rings, crimp plates and wire clamps, deep-drawn round caps with no weld, multi-angle bent brackets and stamped-and-formed contact terminals, from single-stage tooling for a first batch to progressive dies for volume. The family table below lists what is stamped and in which materials; the die table explains the quantity decision; the negative-space table says what is stamped, what is machined and what is bought.
"We need 300 pieces now for validation and maybe 50,000 a year after that. Every stamping quote either wants the big die now or refuses the 300."
Two dies for two stages of one product is the normal answer; the drawing does not change between them.
| Family | What it is | Materials | Finishes | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Insert bushings and threaded inserts for plastic housings | thick-stamped rings and sleeves pressed or moulded into connector bodies to carry a screw | steel, 304 / 316, brass, copper, aluminium | zinc, nickel, tin, black oxide | connectors, charging sockets, injection-moulded housings |
| Spring clips, retaining rings, clamps | external clips that grip a contact or a shaft; DIN 471 / 472 forms and custom | spring steel, 301 / 304 stainless | phosphate, zinc, plain | industrial plugs, connectors — see spring clips and wire clamps |
| Crimp plates and wire clamps | stamped parts that clamp a conductor under a screw | steel, 304, spring steel | zinc, nickel, black oxide, plain | terminals, distribution boxes, wiring |
| Deep-drawn caps, cups and sleeves | one-piece drawn shells with uniform wall and no seam | steel, stainless, aluminium, copper | plain, plated | battery covers, sensor housings, seal caps, trim caps — see deep-drawn parts |
| Contact pins and terminals | stamped-and-formed or turned pins, signal and PCB terminals, contact tips | brass, copper, phosphor bronze, steel | tin, nickel, gold, silver | radar sensors, plugs, PCBs — see terminals and contact pins |
| Bent sheet-metal parts and brackets | multi-stage progressive bending, several angles in one strip | steel, 304, aluminium | as above | enclosures, automation — see custom brackets |
| Washers, spacers and shims of special shape | D-shape, slotted, keyed, two-hole | steel, 304, brass, copper | as above | see washer types |
| Tabs, lugs and solder tags | flat stamped conductors | brass, copper | tin, silver | electrical assemblies |
| Route | Quantity it suits | Tooling | Part cost | Use it when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laser or wire-cut blank, hand-formed | 1–50 | none | highest per piece | a prototype or a repair; no die at all |
| Single-stage (compound) die | 50–10,000 | low; one station per operation | medium | validation batches, low-volume products, spares |
| Progressive die | 10,000 and up | high; every operation in one strip | lowest | series production; the die pays for itself in the first runs |
| Transfer die | large or deep parts in volume | high | low | deep-drawn housings and large brackets |
| Single-stage first, progressive later | 300 now, 50,000 a year later | two dies | matches each stage | a product that is still being validated; the drawing does not change |
The strip thickness and material are the next decision, and they interact with the die: spring steel and 316 need more press force and more die clearance than brass, phosphor bronze holds a spring shape that copper will not, and aluminium 6061 sheet bends where 7075 cracks. Send the function and we choose; send a material and we say whether it stamps.
| What you need | In the catalogue? | What we make |
|---|---|---|
| A standard washer, circlip, cable clip or hose clamp in a stock size | Yes | Buy it from stock; no one-off stamping competes with a catalogue part, and the fastener families on this site say which size ranges exist. |
| A flat or bent part in 0.1–6 mm strip, 50 to millions of pieces | No | Stamped: single-stage die for the first batch, progressive die for volume; from 50 pieces with tooling, from 1 piece without. |
| A cup, cap or sleeve with no seam and a uniform wall | No | Deep-drawn — see deep-drawn parts. |
| A ring or clip that grips a shaft or a contact with a set insertion force | No | Stamped in spring steel or stainless with the force co-designed — see spring clips. |
| A contact pin or terminal in brass or phosphor bronze, plated | No | Stamped and formed on reel, or turned for round pins — see terminals and contact pins. |
| A thick part with tight bores, threads or flatness a press cannot hold | No | Machined instead, and we say so — see small machined parts and custom brackets. |
| One to fifty pieces of a stamped shape | No | Laser or wire-cut and hand-formed, no die; the price is per piece and the die is quoted alongside for when the quantity grows. |
| A stamped part in aluminium 6061 or 7075 | Partly | 6061 stamps and bends in the soft tempers and is stocked as sheet; 7075 cracks on tight bends and is cut and machined instead, and we say which. |
| Material | Designation | Where it fits here |
|---|---|---|
| Low-carbon steel | DC01 / SPCC; 1010 | brackets, clamps, bushings; zinc, nickel or black oxide |
| Stainless 304 | 1.4301 | clips, brackets, caps, terminals for corrosion duty |
| Stainless 316L | 1.4404 | marine and chemical stampings |
| Stainless spring | 301 / 1.4310 | spring clips and contacts in stainless |
| Spring steel | 65Mn, C67S, C75S, SK5 | clips, retaining rings, clamps; hardened and tempered after forming |
| Brass | CuZn37 / C26800; CuZn30 | terminals, pins, tags; tin or nickel plated |
| Phosphor bronze | CuSn6 / C51900 | contact springs and terminals that must stay springy |
| Copper | Cu-ETP / C11000 | conductors, tags, busbar parts |
| Beryllium copper | CuBe2 | high-cycle contact springs |
| Aluminium 6061 | AlMg1SiCu, soft tempers | light brackets and caps; anodised |
| Aluminium 7075 | AlZn5.5MgCu | not stamped; cut and machined where the strength is needed |
A single-stage (compound) die performs one or two operations per press stroke and needs a hand or a feeder between stations; it is cheap to make and suits hundreds to a few thousand parts. A progressive die carries the strip through every operation in one pass and makes a finished part every stroke; it costs more and suits tens of thousands upward. Many products start on a single-stage die and move to a progressive one.
One, without a die: a few pieces are laser or wire-cut and formed by hand. With a single-stage die the practical minimum is a few hundred; a progressive die starts to pay from about ten thousand. The quote shows both routes so the decision is yours.
Low-carbon steel, 304 and 316 stainless, 301 stainless spring, spring steels such as 65Mn and C75S, brass, phosphor bronze, copper, beryllium copper and aluminium 6061 in soft tempers, from about 0.1 to 6 mm. 7075 aluminium and hardened steels are cut and machined rather than stamped.
Blanked dimensions hold to a few hundredths of a millimetre on a good die; bent dimensions and angles are looser and depend on the material's springback. The drawing should mark the two or three dimensions that fit something, and the die is built around those.
EKINSUN LTD is a custom parts manufacturer that makes stamped, deep-drawn and bent parts to drawing in steel, 304 / 316 stainless, spring steel, brass, phosphor bronze, copper and aluminium 6061, from prototype quantities without a die to progressive-die volume, with a quote within 12 hours.
There is no list price. The die is the main cost and is quoted separately from the parts: a single-stage die is modest, a progressive die is an investment recovered over the run. Part price follows material, thickness, plating and quantity. The quote shows the die and the part price for each route.
Drawing, sample or sketch, quantity now and per year, material or function, thickness, finish, the dimensions that matter. From 1 piece without a die, quote within 12 hours.
Stamped, drawn and bent parts with the die matched to each stage — from 1 piece without tooling, quote in 12 hours.