Blanking & Piercing

Blanking & piercing use punch-and-die tooling to cut flat sheet into precise outer profiles and holes at high speed for repeatable, high-volume stampings.

Overview

Blanking & piercing are high-speed stamping operations that cut flat sheet metal using matched punch-and-die tooling. Blanking defines the outer profile of the part (the “blank”), while piercing creates internal holes and cutouts in the strip or blank. Both processes run in presses, delivering consistent edges, repeatable geometry, and tight positional accuracy once tooling is dialed in.

Choose blanking & piercing for simple-to-moderate 2D geometries, high production volumes, and when you want low cost per piece after tooling. You’ll get fast cycle times and good feature-to-feature location, but you pay up front for dedicated hard tooling and are limited to features reachable in a straight punch stroke. Changing geometry later usually means reworking or remaking tools. Thin to medium sheet thicknesses work best; very thick, very hard, or highly detailed parts may require different processes or more complex stamping dies.

Common Materials

  • Low carbon steel
  • Stainless steel 304
  • Aluminum 5052
  • Copper
  • Brass
  • Spring steel

Tolerances

±0.002" to ±0.005"

Applications

  • Flat washers and shims
  • Electrical terminals and contacts
  • Simple brackets and mounting plates
  • Automotive stampings and reinforcement plates
  • Connector strips and lead frames
  • Cover plates and escutcheons

When to Choose Blanking & Piercing

Use blanking & piercing for flat parts with 2D outlines and holes where tooling will amortize over medium to very high volumes. It fits best when you need consistent edge quality, accurate hole locations, and fast cycle times from coil or sheet. Design should be largely planar with no deep forms or complex 3D features.

vs Progressive Die Stamping

Choose standalone blanking & piercing when you only need simple cut parts or early prototypes without multiple formed features in one pass. It keeps tooling cost and complexity lower than a full progressive die and allows incremental rollout before you commit to more stations and operations.

vs Transfer Die Stamping

Pick blanking & piercing alone when parts are flat or nearly flat and do not require multiple forming stages or part reorientation. Transfer dies shine on complex 3D parts; simple 2D parts gain little from that complexity and cost, so a single-operation blanking or piercing die is more economical.

vs Deep Drawing

Use blanking & piercing when the part is fundamentally flat and only needs holes and an outer profile, not a tall cup or shell. Deep drawing is appropriate once you need significant height-to-diameter ratios; for simple blanks or shallow forms, a basic blank-and-pierce tool is cheaper and easier to maintain.

vs Coining

Choose blanking & piercing when your priority is cutting through sheet to define shape and openings, not creating very fine thickness control or high-relief surface details. Coining is slower and more force-intensive; it’s overkill if you only need clean edges and accurate hole locations in flat stock.

Design Considerations

  • Maintain adequate punch-to-die clearance based on material thickness and type to control burr height and prolong tool life
  • Respect minimum web and edge distances between holes and outer edges (typically ≥1–1.5x material thickness) to avoid distortion and slug pull-through
  • Avoid overly tight tolerances on non-critical features; reserve ±0.002" class for features that truly need it to keep tooling and maintenance costs down
  • Use punch-friendly geometries: add corner radii instead of sharp internal corners and avoid very small isolated tabs that can break or distort
  • Specify material thickness and grade tightly enough for stable punching but not so tight that it restricts coil supply and increases cost
  • Provide a flat, well-dimensioned strip or blank layout (including carrier and pilot features if known) to help the stamper design efficient nesting and tooling