The Precision Alternative to Fine Blanking

When your part demands the clean, full-thickness, machined-quality edge of fine blanking — but your component cost or project cost can’t absorb fine-blanking piece prices and tooling costs — Custom Industrials Company (CIC) delivers a smarter path. Our precision smooth-edge stamping process produces parts with the 100% sheared edges and precision flatness engineers specify fine blanking for, at a meaningfully lower total cost. And because CIC is a full multi-process manufacturing partner, the same team can deep draw, machine, weld, and finish your component so you source a finished part, not just a blank.

What Fine Blanking Is and Why Engineers Specify It

Fine blanking is a specialized stamping process that uses a triple-action press and a V-ring stinger to clamp material under high pressure while a punch shears the part. The result is a part with a smooth, burnished edge across nearly the full material thickness, excellent flatness, and tight dimensional control — qualities that conventional stamping cannot achieve in a single operation. Engineers turn to fine blanking for gears, levers, cams, brackets, and load-bearing components where edge quality and flatness are functional requirements, not cosmetic ones.

The trade-off is cost. Fine-blanking presses and tooling are expensive, lead-heavy, and concentrated among a limited number of suppliers, which raises both tooling investment and piece price. That is precisely the gap CIC’s smooth-edge stamping closes.

How CIC Smooth-Edge Stamping Compares

CIC’s smooth-edge stamping uses precision close-tolerance dies to shear material with controlled fracture, producing a clean edge finish — typically 32 RMS — with part flatness held within .001″ (or strip-stock limits) and tolerances to ±.0005″. For a large share of parts currently specified as fine blanked, smooth-edge stamping delivers equivalent or better function at lower piece and tooling cost, while eliminating secondary deburring and finishing operations.

Attribute	Fine Blanking (incl. GRIPflow®)	CIC Smooth-Edge Stamping
Edge quality	Smooth, burnished, near-full thickness	Clean sheared edge, ~32 RMS typical
Flatness	Excellent	Within .001″ or strip-stock limits
Tolerance	Tight	To ±.0005″
Material range	Process-dependent	.030″ to .625″ thickness
Secondary ops	Often eliminated	Eliminated in most applications
Tooling cost	Higher	More economical
Piece price	Higher	Lower for comparable parts
Multi-process supply	Typically stamping only	Stamp, deep draw, machine, cast, forge, mold

Technical Capabilities

Edge finish: 32 RMS typical on sheared faces
Tolerance precision: ±.0005″
Flatness control: within .001″ or strip-stock limits
Material thickness: .030″ to .625″
Hole capability: holes as small as 30% of material thickness, positioned as close as 30% of thickness from an edge
In-die features: chamfers, semi-pierce, weld projections, coining, drawing, offsets, countersinks
Materials: carbon steel, alloy steel, stainless steel, aluminum, brass, copper, and specialty alloys

Ideal Applications

Smooth-edge stamping is the right call when edge density, flatness, and dimensional precision are functional — the same reasons a part gets specified as fine blanked:

Precision gear and sprocket components
Cams, levers, and mechanical linkages
Load-bearing structural parts and brackets
Pump and valve components
Transmission and drivetrain elements
Electrical contacts and components requiring clean edges

Why Source Fine-Blank-Quality Parts From CIC

Equivalent edge and flatness performance to fine blanking for most parts, at lower piece price
More economical tooling investment with excellent tool life
Elimination of secondary deburring and finishing in most applications
A single partner for the entire component — stamping plus deep drawing, machining, welding, casting, forging, and plastic molding
Engineering-led process recommendation: CIC reviews your part and tells you candidly whether smooth-edge stamping, fine blanking, deep drawing, or machining gives you the best cost-to-function result
U.S.-based engineering and sourcing managed from St. Louis, Missouri

Frequently Asked Questions

Is smooth-edge stamping really comparable to fine blanking?

For a large majority of fine-blanked parts, yes. CIC's smooth-edge stamping produces a clean sheared edge (typically 32 RMS) with flatness within .001" and tolerances to ±.0005" — equivalent or better function for most applications — at lower piece price and tooling cost. For parts with extreme thickness-to-edge requirements, CIC will tell you when true fine blanking is the better engineering choice.

How much can I save versus fine blanking?

Savings vary by part geometry, volume, and material, but the two largest drivers are lower tooling investment and lower piece price, plus the elimination of secondary deburring and finishing operations. Send your print and annual volume and CIC will quote the comparison directly.

What materials and thicknesses can CIC run?

Carbon steel, alloy steel, stainless steel, aluminum, brass, copper, and specialty alloys, in thicknesses from .030" to .625".

Can CIC convert a part I currently buy as fine blanked?

Yes. Send the print, material, and annual volume. CIC's engineering team will review the part for smooth-edge stamping feasibility, confirm achievable edge quality and tolerances, and quote the converted part against your current fine-blanked cost.

Send your fine-blanked or smooth-edge candidate part to CIC’s engineering team for a no-obligation process and cost comparison. Call 314-567-5847 or email rfq@cic-cic.solutions.