Clinching (also called press-joining) is a cold joining method for sheet metal. The joint is formed purely by local plastic deformation of the material — no welding, rivets, screws or any additional fasteners.
How the joint is formed
A punch presses both sheets into a die. The material flows cold and forms an interlock — a round point in which the lower sheet wraps around the upper one. The process takes a fraction of a second, needs no surface preparation, produces no sparks, fumes or spatter, and the finished joint requires no rework.
Clinching or spot welding?
The key difference is the absence of heat. Clinching does not damage protective coatings — galvanised, aluminised or painted sheets keep their corrosion resistance at the joint itself. There is no need for high-power electrical supply, fume extraction or spatter shields, and joint quality can be verified by simply measuring the point geometry. Clinching also joins dissimilar materials — aluminium to steel, for example — which spot welding cannot do.
Materials and thicknesses
The typical working range of the tools in our catalogue: structural steel up to 400 N/mm² — joint stack up to 4.0 mm, aluminium — up to 4.0 mm, stainless steel up to 600 N/mm² — up to 3.0 mm. Exact values for each tool are given in the technical data table on the product page.
Where clinching is used
The most common applications are ventilation duct and HVAC production (flange rail fastening, rectangular ducts, bag filters), control cabinets and sheet metal enclosures, home appliances, and light sheet metal assemblies in the automotive industry.
Choosing a tool
For assembly and one-off work a manual clinching tool is usually enough. For repetitive work choose a pneumatic tool, and for series production — a benchtop or stationary press. The die and punch are selected for the material and the total joint thickness. Tell us what you are joining — material, thicknesses and production volume — and we will propose a tool and prepare a quote within one business day.