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Balford metalworking engineering answers

by balford.net · remote · no sign-in to list tools · v1.0.0 · published by net.balford

Metal stamping, deep drawing and DFM answers from Balford's own published engineering pages.

Changes · 1
CompareRegistry entry

3 tools: 1 change things and 2 only read.

Scanned Oct 21, 2026

No check matched anything in the tool definitions. No finding is not a safety guarantee. How the checks work.

claude mcp add --transport http ask https://balford.net/ask/mcp

Tools

Open a tool for its reasons and full description. Descriptions are the publisher's own words, shown as they are.

3 tools

Changes things 1Claude Code: ask
  • ask_balford_engineeringAnswer a metalworking engineering or sourcing question from Balford's own published engineering material.No findings

    Why it is in this group

    • Nothing in its name or description says what it does, so it is counted as a write.
    • The server marks it read-only (readOnlyHint: true), but an annotation never lowers a class.
    Description, as the server wrote it
    Answer a metalworking engineering or sourcing question from Balford's own published engineering material. Covers fine blanking and thinning / ironing deep drawing as focus processes, plus progressive and transfer dies, precision stamping, sheet metal, CNC, brazing, annealing, plating, tolerances, DFM and RFQ preparation. Returns a written answer with numbered citations plus the source pages. Use this for 'how do I', 'what is', 'which process fits', or 'what do you need for an RFQ' questions. It will not quote a price, a lead-time guarantee, a certification Balford does not hold, or anything from a customer drawing. Answers are assembled from Balford's own published engineering material and cite the page each claim came from. Nothing is quoted that is not already public on balford.net. This is not a quotation, a certification claim, or a dimensional acceptance.

    Annotations the server declares

    • readOnlyHint: true
    • openWorldHint: false
    • idempotentHint: false
Only reads 2Claude Code: allow
  • list_engineering_topicsList the canonical engineering questions Balford's knowledge base is built around, grouped by process family, with the URL of the answer page for each.No findings

    Why it is in this group

    • The name "list_engineering_topics" says "list": a word for reading.
    Description, as the server wrote it
    List the canonical engineering questions Balford's knowledge base is built around, grouped by process family, with the URL of the answer page for each. Use this to find the right published answer before asking a free-form question, or to see whether a topic is covered at all. Costs no model tokens.

    Annotations the server declares

    • readOnlyHint: true
    • openWorldHint: false
    • idempotentHint: true
  • search_balford_materialRetrieve the passages of Balford's published engineering material that match a query, without writing an answer.No findings

    Why it is in this group

    • The name "search_balford_material" says "search": a word for reading.
    Description, as the server wrote it
    Retrieve the passages of Balford's published engineering material that match a query, without writing an answer. Use this to check what Balford has actually published on a topic, to gather source URLs for a citation, or to ground your own reasoning. Costs no model tokens. Answers are assembled from Balford's own published engineering material and cite the page each claim came from. Nothing is quoted that is not already public on balford.net. This is not a quotation, a certification claim, or a dimensional acceptance.

    Annotations the server declares

    • readOnlyHint: true
    • openWorldHint: false
    • idempotentHint: true

This is not a safety rating, and no finding is not a safety guarantee. The groups and findings come from fixed checks of the tool definitions the server returned on the date shown, not from its code or what it does when called. How the checks work.

Install

Pinned to version 1.0.0. Values in angle brackets are yours to fill in.

claude mcp add --transport http ask https://balford.net/ask/mcp

Run in a terminal.

Claude Code permissions

Allow the reads, ask before a change, deny the deletes. Paste into .claude/settings.json.

.claude/settings.json
{
  "permissions": {
    "allow": [
      "mcp__ask__search_balford_material",
      "mcp__ask__list_engineering_topics"
    ],
    "ask": [
      "mcp__ask__ask_balford_engineering"
    ],
    "deny": []
  }
}

Tools that only read are allowed, tools that change things ask first, tools that delete or cancel are denied. It assumes the server is installed as ask. Review it before you use it.