MCP server

Balford metalworking engineering answers Official

net.balford/ask

Checked 26 Oct 2026, 08:29 UTC · Connected to it and listed its tools

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

Working at last checkVerified publisher: balford.netAbout 786 tokens per request once connected3 tools

https://balford.net/ask/mcp

At a glance

Type: MCP server
Publisher: balford.net (verified by the MCP Registry)
Status: Working at last check
Tools: 3
Token cost: About 786 tokens per request
Sets up in: Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, Gemini CLI, Cursor, VS Code, Antigravity, ChatGPT, OpenAI API, Grok
Last checked: 26 Oct 2026, 08:29 UTC

Opens the app, which shows the server and asks you to confirm. For other apps, copy the setup below.

Claude Code

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

Claude Desktop

Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector, and paste the URL.

Codex (config.toml)

[mcp_servers.ask]
url = "https://balford.net/ask/mcp"

Gemini CLI

{"mcpServers":{"ask":{"httpUrl":"https://balford.net/ask/mcp"}}}

Cursor

{"mcpServers":{"ask":{"url":"https://balford.net/ask/mcp"}}}

VS Code

{"servers":{"ask":{"type":"http","url":"https://balford.net/ask/mcp"}}}

Antigravity

agy mcp add ask https://balford.net/ask/mcp

ChatGPT

Settings → Apps & Connectors → Advanced settings: turn on Developer mode, then Create a connector and paste the URL. Which plans can do this varies.

OpenAI API (Responses tools)

{"type":"mcp","server_label":"ask","server_url":"https://balford.net/ask/mcp","require_approval":"always"}

Grok (xAI API tools)

{"type":"mcp","server_label":"ask","server_url":"https://balford.net/ask/mcp"}

ask_balford_engineering ~358 tokens
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, DF
list_engineering_topics ~174 tokens
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.
search_balford_material ~254 tokens
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

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