Benefits at a glance
- Unlimited complexity – you only pay for the first hole
- No expensive hard tooling required
- Low-cost design iterations – fast
- Burr and stress-free – metal temper and properties unaffected
- Lead-times in days, not months
- Virtually any metal
- Accuracy to ±0.025mm
What is chemical etching?
Chemical etching, also known as photo etching, metal etching or chemical milling, is a subtractive metal machining process which uses etchant chemistry to produce complex, highly accurate metal components.
Why use chemical etching?
Virtually any metal
For feature dense, tight tolerance parts profiled from thin gauge metals to 1.5mm thick – including stainless steel, aluminium, nickel, brass, copper and titanium – the chemical etching process provides an economical alternative to stamping, punching, laser and waterjet cutting.
Design optimisation without financial penalty
The tooling for chemical etching is digital, meaning no expensive “hard” tooling is required. Digital tooling can be adapted and changed extremely quickly allowing for “risk-free” design optimisation without financial penalty.
Accurate, complex, burr- and stress-free components
Unlike traditional sheet metalworking, no mechanical force or heat is used during the chemical etching process. This means that material properties are unaltered and etched components are free from stresses and burrs. Also, as component features are machined simultaneously almost limitless part complexity is achievable, with accuracy to ±0.025mm.
How does chemical etching compare?
Precision Micro: The market-leading chemical etching company
Precision Micro has been at the forefront of etching technology for more than 50 years and is trusted by industries leading names to deliver innovative solutions to a wide range of high-value engineering challenges.
Why partner with us?
- Unrivalled know-how – Precision Micro has pioneered photo etching for over half a century
- Proven capability – AS 9100, IATF 16949, ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 accredited
- Largest capacity – 44,000 sq ft state-of-the-art photo etching plant
- Material know-how – we specialise in etching hard-to-machine metals
- 2,000+ metal variants – standard and specialist material types and
grades - Global support – we have sales offices and partners in locations that enable us to respond quickly to demand
- Added value – we offer a number of additional services including wire EDM, electropolishing, forming, finishing and plating
