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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 magnetic 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?
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.
No mechanical force or heat is used during the chemical etching process, meaning material properties are unaltered and etched components are free from stresses and burrs.
Precision Micro: The 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 Precision Micro?
- 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
- Well invested – backed by Lloyds Development Capital
Have a component you would like to discuss?
Want to know more?
See how photo etching works
The basic principles of photo etching can be demonstrated in nine process steps.
Technical guidelines
Created to guide you through designing for the photo etching process, outlining achievable tolerances and component features.
Talk to us
With backgrounds which include CAD, machining, technical and operations planning, our sales engineers have the photo etching know-how to answer your questions.
Request samples
Component samples designed specifically to demonstrate the features and benefits of photo etching.
Request a quote
Submit your component data for technical evaluation and pricing.
