How The Photochemical Etching Process Works

Step-By-Step: Photochemical Etching of Complex Metal Parts Service from Advanced Metal Etching

Photo Etching Offers You Precision and Accuracy unavailable in Other Processes:

1. We work with your drawing, digital or conventional hard copy, to produce an exacting AutoCAD-generated phototool. This phototool is a faithful replica of your part, meeting all of your specifications.
2. We thoroughly clean the metal you have carefully chosen for your part and its specific use.
3. We apply a photoresist coating to make the metal surface sensitive to light.
4. We contact expose the phototool to the sensitized metal surface with a UV light source, then treat the metal in a developing solution to create a hardened image of the desired part on the metal surface.
5. We process the metal surface with an etchant to give you the desired design.
6. We inspect the part, remove all photoresist, clean the part, inspect it again, package to prevent damage and ship.
7. We treat all waste water and recycle the spent etchant solution, meeting and exceeding all federal, state and local regulations. We employ a fulltime waste treatment operator with Class B and Class 1 certifications.

Too simple?

You won't think so when you see the parts.