The modern consumer of products and services is going for aesthetically produced tools, logos, brand names and other identification marks. Many people prefer their designs on metal plates and other designed metallic items. The technology of photo etching on metal plays a significant role in creating very detailed and aesthetically produced designs on metal surfaces. The photo etching technology has found its edge in making designs of tiny metal parts quickly.
The advantages of photo etching technology are significant and many.
1. Photo Etching
Photo etching of metal is the controlled method of producing specific parts and components out of metal with impressive details and precision. The process involves using an acid etchant on metal objects to reveal product designs and other requirements in a digitally controlled environment.
The advantages of photo etching on metal over other design producing and manufacturing methods are immense.
2. Prototypes are Quickly Prepared
With photo etching of metal, it’s easy to modify the tooling to develop a prototype, thus saving time. Tooling using other methods such as stamping may take hours or even weeks for complex tooling. Overall the project time reduces significantly with photo etching.
3. Metal Properties Remains the Same
In the photochemical etching of metal, the photoresist material is applied to the metal to protect the metal parts. In contrast, the other parts remain exposed to the photochemical etchant, which dissolves the unwanted piece of the metal, thus creating designs. The etchant does not contact the protected metal parts; therefore, the metal properties remain unchanged, unlike other machining methods such as stamping.
4. Low Cost, Even with Complex Designs
Tooling can produce many pieces, as many as the part design can hold. Due to repeatability, the photo etching process can produce huge volumes faster and at a lower cost than other methods such as laser cutting methods.
Photo etching of metals can produce more complex parts with holes without an extra cost, unlike in other methods where it takes a lot of effort to make those holes.
5. Produces Parts Without Burrs
The photo etching process produces parts without burrs, undesired projections at the edges of pieces. Burrs can cause unnecessary friction between parts of a machine. For example, mating connectors of electronic gadgets with burrs can generate excess heat and hence affect the functioning of such devices. If you want smooth, flawless, well-fitting and functioning metal parts, then photo etching is the way to go.
6. Tight Tolerances
With machine tooling, the operators highly control the speed of photo etching to achieve an exact copy of the sample with a very tight tolerance of up to about ±0.01mm. With other methods, it’s tough to achieve such tolerance.
Conclusion
To achieve an exact copy of your metal parts and designs that are smooth, flawless, and aesthetically produced, you need to use photo etching technology. It’s cheap, fast and efficient. The properties of the metal used remain unchanged, unlike in other machining methods where the metal undergoes undue stress and high temperatures. Do you want to produce that attractive metallic logo for your company? Then the way to go is photo etching technology!