How does Photo Etch Machining Work?

Chemical Etching is a process that uses light sensitive coating and etching reagents to develop high precision, cost effective, etch machined parts.

Here are the steps taken to produce your etched machined parts:

The process starts with you, the customer. In order to Chemical Etch a part or a series of parts, we need:

  1. A drawing which includes complete dimensions
  2. Material specifications (type, thickness, temper)
  3. The quantity required

This information may be faxed to (954) 781-8188 or sent via e-mail. We accept .DWG, .DXF, Gerber, and most other electronic files.

As soon as SME receives the specifications from you, we will return our proposal to you, usually within the same business day.

By using your drawing and specifications, the artwork is created using a Computer Aided Design (CAD) software. The file is then fed electronically to a laser-plotting machine which creates the art work film.

The photo tool is made from the original artwork. Photosensitive material is applied to the sheets of metal to be used. The metal sheet is then exposed and developed. In this process, the image of the part is transposed onto the surface. The sheet of metal is then fed through a machine on a conveyor belt. The sheets are sprayed with an acidic treatment, which removes all of the metal that is not protected by the photo sensitive material.

The parts are then stripped of the photo sensitive material and put through a dryer. Then they go to our quality control department for inspection.

Southern Micro Etch, Inc. can deliver almost any part within one week. And in some cases within one day. All parts guaranteed.