How Photochemical/Metal Etching Works

PCM offers you precision and accuracy unavailable in other milling processes. Here's how it works:

1. Working with your drawing, digital or conventional hard copy, will allow us to produce a CAD-generated photo tool. This photo tool 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 photo resist coating to make the metal surface sensitive to light.

4. We contact expose the photo tool to the sensitized metal surface with a UV light source,

5. Next is the treatment of the metal in a developing solution to create a hardened image of the desired part on the metal surface.

6. We process the metal surface with an etchant to give you the desired design.

7. We inspect the part, remove all photo resist, clean the part, inspect it again, package to prevent damage and ship.

8. We treat all waste water and recycle the spent etchant solution.