Chemical Etching: 10 Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What is chemical etching?
Chemical etching is a subtractive sheet metal machining process which uses chemical etchants to create complex and highly accurate precision components.
Q2. What metals can be chemically etched?
Almost any metal can be etched, but what makes the process unique is its ability to etch hard-to-machine metals, such as aluminium and titanium.
Q3. What chemical is used in etching?
Most metals are etched using ferric chloride, a safe to use, recyclable etchant. Other proprietary etchants are used for specialist metals and alloys.
Q4. What sheet sizes and thicknesses can be etched?
Sheet metals between 0.010mm and 1.5mm thick and up to 600mm by 1500mm in size can be etched.
Q5. How accurate is chemical etching?
Standard etching tolerances are ±10% of the metal thickness, to a minimum of ±0.025mm.
Q6. What are the benefits of chemical etching?
The process has many benefits, the main one being its ability to produce complex, flat, burr- and stress-free components.
Q7. What level of detail can chemical etching achieve?
The minimum standard opening achievable is 0.1mm, but with development etching can produce even finer features.
Q8. How much does chemical etching cost?
Chemical etching uses digital tooling which is inexpensive and easy to adapt. Material thickness, type and component size are key cost drivers.
Q9. What is the maximum quantity
chemical etching can produce? There is no maximum quantity. Digital tooling ensures samples can be supplied quickly and economically.
Q10. How long does chemical etching take?
Standard components which require no additional post-processing can often be supplied in less than two weeks.

[@dharavathdileep2473]

does chemical etching can be used for finishing process of ceramic radomes

[@precisionmicro]

Thank you for your question. I'm afraid our chemical etching service can only be used for processing sheet metals.