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4 Design Considerations for Photo Etching Precision Metal Parts
March 12, 2025 6:38 am Leave a Comment

If you’re designing precision metal parts, here are four considerations for photo etching you should keep in mind.

These days, OEMs are looking for small, precise parts with complex features that may go beyond the capabilities of conventional fabrication methods. That’s where photo etching comes in: Engineers in several industries are turning to photo etchers to solve some of their toughest design challenges.

It’s critical for engineers to design component parts for manufacturability. No one wants to put together a CAD file for a design only to find out that the fabrication process to be used can’t deliver the tolerances, features and sizes that the part calls for. If you’re looking for a new way to make precision metal parts, here are four design considerations for photo etching you should keep in mind:

Choose from several metals or alloys
Photo etchers are well-versed in working with a wide array of metals and alloys. Many etched parts are made of common materials like copper, aluminum, stainless steel and brass. There are many specialty alloys that can also be chemically etched.

Etchers can work with a wide variety of metals and alloys, ranging from the common to the unusual.

The impact of the sheet size and metal thickness
The overall size and thickness of the sheet has a major impact on both the cost of the parts and the tolerances that are achievable during the etching process.

Thicker materials (>.020) with tolerances of +/-15% of the metal’s thickness may require a smaller sheet that yields fewer parts. Thin sheets (<.019) with the broader tolerance requirements will allow us to use a larger sheet that makes more parts, thus lowering the cost per part. (Labor costs are determined by how many sheets we use. Each sheet is one unit of labor.)

Tolerances are also determined by sheet size and thickness. Typically, production tolerances are held at +/-15% of the metal’s thickness. The only exception to that is for sheets between .001″ and .004″ thick – the best tolerance there is +/-.0015″. Locational tolerances are always held to +/-.001″.

How the thickness impacts slot/bar ratios
Slots and bars are common design features on flat parts, but the etching process has some limitations that dictate the dimensions of these features. A bar can be up to 20% thinner than the thickness of the sheet, while a slot must be at least 120% wider than the sheet’s thickness. So if we’re working with .010″ thick stainless steel, the bar width can be .008″ but a slot would have to be at least .012″ wide.

“One of the most useful design capabilities photo etching offers is the ability to use half etch lines.”

Half-etching for fold lines
One of the most useful design capabilities photo etching offers is the ability to use half etch lines. For this, a line is placed on one side of the phototool, but not on the other. During the etching process, the line is etched away on one side but not on the other, creating a half etch. This makes it possible to have fold lines on just one side, allowing us to design a flat part and then fold it into a 3D shape later. This is an inexpensive alternative to expensive forming tool costs seen in other fabrication processes.

Photo etching is a versatile process that can accommodate complex designs, a variety of materials and tight tolerance requirements. And because the tooling costs and time are so low (most phototools are $300 or less), design changes are quick and inexpensive.

To see how your designs can be made into a reality by working with a photo etching provider, call us at 800-443-5218 or email us at sales@conardcorp.com and we can get started working on your designs!

Download the Comprehensive Guide to Photo Etching: Get The Guide Now
Comparing ‘Micromanufacturing’ Processes
6:00 am Leave a Comment

New micro processes are emerging, but some of the most reliable ones have been around for decades.

Micromanufacturing is a hot topic these days, but it raises a question: What qualifies as “micro?”

The answer: It depends on who you ask. A 2010 survey conducted by MICROmanufacturing found that there is no true consensus as to what makes a part or design feature “micro.” The survey said 33 percent of the respondents said any part or feature up to .039″ is “micro.” 24 percent said up to .078″, while 15 percent said up to .157″. A shocking 24 percent considered .314″ to be the upper limit for micro parts.

Most of the respondents were from shops using conventional cutting and stamping processes, where metal is still cutting metal. But non-conventional photochemical processes have been at the micro level for decades, largely as a result of imaging advances driven by the rapidly evolving semiconductor industry..

“What is micromanufacturing? It depends who you ask.”

Stamping
Stamping is a popular fabrication method when OEMs need high volumes of small metal parts. With mechanical or hydraulic presses, energy is transferred from a flywheel or hydraulic system to the work piece. A stamping guide by Jonathan Zhang shows some of the design capabilities of this process:
- Minimum hole diameter should be at least 20% greater than stock thickness. For stainless steels, it should be two times the material thickness.
- In most cases, size tolerance of .002″ can be held.
- Slot or tab widths should be greater than 1.5 times the stock thickness. The length can be a maximum of 5 times slot/tab width. These rules can be bent, though your tooling costs will increase.
Stamping can run into some issues: A burr height of up to 10% of metal thickness is to be expected, in addition to hold-down marks, which designers must account for ahead of time. Parts with a large number of small holes in a tight space can end up with mechanical distortions due to the material stretching and extreme pressure caused by holding the material down.

The products that use these components are getting smaller all the time, so burrs can lead to dysfunctional products if they interfere with other parts. Mitigating these effects is possible, but it will require extra operations or different tooling which means higher costs and longer production times.

Microstamping
Microstamping is essentially the same process as stamping, but as the name implies, it’s better suited for micro parts.

Precision micro stampers use ultra thin materials and sometimes unusual metals to create micro parts and features of about .078″ and smaller. They can handle some complex applications with the ability to make cuts and holes with an aspect ratio of less than 1-to-1 and can also hold tight tolerances – as low as .0003″.

But microstamping is still vulnerable to the same downsides as stamping: Long lead times, mechanical distortions, high upfront tooling costs and a lack of flexibility for design changes once the tooling is finished.

Stamping and microstamping are a viable choice for certain applications, but for complex precision micro parts, there are non-conventional methods that OEMs should know about.

Many industries are turning to nonconventional processes for their micro needs

Photo etching
What we consider to be micro in the etching business is still not feasible for most conventional processes. We can make parts down to about .020″ using sheets that range from .001″ to about .080″ in thickness. When it comes to holes, our minimum hole/slot dimension must be at least 110 percent of metal thickness, though we can easily adjust the aspect ratio to make them different sizes on each side of the sheet. Here are some other advantages photo etching has when it comes to micromanufacturing:
- Most photo tools are about $300 or less. They can also be reused, allowing for large batches from just one tool.
- We can have your tools ready in about a day, keeping lead times short.
- Etching does not alter the composition of the metal or expose it to heat – parts come free of mechanical distortions and burrs.
Find out if photo etching fits for your application:

Electroforming
ASTM B892-93 defines electroforming as “the production or reproduction of articles by electrodeposition upon a mandrel or mould that is subsequently separated from the deposit.”

Through electroforming, we can build a new part one particle at a time, with a high level of control over the process and keeping these miniscule parts to print. Electroformed parts can have a thickness between .0005″ and .010″. Holes and other design features can be brought down to about .0002″ in diameter, while holding tight tolerances of about +/- .0002″

Both photo etching and electroforming have been used in the MEMS, RF & Microwave and medical fields to create sieves, meshes, screens, ligatures and other parts that have to fit in spaces that are just a few microns wide.

Learn more about micromanufacturing. Download our FREE guide:

Introduction to Electroforming

If you’re an engineer or designer with micro designs, call us at 800-443-5218 or email us at sales@conardcorp.com to see how we can help you.
Can your processes handle precision aluminum manufacturing?
5:18 am Leave a Comment

Aluminum is one of the most commonly used metals in manufacturing and while most manufacturers have extensive experience in working with it, their processes may not be well equipped to handle this versatile, yet tricky material when fabricating precision parts on a micro scale.

Aluminum is one of the most commonly used metals in manufacturing. While most manufacturers have extensive experience in working with it, their processes may not be well equipped to handle this versatile, yet tricky material when fabricating precision parts on a micro scale.

OEMs in growing industries are demanding smaller and smaller component parts
What do the MEMS, aerospace, medical, RF and Microwave industries have in common? For all of the above, and more, there is a push toward the miniscule.

OEMs in these industries are making their final products even smaller. But don’t think that because the products are shrinking, their power and functions are being diminished. If anything, the products must perform better and more efficiently than ever, even as their individual component parts crawl down to the micro level.

Due to its versatility, aluminum looks to play a role in these fields as a primary choice for all of the aforementioned industries. But as we’ll see, bringing aluminum parts to the micro level requires a precision that many job shops who use conventional machining methods will struggle to meet.

CNC milling and other conventional fabrication processes have some distinct disadvantages when it comes to making small-scale aluminum parts.

Conventional fabrication processes struggle with precision aluminum parts
Stampers, laser cutters, wire EDMers, water jet cutters and CNC millers: Have you tried to work with aluminum when your customers want small parts with razor-thin requirements for their dimensional tolerances? Chances are that if you have, you ran into issues either in terms of costs or capability. As it turns out, these methods have some inherent problems that make them a less-than-optimal choice for precision aluminum manufacturing.

“Distortions can mean the difference between a good part and scrap.”

For example, wire EDMs, plasma and laser cutters often run into the problem of altering the material’s properties due to the intense heat required. Generally, these processes run a temperature of about 15,000 F for EDM, 25,000 degrees F for plasma and 5,500 degrees F for laser. These temperatures can drastically alter the aluminum around the cut lines, causing work hardening or a recast layer on the material. Additionally, because these methods cut the designs out of the raw material, they often leave burrs or rough edges.

When you’re trying to produce complex parts within a tight tolerance of just a few thousandths of an inch, these kinds of distortions can mean the difference between a good part and scrap.

Photo etching is a widely sought after solution for small-scale complex aluminum parts
If one of your customers comes to you with a CAD file of a complicated, small aluminum component part, you don’t want to turn them away just because your processes aren’t completely conducive to what they need.

In this case, it would benefit you to look for a photo etching partner. Photo etching is uniquely suited to precision aluminum manufacturing for a variety of reasons:
- The aluminum is exposed to temperatures no higher than 165 degrees F, eliminating the chances of thermal distortions.
- The process creates no fumes or dust, making it safe for workers and machines alike.
- No burrs, uneven edges or mechanical deformations.
- Parts are made simultaneously – costs don’t increase dramatically just because the batch size increases.
- Design changes are simple – with a new CAD file and about $300 for new tooling, we can quickly adapt to new designs.
- Locational and overall dimensional tolerances can be held to tight specifications.
- At Conard, we’ve been etching aluminum since 1965. Our expertise makes us the perfect partner for those troublesome precision aluminum parts.
If your aluminum needs include:
- Material thicknesses from .001″ to .080″
- Dimensional tolerances within +/-15% of material thickness
- Smooth, consistent edges
- Design support
then call us at 800-443-5218 or email your designs to us at sales@conardcorp.com and let’s get started on your complex aluminum parts!

For more info on Photo Etching: Visit the Tech Library
What are Dimensional Tolerances for Photo Etching Metals?
5:03 am Leave a Comment
The photo etching process relies on the ability of the etching fluid to enter and exit the line or hole or slot that is being etched. The effect of the etchant is dependent upon having adequate access to the metal that needs to be dissolved.

As a result, there are limitations that are directly related to the thickness of the metal. To make a hole, we spray the etching fluid at spots of bare metal on both sides of the sheet that are not protected by photoresist. The etchant erodes the metal from both sides and the hole is created at the moment the etching action breaks through.

If we try to make a hole that is too small for the metal thickness, it is like overfilling a bucket. The etchant being sprayed can’t displace the etchant that is already in the cavity, and the etchant in the cavity loses effectiveness.

The need to allow enough room for the fluid action of the etching solution gives rise to the first rule of thumb for etching, which is that the minimum dimension of a hole or slot must be at least 115% of the metal thickness. This allows the necessary clearance for the etching fluid to circulate through the area being etched.

Dimensional tolerances are also driven by metal thickness. And the same effect that pertains to hole sizes applies to overall dimensions. The minimum dimensional tolerance for etched features is +/-15% of the metal thickness. However, locational tolerances will be +/-.001″ to drawing nominal. So, a pattern of holes, for example, may vary in size up to +/-15% of the metal thickness, but the locations of the centers of those holes will be within +/-.001.

What is not well understood about the differences between etching and other forms of metal fabrication is that there are no mechanical forces being applied to the work piece. There is no deflection or wear of the cutting tool and no mechanical force being applied by a hold-down device. In photo etching, the sheets of metal are being trundled through a slow-moving conveyer and sprayed on both sides with heated etching solution.

Another important thing to remember is that just because, for example, the process can hold +/-.002 on .010 material, if your application works at +/-.005–leave it that way. The more generous the tolerances, the larger the sheet we can run, and the more cost effective it will be.

For more information, download FREE Design Guidelines:
DIY Photo Etching? 8 Reasons to Just Say NO
4:57 am Leave a Comment
It just happened again. Another inquiry about “buying a photo etching machine”. There seems to be a perception that an etching machine is like a photocopier: buy it, plug it in and you’re in business.

Setting up a photo etching operation is a much bigger deal than that. No new companies have set up a new photo etching facility in more than 25 years.

At a minimum, there are six pieces of capital equipment required: cleaning line, laminator, exposure unit, developer line, etching line and stripping line. You also need to be able to mix, transport, use and get rid of several different hazardous waste solutions: developer, etchant, and stripping solution. And, if you are going to do this right, you’ll need a water conditioning system, a waste water treatment plant and a fume scrubber.

There are a multitude of state and local environmental, and in some places federal as well, compliance requirements. None of which are cheap.

In addition to shouldering the costs of the regulatory and environmental burdens, photo etching equipment takes a beating. Exposure to the etching solution, which is both heated and pressurized, takes its toll on the conveyors, bearings, and pumps. We routinely replace equipment on a preventive maintenance program. If you are etching only part time, or intermittently, your etching equipment is degrading in place.

There are eight more reasons why you should be working with a commercial photo etching supplier rather than doing your chemical etching in house:

1. Utility Costs: chemical etching equipment uses a ton of power to run compressors, pumps, heaters, conveyors and sprayers. The etching process also uses a lot of water for regeneration, rinsing, developing and stripping.

2. Chemistry and supply costs: Etchant, developer, stripper and photoresist are significant elements in the cost of goods. And, if you are not etching on a continuous basis, those costs are not amortized efficiently.

3. Waste treatment and disposal: Even with on-site waste treatment, what and how much can be put down the drain is tightly regulated. Other wastes must be processed by regulated facilities and everything has to be accounted for and documented in perpetuity.

4. Regulatory and compliance costs: It’s not enough to follow the rules. You have to pay permit fees, audit fees, consulting fees, disposal fees and more, just for the fact of using photo etching as a manufacturing process. And, don’t forget the potential for fines if you have a problem.

5. Maintenance and repair costs: Photo etching equipment requires regularly scheduled M&R, just like an airplane. After every so many hours of operation, there are parts that need to inspected, serviced or replaced. Keeping an etching line running for 4 years isn’t like keeping a copier plugged in.

6. Capital Expenses: After keeping an etching line running for four years, you still have to replace it. Just write a check in the six-figure range.

7. Training and Safety: There are state- and federally-mandated safety training requirements for which a certified instructor is required. Every new employee must be trained to the requirements and every employee must complete retraining annually.

8. Determining your true cost of goods: Do you really know what your etching costs are? It’s not just the cost of the metal. What about the defective parts you make? What about unabsorbed overhead?

When you work with a commercial etching facility, all you are paying for is the parts you need.

To help you make the comparison, download our FREE report on Photo Etching Costs:

Read the Report
Eight Reasons Why You Don’t Want DIY Photo Etching
March 4, 2025 1:05 pm Leave a Comment
We get regular inquiries asking about buying etching equipment. There seems to be a perception that an etching machine is like a photocopier: buy it, plug it in and youre in business. Setting up a photo etching operation is a much bigger deal than that. At a minimum, there are six pieces of capital equipment required: cleaning line, laminator, exposure unit, developer line, etching line and stripping line. You also need to be able to mix, transport, use and get rid of 5 different solutions: cleaner, developer, etchant, rinse and stripping solution. And, if you are going to do this right, youll need a water conditioning system, a waste water treatment plant and a fume scrubber.

I dont know if there is anywhere in the country that you could set up and operate a new etching facility without having to conform to a multitude of state and local environmental compliance requirements. None of which are cheap.

In addition to shouldering the costs of the regulatory and environmental burdens, photo etching equipment is not a long-lived asset. Exposure to the etching solution, which is both heated and pressurized, takes its toll on the conveyors, bearings, and pumps. We routinely replace equipment every four years. If you are etching only part time, or intermittently, your etching equipment is degrading in place.

There are eight more reasons why you should be working with a commercial photo etching supplier rather than doing your chemical etching in house:

1. Utility Costs: chemical etching equipment uses a ton of power to run compressors, pumps, heaters, conveyors and sprayers. The etching process also uses a lot of water for regeneration, rinsing, developing and stripping.

2. Chemistry and supply costs: Etchant, developer, stripper and photoresist are significant elements in the cost of goods. And, if you are not etching on a continuous basis, those costs are not amortized efficiently.

3. Waste treatment and disposal: Even with on-site waste treatment, what and how much can be put down the drain is tightly regulated. Other wastes must be processed by regulated facilities and everything has to be accounted for and documented in perpetuity.

4. Regulatory and compliance costs: It’s not enough to follow the rules. You have to pay permit fees, audit fees, consulting fees, disposal fees and more, just for the fact of using photo etching as a manufacturing process. And, don’t forget the potential for fines if you have a problem.

5. Maintenance and repair costs: Photo etching equipment requires regularly scheduled M&R, just like an airplane. After every so many hours of operation, there are parts that need to inspected, serviced or replaced. Keeping an etching line running for 4 years isn’t like keeping a copier plugged in.

6. Capital Expenses: After keeping an etching line running for four years, you still have to replace it. Just write a check in the six-figure range.

7. Training and Safety: There are state- and federally-mandated safety training requirements for which a certified instructor is required. Every new employee must be trained to the requirements and every employee must complete retraining annually.

8. Determining your true cost of goods: Do you really know what your etching costs are? It’s not just the cost of the metal. What about the defective parts you make? What about unabsorbed overhead?

When you work with a commercial etching facility, all you are paying for is the parts you need.

To help you make the comparison, download our FREE report on Photo Etching Costs:

Read the Report
Why Choose Photo Etching for Producing Metal Parts
12:58 pm Leave a Comment
The biggest problem with photo chemical etching is that it is unfamiliar to many designers and engineers. The second problem is that it has too many names: PCM, photo etching, chemical etching, acid etching, chemical machining, metal etching. People dont know what to ask for.

And just to add to the confusion, there are several other processes that sound similar, but arent the same. Electrochemical etching is used for part-marking. MetalPhoto is a photographic process for making nameplates that entails no etching at all. And, chemical milling is used to selectively alter three dimensional parts to change the surface or reduce the weight of the metal.

Photo etching is a metal fabricating technique that fits in a spectrum of processes that include metal stamping, CNC punching, laser and water-jet cutting and wire EDM. The end result of all of these processes is flat metal parts, that may be subsequently formed or finished by other methods.

One of the chief advantages of photo chemical etching process is that photo etched parts do not acquire any thermal or mechanical stresses during fabrication. The unwanted metal is dissolved by the etchant and rinsed away.

Stamping and punching are processes that require hard metal tooling to cut parts from sheets of metal which can cause cold working of the metal. Plasma, laser and water jet use narrow beams of focused energy. In the case of the laser, the energy comes from colimated light, and the water jet uses a pressurized abrasive slurry, and plasma uses ionized gas. Wire EDM uses a wire electrode to burn the parts out of metal.

Photo chemical machining is a relatively rare process. There are only about 100 PCM shops in the country and barely a few hundred globally. Compare that to several thousand metal stamping shops just in the US. Photo etching is often a better solution to fabricating flat metal parts, but too few people are familiar with the process. This video provides a 2-minute overview of the photo etching process: http://www.iplayerhd.com/player/ConardCorp
What Engineers Need to Know about Photo Etching
12:51 pm Leave a Comment
The hardest job we face is educating designers and engineers about the capabilities of the photo chemical etching process. Conceptually, it’s alien to people who picture stamping and punch presses and laser, water, and plasma cutters for creating metal parts. Each process has it’s pluses and minuses, and in some aspects the capabilities have some overlap.

One of the first criteria to think about is quantities. If the application is going to run in the millions, then stamping is the most efficient alternative. But for quantities from dozens to 100,000, then photo etching may prove just as effective, and with a far lower tooling investment — typically less than $300, no matter how complex the part.

Using photo etching, the test part shown below is no more difficult or costly to make than a simple washer.

Another factor is the material thickness. Most stamping and CNC punching tend to avoid working with very thin materials because of material handling. Plasma and laser cutters are typically not very “thin” friendly due to the heat involved. Water jets avoid the heat problem, but the pressure can be a problem of shredding very thin metals. Although photo etching is practical for a wide variety of thicknesses, its greatest advantage is with the very thin materials, down to .0005″, although the typical range is from .001″ to .032″.

Dimensional accuracy is also an important consideration. Fine blanking is the highest precision option in stamping and can achieve dimensional tolerances of as little as +/-1% of metal thickness, to a practical limit of about +/-.0003″. But the tooling can be very expensive. Photo etching typically runs about +/-15% of metal thickness, which still easily accommodates +/-.005″ tolerances on materials up to .032″ thick. Plasma cutters are reported to hold tolerances to +/-.015″, and lasers +/-.005″.

Alteration of metal characteristics can be problematic in stamping and punching, as cold working can occur at the shearing points. Some alloys can be annealed afterwards, but many, like 300 series stainless steels, can not be. Laser and plasma cutters impart intense heat and the metal adjacent to the kerf lines may be subject to embrittlement or other thermal distortions. Photo etching, which runs about as hot as your dishwasher (about 130F), poses no threat of inducing thermal or mechanical distortions.

In photo etching, the metal thickness is the key determinant of feature sizes, minimum radius and dimensional tolerances. Through holes or slots must be at least 110% of the metal thickness. Minimum land area between through features should not be less than the metal thickness. And, in general, minimum radius is approximately equal to metal thickness.

Another feature of chemical etching is the sidewall. The etching process occurs from both sides of the sheet, and as the etch depth increases the side wall slopes away from the etch line at the rate of .00025″ per .001″ of depth. This creates a slightly hexagonal cross section with a small feature we call the “feather” at the breakthrough point.

Simplifying complexity is perhaps one of photo etching’s greatest advantages. The process is utterly indifferent to odd shapes, multitudes of holes or other less ordinary features. Photo etching can produce part geometries that would be extremely difficult, if even possible, with stamping or punching. Laser and plasma cutting are more flexible in this regard, however every feature and every hole must be addressed in a linear way, as if tracing with a pencil.

Photo chemical machining has been call “manufacturing’s best kept secret.” We aim to change that!

Our new Comprehensive Guide to Photo Etching covers all of this and more. Get your FREE download now:
Why use Photo Etching for Sensor Elements?
11:29 am Leave a Comment
Sensors are the physical links between the “real” world and the digital world. Sensors can detect strain, load, acceleration, inclination, vibration, motion, mass, flow, pressure, temperature, proximity, position, torque, traffic, substances, and conditions, to name a few. Many types of sensors are made from metals, and many are new types of semiconductors.

Photo etching is used to make many varieties of metal sensor elements. The advantages of etching include the alloys and thin metal gauges that can be used. Sensor elements with unusual shapes are not…unusual, and photo etching makes unusual shapes easily.

The ability to incorporate half-etched features such as channels and tiny cavities is a simple matter with photo etching and is done in the production flow without the need for secondary operations.

These stainless steel atmospheric sampling discs feature half etched flow channels and through holes at the junctions of the x-points.

Some sensor elements are used to detect motion. These are often made of alloys that have some spring characteristics such as phosphor bronze, tempered beryllium copper, spring steel or other specialty spring materials such as Eligiloy or Havar. In many cases, this class of sensor element has secondary forming, and often heat treating or plating.

Microswitch actuators combine etching and forming of high yield strength stainless steel in a highly reliable sensing device. Spectroscopy sensors can have very delicate etched features.

Many different kinds of industrial, scientific and medical instruments rely on the physical link of a sensor element to detect and convey a signal to the electronic system that interprets and analyzes the information.

Some sensor devices, often called burst disks or pressure membranes, are designed to activate rapidly when certain conditions are met. They may be used to vent overpressure in valves or piping to prevent a large blowout by failing in a predicted way. In some cases, they are intended to be actuators that trigger an extremely fast but controlled release of energy. Explosive bolts would be in this class of device, as well as the actuators that deploy vehicle airbags. Pressure membranes are often used in certain types of fuzing devices for munitions.

Stainless steel burst discs are used to protect valves and other control devices from dangerous over pressure conditions. The depth and width of the half etched channels are designed to fail before the system sustains critical damage.

Some sensor elements are very small. We’ve made parts as small as .020″ diameter. And, some are pretty large. We etch stainless steel elements that are 24″ x 60″ but only .005″ thick.

The versatility of photo etching with the wide variety of alloys at thicknesses down to .001″, the ability to create unusual shapes at effectively no extra cost, and the range of sizes that can be made offers sensor element designers a very unconstrained design space for their applications.

As the trends of miniaturization and ubiquitous data continue to exp
How Small can Photo Etched Parts be Made?
11:12 am Leave a Comment

One of the unique advantages of photo etching is the ability to produce some very small features. We’ve talked about small holes and fine line widths for screens and leadframes, but making overall tiny parts is one of the things that etching does particularly well.

The photo shows etched stainless encoder discs that are .100″ in diameter.

In production, we have produced parts as small as .020″ diameter, which is about the thickness of a credit card. Theoretically, we can produce parts as small as .005″ diameter on metal that is .002″ thick.

Ideally, we prefer to tab really small parts into arrays. This process significantly improves yield and makes handling much easier. We run a job that has 40,000 parts tabbed into a 12 x 12 sheet. Because of the tabbing, the yield is nearly 100%.

Tabbing is also an advantage in storage and handling, particularly if the parts are delicate. Tiny etched parts can be accurately inventoried in arrayed sheets. The sheets can be easily issued to manufacturing.

Depending on the part design and metal thickness, tabbed parts are readily removed at assembly either by snapping off the tab or simply cutting with small nippers or even cuticle scissors for very thin metals.

Because there are no mechanical issues, such as tool offset or beam width for directed energy cutting, the design of small parts can be very intricate. Very small parts include leadframes, tiny springs and retainers, tuning dots for RF and microwave applications and many more.

As long as the photo etching design rules are observed, even very small parts can incorporate features that could not be produced any other way.

The spring contact pictured is about .250″ in diameter at 1:1 scale. The flat blank was photo etched in .005″ beryllium copper and the contact parts were formed after etching.

The stainless steel sutures at right were also produced by photo etching. These parts were not tabbed in the sheet, but were produced using the “drop out” method.

“Drop out” etching for very small parts is a two step process where we coat, print, develop and etch one side of the part about half way through the metal. Then we strip and re-process the metal leaving a solid skin of resist on the already-etched side and then etch through from the other side. In this case there is extra handling involved and the final stripping must be done by hand rather than by machine. But it may be the best solution for some very small parts.

We’ve talked before about photo etching for microelectronics packaging. The photo at left illustrates some small semiconductor chips bonded to QFN style etched leadframes.

Some of the smallest chips are on a 3mm x 3mm die, less than 1/8 of an inch square.

Leadframes are produced tabbed in sheets so the die and wire bonding operations can be automated.

Photo chemical etching is a cost effective and versatile option for many kinds of small parts fabricating. Please feel free to contact us with any questions.

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Our new Comprehensive Guide to Photo Etching covers all of this and more. Get your FREE download now: