Here are some of the ways photo etching can deliver precision metal parts without driving up your costs.
Know the Rules
There are only a few of them, but they have a big influence on cost:
- Minimum dimensional tolerances are +/- 15% of metal thickness (to a practical minimum of +/-.0015" on metal .010" thick and less)
- Minimum hole or slot dimension to be not less than 110% of metal thickness
- Minimum land area between holes or slots to be not less than 80% of metal thickness (to a practical minimum of .005")
What should be in your mind is "how much leeway can this application take?" Don't design for the tightest tolerances your solid modeling platform can impose. For metals up to .032" thick and dimensions in 3-place decimals, your design objective should be to minimize the number of dimensions that have to be controlled to less than +/-.005".
( Don't bother with 4-place decimals. We're going to take exception.)
Feel Free to be Creative
Etching is cost agnostic when it comes to part complexity
With conventional processes like stamping, punching, laser cutting and wire EDM, the more complex your design is, the more your part will cost. Photo etching, on the other hand, can create parts with extremely complex geometries and features without increasing costs.
Consider a fine screen or mesh that would be used in a filtration device. Putting hundreds or thousands of tiny holes in a small flat part would be very costly with conventional processes, if the natural limitations of these methods even allow it at all. Since every feature on photo etched parts are created all at once, you're only paying for the first hole. Your costs are the same whether you have one hole or zillions of holes.
Working with a photo etcher can be a cost-effective way to create precision metal parts.We can help you with the whole job.
Often, the parts you need will require more than just the initial fabrication. You may require additional services like forming, welding, heat treating, surface finishing, etc. A good photo etching supplier will have resources that can quickly and cost-effectively finish these tasks for you
Need to try a few ideas? We can create sheets with multiple variations to facilitate speedy testing and development.
Conventional processes often come with expensive tooling, such as stamping or cutting dies that are not easily , quickly or cheaply modified. Photo etching uses photo tool. Most photo tools are less than $500. Your DXF file is all we need to implement a design change in a day or so.
We can also provide composite tooling, which is a way to make several different designs on one sheet of metal. If you need small volumes of multiple parts, but don't want to pay for the individual tools, we can include all of their designs on one single tool and produce them all on one sheet, saving time and money. The only rule here is that every part has to have the same thickness.
To learn more about how photo etching can save you money, call us at 800-443-5218 or email us at sales@conardcorp.com and we can get started working on your designs!