WHAT CAN PHOTOCHEMICAL MACHINING DO FOR YOU?

The main advantages in using photochemical machining to produce many types of parts break down to the following:

Cost
The use of glass or film tooling normally runs in the hundred of dollars as opposed to the tens of thousands of dollars often required to produce “hard tooling”.

Time
As with cost, the simplicity of the tool making steps is the biggest factor in turning parts around in a very short time frame. Rush orders can be run in a few days or less. Grace once set a record time and took a rush order for 4000 specially-shaped washers from blueprint to parts out of the door in one day.

Typically, it takes from a few days to a few weeks to produce the photo tooling. The limiting factor is normally just the backlog of work at the graphics area at any given time. While the tooling is being produced, the metal is being sourced and or prepared. When the two come together… the production processes move along quickly. There is no lengthy set-up procedure.

Integrity of Material
Since there is no force being applied to the metal to “blank out” the parts, no stresses are introduced. The part flatness remains the same as the starting metal. For thin, fragile parts, this is an important consideration. Another benefit is this: soft metals remain soft; there is no work hardening.

Freedom of Burrs
The chemical blanking method removes metal gradually, normally from both sides. Therefore, there is no metal being forced to one side, which creates burrs.

Complex/ Delicate production
The complexity of a part’s design has very little effect on the processing, or the cost. A rule of thumb is this: if it can be drawn, it can be etched.