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Blogs Post

Posted on 23 Sep 2019

Comparison of Chemical Etching With Traditional Sheet Metalworking



The process of chemical etching has got more advantages than other traditional methods. But this does not imply that the traditional ways are not useful anymore. A comparison should be made by the chemical etching services company to make sure that the appropriate method is used. Some of the major benefits that the chemical etching method provides to One to One Engravers Ltd are:

1. Production of parts which need more precision. 

2. It can be used for complex products and components.

3. This method does not degrade the quality of the material. 

4. It can also be used to process a vast variety of metals or alloys or both.

What all metals can be used for chemical etching?

As listed above, one of the benefits of chemical etching services in the UK is being able to use different types of metals or alloys. Some of the metals which are good for this process are listed below:

1. Brass

2. Copper

3. Nickel

4. Titanium 

5. Aluminium

6. Ferritic and austenitic steels.

7. Alloys like Inconel. It is an example of high-temperature alloy.

Disadvantages of other methods:

As highlighted above, chemical etching saves metal from degradation. The degradation involved in other methods is either due to high impact or too much heat. Laser cutting generally causes that much heat to have a considerable impact on the metal.

As far as the tooling is concerned, chemical etching is better than stamping. This is because things are digitized in chemical etching, which prevents the manufacturers from cutting the expensive moulds made of steel. It basically means that the chemical etching services company can save a lot of money as compared to a laser cutting companies because they don’t have to spend on the tool wear. Along with this, they can also maintain quality because the first tool in the production line will be exactly the same as the billionth part of the same line.

Another issue with other methods is the change in design. If there is even a slight change in the design, it can be quickly and cost-effectively be adapted in chemical etching but not other methods. This makes it a preferable choice for those who are looking for prototyping as well. Designers and engineers are free to try since the penalty of change won’t be a worry. Not only is this cost-effective, but also quicker. In the case of stamping, the turnaround time is very high, but in the case of chemical etching, it is pretty fast because of the digitization.

Methods like stamping also require metal fabrication, which can be very time consuming and can take up to months. 

Overview of why chemical etching is great:

Chemical etching provides freedom to design because the cost of change is very low. It is faster since it has a quick turnaround time, it is precise and maintains good quality. There is no reason for not using this methodology if it fits in the list of options.