Chemical CNC Alloy Machining Services

The etch step uses a photoresist mask and a chemical bath to dissolve metal where the mask is open. There is no cutter force, no burr on the etched edge, and no work hardening. Features down to a few tenths of a millimeter across a 0.2 mm sheet are routine, which is where milling struggles.

The CNC step then takes over. It sets the outline, drills and reams holes to ±0.005 mm, faces the part to a flat datum, and cuts pockets or counterbores the etch cannot hold. Because the etch already removed most of the area, the cutter spends its time on accuracy, not on roughing.

The order matters. Etching first lets you keep a carrier frame that holds dozens of small parts flat through milling. Mill first and you risk distorting thin webs before the etch ever starts.

One limit is worth stating early: this is not a replacement for five-axis work. If your part is a solid block with deep 3D contours, plain CNC machining is faster and cheaper.

• 1
  Etch handlesFine slots, grids, perforations, and thin webs in sheet alloy.
• 2
  CNC handlesOutlines, tight holes, flat datums, pockets, and threads.
• 3
  Not a fitDeep 3D cavities, thick billets, and high-volume simple plates.

Alloys that etch cleanly tend to be the ones with predictable grain and no heavy alloying segregation. Aluminum 6061, 5052, and 6063 etch evenly and mill without drama. Stainless 304 and 316 hold fine features but need a slower etch bath to avoid undercut at the mask edge.

Copper alloys behave differently. C110 and C101 etch fast and give crisp edges, which is why they show up in busbars and RF shielding. Beryllium copper etches well but needs controlled handling and a documented process, since the dust and bath chemistry are regulated.

Titanium and Inconel sit at the other end. Both resist chemical attack, so an etch step is slow and rarely economic below 0.5 mm. For these, CNC milling with the right cutter and coolant is usually the better path, and we will say so in the DFM review rather than quote a process that will not pay off.

Magnesium AZ31B and AZ91D machine fast and light, but the chips are flammable. That changes housekeeping and coolant choice more than it changes the etch.

Pick etching when the feature is smaller than the cutter that would have to reach it, or when the sheet is too thin to clamp without bowing. A 0.3 mm perforated grid in a 0.2 mm stainless sheet is an etch job. Milling it would take a 0.3 mm cutter, several passes, and a fixture that costs more than the parts.

Pick milling when the part needs a true 3D form, a threaded hole, an interference fit bore, or a flatness callout tighter than the sheet can hold on its own. Etching is a through-thickness process; it cannot create a step, a chamfer, or a counterbore.

The combined route pays off in the middle. Think of a thin alloy plate with a dense pattern of slots plus four precision dowel holes and a milled perimeter. Etch the pattern, mill the datums. One setup, one carrier frame, one inspection report.

Volume shifts the answer too. Above roughly 10,000 identical thin parts, a dedicated etch tool and a simple trim die often beat both routes on cost per piece. Below that, the hybrid workflow is usually the practical choice.

We hold ±0.005 mm on milled features and Ra 0.8–1.6 μm on finished faces. Etched edges come out matte and burr-free, which is usually left as-is unless the drawing calls for passivation or plating. Our 127 CNC machines include 16 simultaneous 5-axis centers and 16 mill-turn centers, so a hybrid part does not wait on a single spindle.

The maximum processing size is 4,000 mm, which covers most panel and frame work. Smaller travel envelopes at 750 × 1,150 × 550 mm and 600 × 600 × 600 mm handle the rest. A Ø400 mm rotary table is available when the part needs indexed features on more than one face.

Every order gets a raw material check, in-process monitoring, and a final inspection before shipment. Qualification rate runs at 99.99%. Reports are available on request, and we inspect 100% of parts rather than sampling.

If you send a drawing, you get a quotation and a free DFM analysis within 12 hours. Production can start within 24 hours, and parts typically ship in 3–5 days. There is no minimum order quantity, so a single prototype and a 10,000-part run go through the same front door.

• 1
  CertificationsISO 9001:2015, IATF 16949:2016, ISO 13485:2016, ISO 27001:2022.
• 2
  FinishingAnodizing, plating, powder coating, bead blasting, laser marking.
• 3
  ConfidentialitySecure uploads; NDA available on request.