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Photo Etching & Chemical Milling Equipment

Black And Silver Circuit Plates

What is Photo Etching? 

Photo etching is the process of removing metal by chemical etching and is ideally suited to produce flat, relatively thin parts of unlimited configurations. 

Photo etching is also known as metal etching, chemical milling, acid etching, and stainless-steel etching.  

 If you want to learn more about the benefits of chemical etching and why you should consider it, please see our page on etching. 

Popular Chemical Etching Lines for Photo Metal Etching 

Explore our range of Chemical Etching lines, each designed and built to accommodate your specific process. When you are ready, contact our expert team to design the solution you need. 

Popular Chemical Etching Lines for Photo Metal Etching

Cupric Chloride Etcher
  • Copper Etcher
  • PCB Etcher
Ferric Chloride Etcher
  • Copper Etcher
  • Stainless Steel Etcher
  • PCB Etcher
  • Specialty Metal Etcher
Hydrofluoric Etcher (HF etcher)
  • Titanium Etching
  • Specialty Metal Etcher
Develop – Etch – Strip

Develop – Etch

Etch – Strip

Standalone Etcher

Mechanical Scrubber

Mechanical Deburr

Popular Equipment Options for the Photo Etch Process 

Specific gravity and drip pans are highly recommended options to go along with Chemcut’s photo etch processing equipment. Additional options to improve your process can be found on our Products page. 

XLi with External Automatic Pressure Adjust
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Control the spray pressure of each spray tube using the PLC instead of the throttling screw.

Available Conveyor Widths
  • 20″
  • 30″
  • 40″
  • 50″
  • 60″
Common Processes
  • Custom Size (1 to as many chambers as you want)
  • DES (Develop – Etch – Strip)
  • Etcher (Stand Alone)
  • SES (Strip – Etch – Strip)
Common Chemicals
  • Alkaline Etchant
  • Cupric Chloride Etchant
  • Ferric chloride Etchant
  • Hydrofluoric Acid (HF)
  • Micro etch
Common Materials Etched
  • Aluminum
  • Copper
  • Glass
  • Steel
  • Titanium
  • And more
XLi Chemical Cleaning System
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Available Conveyor Widths
  • 20″
  • 30″
  • 40″
  • 50″
  • 60″
Common Processes
  • Cleaner (Stand Alone)
  • Alkaline Clean to Acid Clean
  • Custom Size (1 to as many chambers as you want)
Common Chemicals
  • Acid Cleaner
  • Alkaline Cleaner
XLi Developing Systems
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Available Conveyor Widths
  • 20″
  • 30″
  • 40″
  • 50″
  • 60″
Common Processes
  • Custom Size (1 to as many chambers as you want)
  • Developer (Stand Alone)
  • DES (Develop – Etch – Strip)
Common Chemicals
  • 1% Potassium Carbonate
  • 1% Sodium Carbonate
XLi Etching Systems
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Available Conveyor Widths
  • 20″
  • 30″
  • 40″
  • 50″
  • 60″
Common Processes
  • Custom Size (1 to as many chambers as you want)
  • DES (Develop – Etch – Strip)
  • Etcher (Stand Alone)
  • SES (Strip – Etch – Strip)
Common Chemicals
  • Alkaline Etchant
  • Cupric Chloride Etchant
  • Ferric chloride Etchant
  • Hydrofluoric Acid (HF)
  • Micro etch
Common Materials Etched
  • Aluminum
  • Copper
  • Glass
  • Steel
  • Titanium
  • And more
XLi Stripping Systems
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Available Conveyor Widths
  • 20″
  • 30″
  • 40″
  • 50″
  • 60″
Common Processes
  • Custom Size (1 to as many chambers as you want)
  • DES (Develop – Etch – Strip)
  • SES (Strip – Etch – Strip)
  • Stripper (Stand Alone)
Common Chemicals
  • Metal Resist Stripper
  • Proprietary Aqueous or Semi-Aqueous Stripper
  • Potassium Hydroxide
  • Sodium Hydroxide
121 Brush Cleaner
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Features
  • Wet Brushing
  • Oscillating Brushes
  • Choice of bristle or compressed brushes
Common uses
  • Brushing
  • Cleaner
  • Finishing
  • Remove Polishing
219 Scrubber
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Features
  • Single-sided abrasive brush
  • Tough reinforced conveyor belt supports small parts
2300 Series Chemical Cleaning System
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Available Conveyor Widths
  • 15″
  • 20″
  • 30″
Common Processes
  • Cleaner (Stand Alone)
  • Alkaline Clean to Acid Clean
  • Custom Size (1 to as many chambers as you want)
Common Chemicals
  • Acid Cleaner
  • Alkaline Cleaner
2300 Series Developing System
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Available Conveyor Widths
  • 15″
  • 20″
  • 30″
Common Processes
  • Custom Size (1 to as many chambers as you want)
  • Developer (Stand Alone)
  • DES (Develop – Etch – Strip)
Common Chemicals
  • 1% Potassium Carbonate
  • 1% Sodium Carbonate
Common Resists
  • dry film photoresists
  • liquid photoresists
  • Aqueous solder mask resist (dry and liquid)
  • And many more resists
2300 Series Dryer
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Available Conveyor Widths
  • 15″
  • 20″
  • 30″
  • 40″
Features
  • Stand-alone drying system
  • Portable unit (move anywhere in the shop) or fix it in place
2300 Series Etching System
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Available Conveyor Widths
  • 15″
  • 20″
  • 30″
Common Processes
  • Custom Size (1 to as many chambers as you want)
  • DES (Develop – Etch – Strip)
  • Etcher (Stand Alone)
  • SES (Strip – Etch – Strip)
Common Chemicals
  • Alkaline Etchant
  • Cupric Chloride Etchant
  • Ferric chloride Etchant
  • Hydrofluoric Acid (HF)
  • Micro etch
Common Materials Etched
  • Aluminum
  • Copper
  • Glass
  • Steel
  • Titanium
  • And more
2300 Series Stripping System
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Available Conveyor Widths
  • 15″
  • 20″
  • 30″
Common Processes
  • Custom Size (1 to as many chambers as you want)
  • DES (Develop – Etch – Strip)
  • SES (Strip – Etch – Strip)
  • Stripper (Stand Alone)
Common Chemicals
  • Metal Resist Stripper
  • Proprietary Aqueous or Semi-Aqueous Stripper
  • Potassium Hydroxide
  • Sodium Hydroxide
2800 Drawer Etcher
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Features
  • An adjustable drawer type rack
  • Loads parts horizontally up to size 21″ x 21″
  • Oscillating spray tubes
  • Oscillating rack to maximize etchant movement
604 Deburrer
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Features
  • 2 oscillating brushes
  • Built-in Rinse and Dryer
Common uses
  • Post PCB drilling
  • Post punching operations
CC8000 Chemical Cleaning System
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Available Conveyor Widths
  • 20″
  • 30″
  • 40″
  • 50″
  • 60″
Common Processes
  • Cleaner (Stand Alone)
  • Alkaline Clean to Acid Clean
  • Custom Size (1 to as many chambers as you want)
Common Chemicals
  • Acid Cleaner
  • Alkaline Cleaner
CC8000 Developing Systems
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Available Conveyor Widths
  • 20″
  • 30″
  • 40″
  • 50″
  • 60″
Common Processes
  • Custom Size (1 to as many chambers as you want)
  • Developer (Stand Alone)
  • DES (Develop – Etch – Strip)
Common Chemicals
  • 1% Potassium Carbonate
  • 1% Sodium Carbonate
Common Resists
  • dry film photoresists
  • liquid photoresists
  • Aqueous solder mask resist (dry and liquid)
  • And many more resists
CC8000 Etching Systems
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Available Conveyor Widths
  • 20″
  • 30″
  • 40″
  • 50″
  • 60″
Common Processes
  • Custom Size (1 to as many chambers as you want)
  • DES (Develop – Etch – Strip)
  • Etcher (Stand Alone)
  • SES (Strip – Etch – Strip)
Common Chemicals
  • Alkaline Etchant
  • Cupric Chloride Etchant
  • Ferric chloride Etchant
  • Hydrofluoric Acid (HF)
  • Micro etch
Common Materials Etched
  • Aluminum
  • Copper
  • Glass
  • Steel
  • Titanium
  • And more
CC8000 Stripping Systems
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Available Conveyor Widths
  • 20″
  • 30″
  • 40″
  • 50″
  • 60″
Common Processes
  • Custom Size (1 to as many chambers as you want)
  • DES (Develop – Etch – Strip)
  • SES (Strip – Etch – Strip)
  • Stripper (Stand Alone)
Common Chemicals
  • Sodium Hydroxide
  • Potassium Hydroxide
  • Proprietary Aqueous or Semi-Aqueous Stripper
  • Metal Resist Stripper
Etch Adjust Module (EAM)
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Add EAM to
  • CC8000 Etching Systems
  • XLi Etching Systems
Advantages
  • Plated boards: Correct side to side etch difference when one side is plated more
  • Fine-tune very small features
936 Web Filtering System
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Removes these from rinse water: Metal fines, Brush particles, Oils and other contaminates.

Ion Exchange System
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Features
  • Closed-loop system
  • Decrease your water usage by connecting an ion exchange to your rinse water

Related Resources

 || 11 Things Needed to Start a Chemical Etching Plant | Chemcut Blog

11 Things Needed to Start a Chemical Etching Plant | Chemcut Blog

11 Things You Need to Start a Chemical Etching Plant Chemical etching has been around since 2500...

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 || Copper Etchant Options | ChemCut

Copper Etchant Options | ChemCut

Copper etching is a vital manufacturing process that tends to be used in the manufacturing of...

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 || Understanding The etching Process

Understanding The etching Process

Chemical etching is a widely used technique in the manufacturing industry for selectively removing...

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