Metal Finishing

Metal Finishing, Chemical Clean, and Non-Metal Treatments

What is Metal Finishing?Metal finishing, Metal Cleaning. Chemical cleaning. brushing and deburring

Metal Finishing is the process of changing the surface of a metal to improve the appearance, functionality, or cleanliness of the metal.

Metal finishing to improve the functionality would include increasing electrical conductivity, corrosion resistance, surface roughness so photoresist adheres to the surface better, and much more.

An improvement in metal appearance would include polishing a metal surface, removing smut, or micro etching the surface for a matte finish.

Cleaning a metal surface is very popular. The most common we see is to remove oils, organics, oxidation, and other small particles that stuck to the metal surface.

Metal finishing can be accomplished chemically or mechanically, and we offer both surface treatments.

Plating is another form of Metal Finishing. Plating is an additive process where metal is deposited on top of a surface electrolytically or electroless. We offer electroless plating.


What are common uses for metal finishing Chemcut lines?

Chemical Cleaning

Ultrasonic Cleaning

Electroless Plating ­

Mechanical Cleaning

Micro Etching

Passivation

                Deburring


Chemcut Wet Processing Lines for Metal Finishing

Acid Cleaner. The goal is to remove any contaminants that may be on the surface. This metal acid clean will micro etch the surface (depending on the metal) which increases lamination adhesion.

Alkaline Cleaner. The goal of this step is to remove all oils and organics from the surface.

Anti-Tarnish. Aids in corrosion resistance.

Inner-layer bonding treatments for PCB multilayer construction. Multi-bond, Bond Film, Cobra Bond, and other proprietary chemistries that are used as a surface treatment that adds an oxide layer to the surface to aid with lamination adhesion.

Black Hole / Eclipse / Shadow / Envision HDI. Through-hole metallization process for PCB fabrication.

Copper Conveyorized Plating is an additive process where you are plating copper on a surface. Our plating lines are electroless. This means copper is plated through a chemical reaction instead of using an electrical current. This process is very common in PCB manufacturing to create or increase electrical conductivity.

Electrolytic Cleaning – completed before the micro etch process to remove the chromate layer on PCB / copper foil. The chromate layer will protect the surface from micro etching and needs to be removed by electrolytic cleaning PCB copper.

Glass Cleaning.  To remove oils, dust, and handling marks from the glass surface. Clean, rinse, and dry. The systems can be designed for high-temperature cleaning as high as 180 F.

Immersion Silver

Immersion Tin

Outer-layer bonding treatments for Soldermask coatings prior to Ni/Au plating or Sn plating.

Mechanical Deburr is typically used on rigid metals and PCBs after drilling to deburr the holes. Deburr is more aggressive than the scrubber and will result in a uniform, parallel grain-finished surface.

Mechanical Scrubber is used on flexible and rigid metals as a metal and/or PCB cleaner. The scrubber is less aggressive than the deburr and will result in a uniform, parallel grain-finished surface like the deburr.

Micro Etching is used for several reasons. The most common we see are for increasing lamination adhesion, creating a matte finish, and thinning of metal. A micro etch can be completed on nearly any metal like chemical etching. Below is a list of common micro etching lines.

Stainless Steel Micro Etcher

Copper Micro Etcher

Titanium Micro Etcher

Glass Frosting

Specialty Metal Micro Etcher

etching pcb and chemical milling

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