CONTACT US TODAY | SALES@TRADEETCHING.COM | 01536 203813
CONTACT US TODAY | SALES@TRADEETCHING.COM | 01536 203813

Chemical Etching Services

Chemical Etching Services

State of the art chemical etching facilities

Our 4,000sq.ft state of the art etching facility is among the most advanced in Europe. We have the capacity to handle orders running to many thousands of pieces and the ability to etch large panels up to 4m x 2m in-house

  ◈  State of the art etching facilities
  ◈  High volume production capacity
  ◈  Wide range of materials available 
  ◈  Fast turnaround services available
  ◈  High Quality Infilling
  ◈  In-house research and development
  ◈  Advanced photo etching techniques

We are also able to offer a number of additional supporting processes in house to help reduce costs and lead times for our customers. These include:

  ◈ Patination
  ◈ CNC Routing
  ◈ UV Printing
  
Our 4,000sq.ft state of the art etching facility is among the most advanced in Europe. We have the capacity to handle orders running to many thousands of pieces and the ability to etch large panels up to 4m x 2m in-house

  ◈ State of the art etching facilities
  ◈ High volume production capacity
  ◈  Wide range of materials avalible 
  ◈  Fast turnaround services avalible
  ◈  High Quality Infilling
  ◈  In-house R & D department
  ◈  Advanced photo etch techniques

We are also able to offer a number of additional supporting processes in house to help reduce costs and lead times for our customers. These include:

  ◈ Patination
  ◈ UV Printing

Materials

We are able to chemically etch most metals in house. Typical materials requested by our customers include:
   
   ◈ Stainless steel
   ◈ Brass
   ◈ Bronze
   ◈ Copper
   ◈ Nickel
   ◈ Zinc
   ◈ Aluminium
   ◈ Mild steel 
   ◈ Rimex Metals® incl T22™ range
   
Other materials are available on request. Contact us today to discuss your etching requirements.




Applications

Typical applications for chemical etching include:

   ◈ Hotel & office signage
   ◈ Wayfinding  signage
   ◈ Industrial nameplates & labels
   ◈ Identification products
   ◈ Architectural panels
   ◈ Plaques & memorials
   ◈ Interpretation boards
   ◈ Corporate awards
   ◈ Safety & compliance signs
   ◈ Promotional items
   ◈ Thin metal components



What is chemical etching?

Chemical etching is a multistage photo-lithographic process.  The metal is first cleaned and then laminated with a UV sensitive photoresist film. A photo tool containing the desired artwork is placed on top of the laminated material. It is then exposed to UV light.  

The UV light passes through the clear areas of the photo tool hardening the laminated film. The sheet is then chemically developed to wash away the unexposed photoresist leaving a very precise mask of hardened photoresist behind.  

The material is placed in the etching machine where is it sprayed with a high pressure temperature regulated chemical  spray (most commonly Ferric Chloride).  The solution etches away the unprotected portions of the material to reproduce the desired image. 

The chemical spray dissolves the material atom by atom for a smooth burr free finish. In the final stage the photoresist is stripped away leaving the material ready for any post etching processes required.

Supporting
In-house Processes

Supporting In-House Processes

Chemical Milling

Chemical milling is a process used to produce complex thin metal components out of sheet metal. In the milling process artwork is applied to both sides of the material and is etched from top and bottom simultaneously. It is a flexible process with low tooling costs that produces burr-free, stress-free parts 
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Patination

Trade Etching Direct are known in the sign industry for the quality of our patina work. We provide a first class patina service in-house offering our customers a huge range of finishes, ranging from flamed copper to antiqued brass.
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CNC Routing

Trade Etching Direct operate a full CNC routing service. We can produce custom shaped plaques and awards in house, saving our customers time and money.

CNC Routing

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UV Printing

We can UV print directly onto virtually any surface. UV printed signs can be an ideal lower cost option for back of house signage. We lead the way in integrating UV print technology with chemical etching to offer our customers unique design options.

CNC Routing

Trade Etching Direct operate a full CNC routing service. We can produce custom shaped plaques and awards in house, saving our customers time and money.