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Phosphor Bronze Etching

Phosphor bronze chemical etching is a highly versatile and adaptable material for manufacturing your quality precision metal parts.

Here at Qualitetch, we offer phosphor bronze photo etching services to our customers. This material is incredibly useful across a full range of applications.

We ensure that the highest engineering standards you expect are maintained to ensure your metal components are supplied to your drawing requirements, and we have a proven track record of quality and customer satisfaction amongst our worldwide customer base.

Components manufactured using this metal type include: Electrical contacts, electrical terminals, centre conductors, shims & spring contacts and we also manufacture many other metal component products all bespoke to your customer drawings.

Phosphor bronze can also be offered to include plating & finishing with many different finishes offered including tin plate and silver plate typically, and all delivered to the highest quality with X-ray certification and FAIR first article or PPAP level inspection reporting available if required.

Phosphor bronze is an alloy made primarily of copper, tin and phosphorus. It is renowned for its strength, resistance, to corrosion and excellent electrical conductivity. Due to these qualities phosphor bronze finds ranging applications across industries. One notable use of this alloy involves a manufacturing technique called chemical etching which allows for intricate designs to be etched onto the surface of the material. This process paves the way for an array of products with purposes.

Chemical etching involves removing material from a metals surface using a chemical solution. In the case of phosphor bronze this method yields results due to its specific chemical composition. The presence of tin and phosphorus in phosphor bronze forms a protective oxide layer on its surface rendering it highly resistant to corrosion and thus suitable for chemical etching.

One significant application resulting from phosphor bronze chemical etching is the production of components. The exceptional conductivity of phosphor bronze makes it an ideal choice for applications where reliable electrical connections are paramount. Through etching techniques precise patterns such as circuitry or connectors can be created on phosphor bronze sheets. These components find utility, in electronics, telecommunications and other industries where dependable electrical connectivity plays a role.

In the realm of arts and jewellery making alike phosphor bronze chemical etching enables the production of detailed ornaments and designs.

Phosphor bronze is a material that offers plenty of possibilities. Its flexibility allows skilled artisans to transform sheets into works of art adding intricate patterns and textures. This versatility is particularly evident, in the world of jewellery, where craftsmen can create one of a kind pieces like pendants, earrings and bracelets with precision.

Another important use for phosphor bronze lies in the manufacturing of gaskets and seals. Thanks to its combination of strength and flexibility this material is a choice for crafting custom gaskets and seals through a process called chemical etching. By etching the material manufacturers can ensure a fit making these components vital in industries that require leak proof solutions such as aerospace and automotive applications.

Phosphor bronzes chemical etching capabilities also find application in producing filters and screens. Through removal of material from the surface manufacturers can create patterns of holes or mesh that effectively filter substances. This feature proves valuable in industries like oil and gas where reliable filtration systems are essential for separating impurities.

The versatility of phosphor bronze extends further into the realm of instruments. Chemical etching techniques are employed to add patterns to surfaces such as cymbals enhancing their aesthetic appeal. Moreover due to its properties phosphor bronze remains a popular choice for metal components.

In summary the process of chemical etching on phosphor bronze offers a range of opportunities, for manufacturing types of products. It can be applied to create components, decorative art pieces, gaskets, filters and musical instruments along with many others. The precision and adaptability of this technique make it extremely valuable in industries. As technology and design progress we can expect advancements in the use of phosphor bronze and chemical etching resulting in more innovative applications, in the future.

To learn more about our bronze and phosphor bronze photo chemical etching, please contact us on 01354 658787.

Benefits of Bronze Photo Etching

Versatile

The process of phosphor bronze photo etching is one which can be used for many different products across a full range of sectors and industries.

Best Quality

Phosphor bronze is ideal for metal components where accuracy and precision are vital in it’s application, as the etching process produces, burr-free and stress free components to the highest standards.

Dedicated Team

From start to finish, we are continually putting our customer’s needs first, individualising every step of the process to enable us to tailor the end result to each client’s specific requirements.

Photo Etching Process

The photo etching process produces metal components that are both stress-free and burr-free compared to more traditional manufacturing methods – ensuring that your end product is as both accurate and precise to your drawings.

1
Metal Selection

Qualitetch offer a huge range of metals for etching including: Stainless Steels, Carbon Spring Steels, Copper, Brass, Nickel Silver, Mild steel, Phosphor Bronze, Silver, Beryllium Copper, Aluminium, Nickel, Mu Metal, Alloy 42, Alloy 52 & Many Others.

2
Metal Cleaning Process

In order to ensure perfect parts every time, we need to clean the sheet metal to remove any impurities from the sheets surface before manufacturing your designs. This involves passing the metal sheets slowly through acid or alkaline solutions and rinsed prior to laminating, printing and developing.

3
Metal Cleaning

Metal cleaning involves passing the sheets slowly through conveyorised acid or alkaline solutions and rinsed clean prior to the lamination, printing and developing stages, depending on the sheet metal choice required.

4
Preparation - Lamination

Once cleaned the metal sheets are coated with a UV sensitive photo resist, which melts to sheet in preparation for the printing process.

5
Preparation - Printing

The printing process involves us taking your chosen profile design and applying it to a two sided top and bottom acetate photo film mask, that we then print your design onto the UV sensitive photo resist.

6
Preparation - Developing

Once the metal sheet is printed with your chosen design, we then need to develop the sheet. This process effectively washes away the fine lines of the profile we are cutting, leaving raw metal track lines ready for the etching process to work it's magic very precisely.

7
Photo Chemical Etching

The etching process itself is an acid, usually ferric chloride, that effectively eats it's way through the metal at a known rate to ensure precision and targeted only in the areas you wish to remove, such as the profile track lines or other holes and features such a mesh. The rest of the sheet is masked by the UV photo sensitive blue resist, to protect the metal from the etchant until the parts are complete. This can be a very useful in a manufacturing process as the design can be very complex or include tabs or half etch fold bend lines at no added cost as you simply print your design rather than needing expensive machining time. Following an on-line dimensional check, all that is then required, is for us to strip and remove the UV photo sensitive resist coating and the parts are ready for full QA Inspection.

8
QA Inspection

At Qualitetch we offer various levels of QA inspection depending on our customers needs, as we supply both major blue chip businesses all over the world as well as smaller local businesses and anywhere in-between, as the photo etching process is very versatile. We have various automated optical equipment to ensure you parts are accurately supplied to your drawings. We also offer levels of inspection including 100% inspection, PPAP levels, batch inspection, First article inspection (FAIR) and bespoke customer inspection as required.

9
Final Product

Once the parts are fully inspected and passed they are ready to be packed and sent to the customer, or for additional processes such as plating, forming, soldering, spot-welding, machining, EDM wire erosion, heat treatment or any other bespoke services required, such as assembly.

Phosphor bronze

When you choose Qualitetch for your phosphor bronze chemical etching requirements, you are choosing the very best quality etching available in the marketplace. All of our components are built to last, as we only manufacture products of the very highest quality. Phosphor bronze is incredibly useful across a full range of applications, meaning that phosphor bronze photo and chemical etching is a highly versatile and adaptable method of manufacturing quality components. Some of these uses include contacts, lead-frames, jewellery, decorative purposes, signs, and much more besides.

For more information about how our bronze etching services can make a difference to your products, please give us a call today on 01354 658787.


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