Letter 36021

How does photochemical milling work?  

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I want to try and design belt buckles from aluminum and brass. I want to know if photochemical milling is easier than CNC milling for this process? Also how does photo chemical machining work? Where can I purchase the equipment for this process? What kind of equipment would I need in order to do this process and how much would that machinery cost? Any information on this subject would be greatly appreciated.

Ercan
Hobbyist - Southfield, Michigan, United States

Its all horses for courses. If you have thousands of simple buckles to make that are little more than 2 dimensional, use electrochemical machining, but if you have to add one-off with intricate filligree on the surface you may prefer CNC. Electrochemical machining (aka electrochemical etching) is done by creating a pattern on the surface of the metal using photoresist. This is like a light sensitive paint that can be patterned by exposing to it the correct wavelength of light, but through a pattern, or mask. The unexposed resist is then dissolved away and the exposed metal is etched away by a suitable chemical. The favourite ones are ferric chloride and cuprous chloride. Both will have significant environmental impacts and high disposal costs. Capital investment in the etching unit, photoresist applicator and light box could be prohibitive.

Trevor Crichton R&D practical scientist - UK

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