Metal Engraving

Metal Engraving

Metal engraving, also known as metal etching, milling or machining, is the production of a depressed design on a metal plate. These grooves and patterns are used for a variety of purposes, from jewelry and gunsmith decoration to industrial stencils and circuit boards. For decorative etching, the surfaces are sometimes smoked so that the lines will be more visible. Etching is used to create metal industrial parts that require many small grooves or holes, or as a decorative finish on many metals. Metal etching can also help a metal to meet weight demands by dissolving an appropriate layer of the surface. There are now several different methods to mill metal, each with different results.

Mechanical milling employs the use of a lathe or milling machine with rotogravure tips. Hobbyists and artists often engrave by hand with steel pointed tools. Chemical milling, or acid etching, uses a process of masking and corrosive chemical exposure to create grooves, images, and pocked surfaces, and photo etching, similar to chemical milling, uses photographic technology to create a light-developed pattern which is then etched chemically. Electro discharge machining, or EDM, is similar to both chemical and photo etching, except that instead of exposing metal etching surfaces to chemicals, they are exposed to streams of corrosive electromagnetic discharge. Laser etching is another type of engraving which is used to create very fine, clean lines in metal surfaces. After the metal has been etched, pock marks or imperfections may be smoothed or burnished away.

A broad range of metals can be used during the acid-based processes, such as stainless steel, copper, brass, nickel and silver alloy. Other metals can be etched using gas or electric-based processes. If a metal piece is in need of fine grooves, laser etching is often used. Abrasive etching with high-compression air is another option. In this process, abrasives such as aluminum oxide or sand are sometimes blasted in place of laser technology when isolated areas are being worked. Photochemical etching, which is the most common etching method, is a low-cost process that provides high quality, fast turnaround and precision accuracy unavailable in other etching processes. This process also allows flexibility in the design of parts, as changes can be made quickly, simply and cost-effectively.

Metals are etched by many industries for a variety of purposes. The medical field uses stents, cathodes and implants. Brake rotors and fuel cell plates are made for the automotive industry. The sign and plaque industry heavily relies on the use of etching services, and jewelry manufacturers use metal etching to create fine lines for intricate details. Photochemical etching produces business cards, logo name plates, panel covers and promotional items for the commercial sector. Metal etching services also create longer lasting stencils for the woodworking and art fields, printed circuit boards for the aerospace and electronics industries, and engraved or reduced missile skin panels and jet frames for defense. Book publishers, illustrators and artists use metal engraved plates to produce multiple pressed images, although engraved illustrations are beginning to fall out of use. Many hobbyists and artists continue to use hand engraving, which yields a less precise but more organic result.