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Photo-Chemical Etching

Thin metal foil etched through a photo-resist mask into burr-free, stress-free filter parts. 25 products in the catalog are made with this process.

How it is made

Foil is coated with photo-resist, exposed through a precision photo-tool of the part, developed, and sprayed with etchant that dissolves the unprotected metal from both sides. The resist is stripped, leaving holes, slots and outlines with no burrs, no heat and no stress. Parts can then be formed, plated or welded.

What the process can do

Foil 0.02–1.0 mm; features down to about the foil thickness (≈0.05 mm in thin foil); any hole shape and pattern; stainless, nickel, copper, nickel silver, titanium and more.

Best for

Precision filter discs, shower and atomizer plates, shaver foils, acoustic and vent meshes, injector spray plates and micro-slot screens.

Limits

Hole size is limited by foil thickness, and thick plates are uneconomic — punching or laser cutting takes over.

Design & ordering tips

Send a DXF; state foil thickness, minimum feature size, which face is critical and any forming after etching. Tooling is low-cost, so design changes are cheap.

Products made by photo-chemical etching

Other manufacturing processes

A roll of stainless steel plain weave wire mesh partially unrolled on a workbench, square weave clearly visible, industrial

Woven Wire Mesh (Weaving)

96 productsWire Crimping & Heavy Weaving

Wire Crimping & Heavy Weaving

8 productsA stack of stainless steel welded wire mesh panels with square openings in a fabrication shop, forklift in the background

Welded Wire Mesh & Wire Forming

14 productsA large stainless steel round hole perforated metal sheet with staggered holes, angled light showing depth, factory setting

Perforated Metal (Punching)

40 productsExpanded Metal (Slit & Stretch)

Expanded Metal (Slit & Stretch)

11 productsCross-section of five-layer sintered stainless wire mesh showing the bonded layers, technical macro

Sintered Media (Diffusion Bonding)

19 productsAssorted round stainless steel wire mesh filter discs with aluminum and stainless rims of different sizes

Calendering & Precision Flattening

21 productsA roll of crimped knitted stainless steel wire mesh sleeve showing interlocking loops, industrial product shot

Knitted Wire Mesh

4 productsA flat stainless steel wedge wire screen panel with precise parallel slots and support rods, viewed at a low side angle

Wedge Wire (Profile Wire Welding)

6 productsMicroscope-style macro image of a small round metal nebulizer mesh plate with a dense central field of microscopic holes

Laser Drilling & Cutting

4 productsExtreme macro of an electric shaver head showing a curved thin silver foil with a pattern of tiny hexagonal holes

Electroforming

5 productsA polished stainless steel double-layer pour-over coffee filter cone with a rolled rim, sitting on a ceramic mug

Deep Drawing, Stamping & Forming

44 productsPleated stainless steel mesh filter cartridges with welded end caps, close-up of the pleats, industrial lighting

Pleating

3 productsA rectangular electropolished stainless steel wire mesh sterilization basket with handles, filled with surgical instruments

Surface Finishing & Coating

31 productsA stack of round multi-layer extruder screen packs with spot-welded wire mesh layers beside a breaker plate

Filter Fabrication & Assembly

86 products

Have a drawing? Tell us the process you need

Send the part drawing and the quantity; we will confirm the best process and quote within one business day.

Filter Mesh Finder

Filter by mesh type, weave, mesh count / micron rating and material to find the right metal filter mesh and request a quote.

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