Chemical milling

<p>Chemical       milling or industrial etching is the <a href="/facts/Machining/Yrjfj6IV">subtractive manufacturing</a> process of using baths of temperature-regulated etching chemicals to remove material to create an object with the desired shape.  Other names for chemical etching include photo etching, chemical etching, photo chemical etching and <a href="/facts/Photochemical_machining/4H7fXWAK">photochemical machining</a>. It is mostly used on metals, though other materials are increasingly important.  It was developed from armor-decorating and printing <a href="/facts/Etching/PM0FmoSb">etching</a> processes developed during the <a href="/facts/Renaissance/4D9Bc6KU">Renaissance</a> as alternatives to <a href="/facts/Engraving/0hCX4flU">engraving</a> on metal. The process essentially involves bathing the cutting areas in a corrosive chemical known as an etchant, which reacts with the material in the area to be cut and causes the solid material to be dissolved; inert substances known as maskants are used to protect specific areas of the material as <a href="/facts/Resist/o9hUDuBu">resists</a>.
</p>

Chemical milling open-in-new

Chemical milling