Photofabrication tech offers precise tolerances

Photofabrication Engineering Inc. (PEI), Milford, Mass., uses a micromachining process that selectively removes material using a chemical action.

The process, dubbed Photochemical Machining, is offered through the company's precision products division and is said to deliver precise tolerances to the aerospace, automotive, battery, electronics, fuel cell, medical apparatus and implant, and microelectronics industries.

Metal thicknesses range from 0.0005" to 0.1250".

"Evolving from the time-tested process of photoengraving, chemical machining was first used in the production of gun sight reticles in the early 1940s," according to the PEI Web site. "Chemical machining performs many operations similar to other traditional techniques such as blanking complex and precise shapes, piercing holes of infinite sizes and shapes, drilling blind holes, and milling or grinding surfaces to precise depths.

Among the materials that can be processed with Photochemical Machining are aluminum, beryllium copper, brass, bronze, copper, direct bond copper on ceramic, gold, inconel, kovar, magnesium, mild steel, molybdenum, monel, nickel, nickel iron, pewter, phosphorous bronze, silver, stainless steel, tin, titanium, zinc and zirconium.