Chemical Cleaning & Brushing Machines

Chemical Metal Cleaning 

Acid & Alkaline Cleaning Processes

Chemical cleaning for sheet metal etching has two different processes: alkaline clean and acid clean.  

 While not all sheet metals require both cleaning processes, in a process that requires both, alkaline clean is the first step, removing all oils and organics from the surface.  

Acid cleaning is the second cleaning step. An acid clean is used to remove any contaminants that remain on the metal’s surface. Some metal surfaces will be micro-etched from this chemistry, which helps with photoresist adhesion. 

The cleaning process is essential to attain your ceramic and metal etching goals. If the surface is not properly cleaned, the photoresist will not lock into the material, and when the material is being etched the photoresist will lift, causing your parts to fall outside your tolerances. 

A second reason for cleaning the surface is to remove all dirt particles. If the particles are not removed, they can interfere with the exposure step, resulting in opens for PCBs or etched areas that were supposed to be unetched for chemical milling/glass etching. 

Mechanical Metal Cleaning Machine Options

Our mechanical cleaners were first used to scrub PCB surfaces. 

Less aggressive than the mechanical deburr, our Scrubber is used to clean the metal surface and creatie a uniform, parallel grained-finished surface. 

The Mechanical Deburr is typically used on rigid metals and PCBs after drilling to deburr the holes. Deburr is more aggressive than the scrubber and will result in a uniform, parallel grain-finished surface like the scrubber. 

The scrubber and deburr have both evolved into a mechanical glass cleaner, wafer cleaner, and metal cleaner for chemical milling. 

Product Lines

Each piece of Chemcut equipment is customized, so your process will be unique to you.