PHOTO CHEMICAL MACHINING OF GEARS.

Photo chemical machining is a chemical etching process that employs precisely shaped masks to produce parts from thin metal sheets. By protecting metal surfaces from an etching solution, the masks define the shape of finished parts. The masks are produced by photographic methods from master drawings. To ensure high accuracy, drawings of parts normally are made oversize - often as much as 20 times the actual size. This process has proved to be an economical alternative to gear cutting, particularly when production quantities are small and gear geometries are complex.