Qualitetch Components Ltd

Precision metal etched flat blanks that require subsequent metal forming operations can be processed in house in our dedicated form room. We have a number of fly and toggle presses as well as two 30 ton mechanical power presses, one 10 ton mechanical power press and one 7.5 ton hydraulic power press. Using our in-house tool-making facility Qualitetch have become a world leader for component manufacturing, we are able to design and produce simple “knife and fork” tooling arrangements for small batches right through to multi-stage die sets for more complex forms and/or high volumes. For simple 90 ° bends, we also have a range of universal form tooling which can be employed to further reduce component costs and lead times. We will always use our vast experience as component manufacturers to offer you the most cost effective method of component forming for your metal components quickly and without compromising on quality. When your metal formed parts require subsequent finishing operations, we can also arrange for these to be carried out at one of our reliable, high quality subcontractors. We always monitor the activities of our subcontractors under our own in house quality systems to ensure that you always receive parts of the highest quality first time and every time. Whether your parts require heat treatment, plating, passivation, anodising or painting Qualitetch can offer it all saving your business valuable time, effort and money. Give us a call today!

To compliment our manufacturing services for thin gauge components, we have also introduced an EDM wire erosion facility within our business to further add to our processing capabilities for our customers.

Benefits of Wire Erosion

Whilst chemical etching is an accurate method of manufacture, occasionally specified tolerances are smaller than the process capabilities and we may need to look at alternative processes such as wire erosion. Extensive research and development has allowed us to develop a cost effective method of manufacturing thin gauge metal components using EDM wire erosion, giving the benefit of a square edge and improved dimensional accuracy. It also allows the processing of the few metals whose chemical composition makes them unsuitable for photo etching.
The capabilities of our wire erosion machines are not limited to the manufacture of thin gauge metal components, as metal up to 150mm thick can be processed, with no additional programming charge.

Computer Numerical Control or CNC Machining is a process of manufacturing metal components using various computer controlled tools. Qualitetch has an on-site tool room facility, which enables the manufacturing of form tools and machining for high specification components.

As UK leaders in the metal manufacturing industry, Qualitetch also offers a metal stamping service, dedicated to producing bespoke metal components. These metal stamping services are often more suited to volume work for parts once they are finalised for production, after the initial prototyping and low batch quantity stage.

Laser cutting is a technology that uses a laser to cut through the material, and is typically used for industrial manufacturing applications.

For some components, that may be unsuitable for photo etching, we are able to offer parts manufactured using CNC laser cutting techniques.

The precision may be better than some traditional methods, as the laser beam does not wear during the manufacturing process.

Qualitetch offers a full range of high quality and technically advanced finishes including:

Gold
Silver (Bright, Semi Bright & Matt)
Tin (Bright, Semi Bright & Matt)
Electro Nickel
Electroless Nickel
Zinc & Black Passivate
Copper
Anodising (Various colours)
Alocrom − Chromate conversion
Cadmium
Rhodium
Palladium
Passivation

and many more, just ask our sales team for more details

Qualitetch offer bespoke sheet metal enclosures and metal screening cans manufactured using a variety of process methods including, photo etching, metal stamping, CNC machining, wire erosion & laser cutting. Parts are available with maximum dimensions of 600mm x 600mm and thicknesses ranging from 0.05mm to 3.00mm.

At Qualitetch, we have found over the years that more and more customers are looking to rationalise their supplier base and find vendors that can offer all services needed under one roof, rather than losing valuable manufacturing time sending parts to several key suppliers to receive components.

Always on the front foot and pushing manufacturing techniques, Qualitetch have developed processes to ensure we can cope with these demands, and have created a specific cell team to deal with such requests and can offer necessary solutions. From Assembly, soldering, welding, spot-welding or bespoke packaging Qualitetch can offer a manufacturing solution for your needs.

Here at Qualitetch, we offer an industry leading Photo Etching process, and we understand the need for flexibility when it comes to the materials that we use in this process. With such a vast range of industries utilising our services, we want our range of materials to reflect this.

We create parts and components using various etching metals to suit your needs. Because of the highly accurate processes we utilise, we can manufacture almost any component you might need.

Qualitetch also offer a design for manufacture service that can work with either yourself or your companies team to help develop design solutions for a particular engineering problem or product.

Qualitetch have a sales and design team in-house that has many years experience in working with companies on specific design solutions and are ready to aid your business when required.

Always seeking to diversify into new markets, Qualitetch now offers a non-metallic presswork service and produces gaskets and other flat cut parts from materials such as Neoprene, Nebar or Klingersil to name a few.

Our extensive supplier base means that if we do not stock the material you require, we can source it quickly and at a competitive cost.

Parts are cut from the sheet using an impression knife tool on a fly press for a minimal charge and can be supplied plain or with an adhesive backing if required. Wherever possible, parts will be nested to maximise yield from the sheet and minimise cost to you.

Qualitetch offers a full-service manufacturing process for parts and components. In addition to this, there are various general tool room services on offer, including grinding, polishing, heat treatments, spot-welding and welding, soldering, drilling and reaming. All of which are part of the many manufacturing solutions and processes that we provide.

The Photo Etching process is flexible, highly accurate and cost-effective at any volume.

The photo etching process is known by many names, including chemical etching, acid etching and photo chemical machining (PCM). Utilising flat sheet metal to manufacture high quality and accurate parts and components for a variety of businesses and industries, Qualitetch offers only the very best service possible.

As well as providing businesses with their components within a short timescale, the method of production allows for high levels of accuracy, minimal margins for error, and is also cost-effective in both high and low volume orders.

Here at Qualitetch we offer a quality service for etching Aluminium. The process of chemical etching with Aluminium is a specialist process and we have many years of experience etching this metal.

This is due to the fact that aluminium can be difficult to etch correctly if you do not have the correct process controls in place, which can lead to poor edges and a rough finished profile. Qualitetch have developed a process with our chemistry engineers to ensure that only the best quality etchant is used in our process to give the best possible results to your metal components.

The reason this metal can be difficult to etch is that aluminium is exothermic, meaning that it creates heat and gases on the surface of the metal as it is being chemically etched, which causes the aluminium to blow outwards and smut with carbon; roughening the surface.

At Qualitetch, we etch brass for a range of uses from signage to Jewellery and screening cans.

Brass is a metal alloy consisting of copper and zinc, with differing variations of the metal made by changing the proportion of the two elements.

Due to its gold or bronzed appearance, Brass is a popular metal to use in aesthetic or creative art projects, but also used for many modern practical engineering applications such as, EMI RFI or EMC screening cans through to various musical instruments components.

Through our Photo Chemical Etching process, we are able to etch brass for a range of different uses. The metal will remain burr and stress-free, retaining all of its properties, after undergoing the our etching process and can be finished with various plating or coatings if required.

Phosphor bronze chemical etching is a highly versatile and adaptable material for manufacturing your quality precision metal parts.

Here at Qualitetch, we offer phosphor bronze photo etching services to our customers. This material is incredibly useful across a full range of applications.

We ensure that the highest engineering standards you expect are maintained to ensure your metal components are supplied to your drawing requirements, and we have a proven track record of quality and customer satisfaction amongst our worldwide customer base.

Components manufactured using this metal type include: Electrical contacts, electrical terminals, centre conductors, shims & spring contacts and we also manufacture many other metal component products all bespoke to your customer drawings.

Phosphor bronze can also be offered to include plating & finishing with many different finishes offered including tin plate and silver plate typically, and all delivered to the highest quality with X-ray certification and FAIR first article or PPAP level inspection reporting available if required.

Copper photo etching is often used to offer high electrical and thermal conductivity to metal components.

Through our Photo Chemical Etching process, the smallest and most complex designs are made possible such as electrical spring contacts, contact membranes, busbars, antennae and micro antennae, spring fingered contacts, heating elements and battery terminal as well as many other bespoke components to your own designs. The Copper retains all of its properties, as well as remaining burr and stress-free following our etching processes. At Qualitetch, we can offer your bespoke designs in a wide range of copper and Beryllium copper non-ferrous metal specifications and hardnesses as required.

Due to the high conductivity of Copper, the metal is often used for electrical, automotive and transmission components. One of its primary uses is for wiring and harnesses, especially within the automotive industry where many electrical components are manufactured from copper using the photo etching process.

The metal is cleaned once your design has been finalised, and the metal sheet covered with UV sensitive photo-resist before printing your design. The metal is then taken through a chemical bath with ferric chloride, which acid etches the design from the metal sheet to produce your finished precision components.

Any trace of UV photo-resist remaining is stripped and removed once the etching process has been completed − and your chemically etched metal parts are taken to our QA technicians for final dimensional approval.

Steel is one of the most popular metal materials to use in manufacturing.
Thanks to the many useful properties it possesses. Here at Qualitetch, we utilise a number of steel variants, including both mild steel and carbon steel, to harness the durability and resilience of the metal.

Etched steel parts and components are great for a multitude of industries and sectors, including automotive, aerospace, electronics and telecommunications, and can be found in everyday items and objects in the home, on the road and in the workplace.

Mild steel is also known as carbon steel, spring steel and includes brand names such as Sandvik steel and Uddeholm.

Stainless steel photo etching is one of the most common materials we etch.
Otherwise known as chemical etching, chemi etching, acid etching, chemical milling and PCM Qualitetch can help with your designs.

This metal is a very popular choice for chemical etching due to the non corrosion qualities of stainless steel and that parts generally in this material do not require additional plating & finishing once the material has been etched. Stainless steel is available in many grades and conditions such as annealed, half hard and full hard and in grades such as 304, 1.4301, 1.4310, 430S17, 316S11, 316L, 17-7PH, 321S31, S526, S527, 1.4307, 1.4404 and many others.

We manufacture both flat & formed components using stainless steels, with the aid of our photo chemical etching process, and we have our own dedicated in-house tool-room toolmaking team on hand to UK manufacture bespoke form tooling of all designations. The form tools we manufacture are everything from very simple knife and fork tools, such as simple 90 degree or 45 degree bend tools, through to more complex open tools in die sets and progression tools for 3d formed components parts to ensure the highest quality standards are met whilst meeting lead-time requirements of approximately 15 working days for new part metal components.

Qualitetch offers a total metal component solution for parts, and as well as photo etching we offer many other services and processes for UK manufacturing of thin gauge metal parts. We can also offer stainless steel components manufactured using other processes such as metal stamping / punching and EDM wire erosion & laser cutting of part of our services.

Silver is one of the most common precious metals around the world
We use it to create important everyday parts and components, as well as delicate and intricate jewellery designs. Silver can be found in everything from cutlery, mirrors and cufflinks through to parts for clocks, electronic equipment and appliances, circuit boards, batteries and vehicles − and much more besides; you are likely to come across photo etched silver on a daily basis.

The process of photo etching silver is just as flexible and accurate as other metal materials. However, because of how silver reacts with chemicals, we use a different chemical etchant − Ferric Nitrate − to ensure we produce the same high manufacturing standards at all times.

Other than the difference in chemistry used the etching process itself is exactly the same for silver parts as when acid etching other metals.
Alongside the highly accurate and cost-effective photo etching service, silver can also be used to plate and finish parts that have been manufactured using other materials.

Molybdenum is a diverse material used across manufacturing industries.

Molybdenum is a material popular in the manufacturing industry thanks to its many uses and benefits it holds.

Chemically etching molybdenum is ideal for use in many industry sectors including the medical, aerospace, defence, marine and telecommunications industries, due to it's ductility and high corrosion resistant properties, and has one of the highest melting points of all the pure elements, and photo etching is an easy way to manufacture sheet Molybdenum.

Chemical etching with molybdenum or with one of it's nickel based alloy derivatives such as Hastelloy, is useful because of the metal’s high melting point and low propensity for thermal expansion. This makes it perfectly suited for parts that encounter particularly high temperatures.

Nickel Silver is an extremely useful metal due to its high resistance to heat and corrosion

This makes Nickel Silver a popular choice when developing a variety of components particularly RFI, EMC & EMI screening cans and shields for PCB's . At Qualitetch, we are able to offer both Nickel or Nickel Silver for any applications you require.

Even the most intricate of designs are possible with our cost-efficient and eminently accurate Photo Chemical Etching process. The material when finished profile cutting via etching will be burr and stress-free, and retaining all of its essential properties.

Following the finalisation of your design, we first clean the raw material nickel silver sheet and then the coat the sheet with a UV sensitive photo-resist, before then printing your required profile directly onto the UV photo resist covered sheet. After this, the material is then passed through a sprayed chemical bath solution of ferric chloride, which is used as our etchant to cut your profile design. Our chemical etching process works equally well for both soft annealed, half hard or fully hard metals, which effectively, we then acid etch a thin track line to an exacting standard to ensure your components are manufactured to your drawing design.