Saturday, March 2, 2013

Details Of Metal Stencils

By Melvin Hernandez


Metal stencils are very popular for a variety of reasons. One reason of course is their ability to be used for nearly any application. For example if you have a need to print an employee title on a parking space, you would simply use a metal stencil, and that should be that. Before you purchase any stencils, you ought to know how they are composed, and what type you would be looking for.

Metal stencils are built from several different materials. The more common, generally having been made by LPKF. It is important to keep in mind that not every stencil comes out correctly the first time, which drives the demand for an occasional rework station. These stations can help the manufacturer to address any existing problems and get that stencil back on the right track. With any luck, these problems may be corrected permanently, though it is always a good idea to have a rework station available.

Right now there are two forms of stencil fabrication. One will be laser cut, and the latter is electroformed. First we will cover laser cutting, which is the subtractive process. The stencil information is supplied via computer, and the information can be altered to alternate dimensions if needed. It should be understood that laser cut stencils do produce ragged edges due to the vaporized metal being transformed into slag during the cutting process. If you are seeking smoother walls, it may be a good idea to look into microetching.

The additive process we spoke of is also known as electroforming. Nickel would be deposited into an aperture, with photosensitive dry film laminated to the foil. The flm would be polymerized with a UV right, using a negative image created on the mandril. The aperture will then be covered using a photoresist. Through this process, the stencil could be grown through nickel plating around the photoresist. While this technique could cost a little more, but it would be well worth it considering it's done right on the first pass, rarely requiring any form of reworking.

Metal stencils address a lot of different requirements and there are many different types. figure out what type and size you require to make your vision a reality.




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