--- title: "Etching" description: "Etching for custom fasteners: what the process suits, what it does not, and which parts it produces. Samples in 7 days, MOQ from 2,000 pieces." url: https://engineeringhardware.com/custom/etching/ source: Engineering Hardware & Fasteners --- # Etching Etching · Fastener manufacturing process Send a drawing, a sample or a photograph. Samples follow within 7 days of the drawing being approved. Request a quotation One business day for a reply. Square-Flat-Washers-GB-T-96 Etching is used at Engineering Hardware to make custom washers, standoffs & spacers to a customer drawing. Removing or marking metal chemically rather than mechanically. The minimum order is 2,000–5,000 pieces and samples follow within 7 days of the drawing being approved. Removing or marking metal chemically rather than mechanically. Used on fasteners for marking rather than shaping — part numbers, logos, grade identification and traceability codes on surfaces where a stamp would deform the part or a laser would alter the temper. Photochemical etching also produces very thin flat parts with no burr and no tooling at all, which makes it a genuinely useful route for shim and spring-steel prototypes before a stamping die exists. ## What Etching is the right choice for - Marking without mechanical deformation - Burr-free thin flat parts - Prototype shims and spring parts with no tooling ## Where it is the wrong choice - Thin material only for through-etching - Not a route to three-dimensional geometry ## Parts produced this way - [Custom Washer](https://engineeringhardware.com/custom/washers/) — [56 standard parts in the catalog](https://engineeringhardware.com/fasteners/washers/) - [Custom Standoff & Spacer](https://engineeringhardware.com/custom/standoffs-spacers/) — [14 standard parts in the catalog](https://engineeringhardware.com/fasteners/standoffs-spacers/) ## Usually combined with Etching is rarely the only operation on a part. On most jobs it sits in a sequence with: - [Stamping](https://engineeringhardware.com/custom/stamping/) - [EDM](https://engineeringhardware.com/custom/edm/) ## Order terms - **Minimum order:** 2,000–5,000 pieces. The exact figure depends on the part: it is set by the tooling the drawing calls for, and is confirmed when the drawing has been reviewed. - **Samples:** Within 7 days of drawing approval. - **Drawing:** Preferred, but not required — a sample, photographs or a sketch is enough to start. ## What a quotation needs Nine things, and a drawing settles most of them at once. Where a field is unknown, say so — an assumption stated is better than a blank, and several of these can be recommended rather than specified. - **Drawing:** A 2D drawing (PDF or DWG) or a 3D model settles almost every other question on this list at once. - **Dimensions:** Diameter, length, head size and any features — enough to know what is being made. - **Tolerance:** Tolerance is the single biggest cost driver. Tell us which dimensions are critical and which are not — holding everything tight costs money on features nobody measures. - **Material:** Carbon steel, alloy steel, stainless, brass, aluminium, titanium — or the application, and we will suggest one. - **Strength grade:** Property class to ISO 898-1 (8.8, 10.9, 12.9) or stainless class to ISO 3506 (A2-70, A4-80). This decides the material and the heat treatment together. - **Thread standard:** Metric coarse, metric fine, UNC, UNF, BSW or a pipe thread — and the tolerance class if it is specified. - **Surface finish:** Zinc, hot-dip galvanised, black oxide, Dacromet, Geomet, nickel, passivation, or plain. Salt-spray hours if you have a requirement. - **Quantity:** Annual volume and first-order quantity. Volume changes which process is the right one, so it changes the price more than most buyers expect. - **Application & environment:** What the part holds together, and what it has to survive — temperature, vibration, chemicals, salt. This is what lets us catch a specification that will not work before it is made. ## Draw it here No CAD, no account, nothing to install. Draw the part in your browser, generate a real ISO metric thread from M1 to M100 with the end treatment it needs, dimension it, and export a PDF or a DXF to attach below. Sheets run to two metres for long studs and threaded rod. Open the drawing builder ## Questions ### What is the minimum order quantity for a custom part? Between 2,000 and 5,000 pieces for most parts. The exact figure depends on the part: it is set by the tooling the drawing calls for, and is confirmed when the drawing has been reviewed. ### How long does a sample take? Within 7 days once the drawing has been approved. The drawing stage comes first, and for a part being reverse-engineered from a sample it is where most of the time goes. ### Can you make a part without a drawing? Yes. A physical sample, photographs against a scale, or a dimensioned sketch are all workable starting points. A drawing is produced from whichever of those you have and sent back for approval before anything is made. ### When is Etching not the right process? Thin material only for through-etching. Not a route to three-dimensional geometry. ### Which fasteners are made by etching? In this catalog: washer, standoff & spacer. Whether it is the right process for a particular part depends on the drawing and the quantity. ## Parts of this kind we already make Showing 36 of 39 Aluminium-Flat-Sealing-Washers Bearing Lock Washers Belleville Washers Bonded Sealing Washers category-washers Conical Spring Washers Countersunk Washers Countersunk-Washers-Detail Cross-Bracing—Hillside-Washers Cup Washers Cup-Finishing-Washers-Detail din-6319g-conical-seat-washer din-6340-heavy-duty-clamping-washer E-Clip-Retaining-Washers EPDM Washers External-Tooth Lock Washers Extra-Thick-Heavy-Duty-Flat-Washers Finishing Washers Flat Plain Washer — GB – T 95 – ISO 7091 (Series 079) — GB – T 95 – ISO 7091 Flat Plain Washer (GB – T 95) — GB – T 97.1 – ISO 7089 (Series 086) — GB – T 97.1 – ISO 7089 Flat Washers — ISO 7089 ／ ISO 7093 Flat Washers — ISO 7089 ／ ISO 7093 Applications1 Flat Washers — ISO 7089 ／ ISO 7093 Detail General Flat Washer — GB – T 97.1 – ISO 7089 (Series 087) — GB – T 97.1 – ISO 7089 General Flat Washer — GB – T 97.2 – ISO 7090 (Series 088) — GB – T 97.2 – ISO 7090 Hex-Washer-Flange-Self-Drilling-Screws Insulating Washers Internal-Tooth Lock Washers iso-7092-flat-washer-small-series iso-7094-extra-large-flat-washer iso-8738-flat-washer-for-clevis-pins Leveling Washers Micro-Spring-Lock-Washers Neoprene Washers Nylon Washers Plain Washer — GB – T 858 (Series 071) — GB – T 858 These are catalog parts, shown to say what the tooling already covers. A special is quoted from your drawing, not from this list. ## Drawing builder Draw the part, dimension it, and export a PDF or a DXF to attach to the form below. FASTENER **DRAWING** CMD Fastener drawing builder [https://engineeringhardware.com/](https://engineeringhardware.com/) Nothing you draw is uploaded until you send it, and the drawing lives in your own browser — export it before you close the tab. ## Send the part A drawing answers most of this at once. If you do not have one, fill in what you know and attach a photograph — samples follow within 7 days of the drawing being approved.