Overview

A custom brass electroformed mesh is an ultra-fine, stress-free screen built up as a thin metal foil and then finished by photochemical machining to open precise apertures, rather than woven from wire or punched from sheet. A photoresist mask is exposed with the mesh artwork, developed, and the unprotected brass or brass-plated foil is dissolved in a controlled spray, so hole diameter, strand width and open area are set by the artwork and etch time instead of a die. Typical stock runs from 0.02 mm to 0.15 mm, far thinner than a woven equivalent, which lets the mesh reach several hundred lines per inch with clean, burr-free edges and near-zero residual stress.

For filtration and precision-screen buyers, a custom brass electroformed mesh solves three recurring problems: woven wire cannot hold micron-scale apertures or a flat, uniform surface, stamped sheet curls and carries burrs at such thin gauges, and fine screens must stay dimensionally stable through bonding, coating or heating. Combining electroformed foil with chemical machining forms every aperture on a sheet at the same rate, holding hole size and strand width consistent from the first sample through volume production, while the brass surface stays conductive, solderable and easy to bond into a frame.

Parameter Window

• Available Materials: electroformed brass and copper-zinc alloy foil, brass-plated nickel foil; also copper and nickel for mixed builds
• Material Thickness Range: 0.02–0.15 mm
• Tolerance: ±0.003 mm on aperture size, ±0.005 mm on strand width
• Minimum Feature: 0.02 mm hole diameter, 0.015 mm strand width, up to 500 lines per inch
• Surface Options: anti-tarnish passivation, nickel or gold plating, electropolishing, ultrasonic cleaning, frame bonding
• Compliance: ISO 9001 process control, RoHS/REACH material traceability

Manufacturing Process / Workflow (8 Steps)

1. Artwork & Nesting — Convert the mesh array to vector art, verify aperture-to-thickness and strand rules, and lay out panels with shared registration marks.
2. Mandrel & Electroformed Foil — Deposit the ultra-thin brass or brass-plated foil on a polished mandrel and verify thickness, grain and flatness.
3. Cleaning & Lamination — Degrease and laminate dry-film resist on both faces under matched heat and pressure without trapped bubbles.
4. UV Exposure — Expose the mesh artwork through high-resolution film, registered to the sheet edge for panel-level aperture consistency.
5. Development — Wash out unexposed resist to open the hole areas and inspect for residue that would block micron apertures.
6. Controlled Etching — Spray brass-matched chemistry, tuning time, temperature and conveyor speed to hold sidewalls and avoid strand thinning.
7. Stripping & Anti-Tarnish — Strip resist, neutralize, then apply anti-tarnish passivation or nickel/gold plating and release from the carrier.
8. Inspection & Packaging — Measure aperture, strand width and open area on a vision system, verify flatness, then mount on a frame or liner.

Core Advantages

1. Stress-free ultra-thin foil: Electroformed stock carries almost no residual stress, so the mesh stays flat through bonding, heating and coating.
2. Burr-free micron apertures: Chemical removal leaves no rolled edge or loose wire, so particles do not shed into the filtered media.
3. No die cost: Each mesh pattern is a new film, keeping prototype screens and frequent aperture changes economical without a stamping tool.
4. Very high mesh count: 0.02 mm holes and 0.015 mm strands form together, reaching several hundred lines per inch with uniform open area.
5. Conductive and solderable: The brass surface accepts plating and bonds easily to rings and frames, suiting EMI and electrode screens.
6. Repeatable custom arrays: A custom brass electroformed mesh can combine graded apertures, logos and solid borders on one foil, reproduced from first article to volume.

Typical Applications

• Precision sieving: Micron-rated screens for laboratory particle analysis and fine powder classification.
• High-accuracy filtration: Fuel, hydraulic and analytical filter discs that need uniform apertures and low flow resistance.
• Electron-microscope grids: Fine support meshes for specimen grids where flatness and aperture uniformity matter.
• Optical attenuators: Neutral-density and aperture meshes that trim light with a stable, fine opening ratio.
• EMI shielding vents: Conductive screens that balance airflow, shielding and optical transparency in enclosures.
• Atomizer & nebulizer screens: Fine aperture plates that set droplet size in medical and industrial mist generators.

Design Notes & Process Considerations

1. Aperture-to-thickness ratio: Keep hole diameter at or above roughly the foil thickness; very small holes in thicker stock distort from undercut.
2. Open-area callout: State hole diameter, pitch, open-area percentage and line count rather than only a mesh number, for reliable flow performance.
3. Foil and carrier: Specify foil thickness, whether it stays on a carrier or frame, and the release method for such thin, easily creased material.
4. Plating and anti-tarnish: Define passivation or nickel/gold plating, since bare brass oxidizes and plating slightly reduces the effective aperture.
5. Tie bars and borders: Leave adequate solid borders and tie bars, and define final singulation so fine strands survive stripping and handling.
6. Handling and cleanliness: With a custom brass electroformed mesh, specify liner or frame packaging, fingerprint control and residual-ion limits for clean screening use.