Chemically Etched Press Plates, 1993 European Plastic Laminates Forum Proceedings

Marco Santori

Ivan Steinbock

Gary P. O’Neill

The paper we are presenting today is intended to describe press plates used in the production of decorative surfaces, including:

* Decorative high pressure laminates (HPL)

* Decorative low pressure laminates (LPL)

Anyone of you will definitely know what an etched plate is and it is therefore unnecessary to elaborate. However, in order to explain the differences, it would be helpful to clarify exactly what an etched plate is, or, better yet, a chemically etched plate. As you are aware of, there are several types of plates on the market which reproduce specific patterns. They can be divided into three main groups:

* Embossed rolled plates;

* Peened plates; and

* Chemically etched plates.

Peened plates have a very restricted selection of finishes in one pattern while embossed plates have slightly more variety. Only chemically etched plates offer a wide range of finishes to select from, such as various woodgrains, fancy, geometrical, three-dimensional (3-D) effect and, most importantly, alu finish (universal), which we will examine in more detail later.

The main difference between chemically etched plates and most others is the core material of hardened steel which is processed to obtain the desired effect of the final finish. The selected pattern is transferred onto the plate through a combination of photography and the removal of steel through an acid medium. This entire process is computer controlled.

Natural woodgrains or other, more sophisticated patterns created by designers and architects, can be perfectly, or almost perfectly, reproduced. The possibilities are unlimited.