Top Shop Emphasizes Dedication, Work Ethic

There’s something special about old-school finishing shops. When you walk into a facility and see the years of framed accreditations and certifications that line the walls, the old photos and plaques, samples of finished parts in a trophy case — you can feel the decades of dedication and the pride that goes into the work.

Nestled in Arbutus, Maryland, American Metaseal Corporation is one such place. The third-generation family business has provided metal finishing services for military, aerospace and commercial applications since 1953. “My father started this,” says president Stephen D’Alfonzo. “He started the business strictly in impregnation.”

Authorized by leading worldwide vacuum impregnation equipment provider Godfrey & Wing (Aurora, Ohio), American Metaseal has provided vacuum impregnation for applications ranging from drill components used on the Moon to housings for the Patriot Missile.

The vacuum impregnation process introduces resin into porous metal parts to fill the pores or voids. The process is performed by placing the parts in a vacuum chamber and introducing the resin. The vacuum helps remove any gasses trapped in the material and applied air pressure forces the resin into the porosity to complete the seal. The part is then cured through a heating process. Vacuum impregnation is often used for preventing casting leaks in pressure-tight assemblies such as valves, engines, fuel pumps, instrument housings and electronic components. The process also helps prevent failure of the finish and mitigate corrosion for porous metal substrates. American Metaseal’s capabilities include dry vacuum and pressure (DVP) methods for addressing microporosity as well as wet vacuum (WV) capabilities for high throughput.

A focus on aerospace and defense

Over the years, American Metaseal’s offerings have expanded. Today, in addition to vacuum impregnation, the company’s services include electroless nickel (EN) plating, black oxide and abrasive blasting.

The company’s electroless nickel plating capabilities include high-phosphorus and mid-phosphorus proprietary baths, as well as post-plate heat treatment facilities. It is an approved plating center for vertical launch system (VLS) components for Lockheed Martin, a versatile missile launch system employed by the U.S. Navy and allied naval vessels. Capable of launching a variety of missiles and being configured for specific missions, the VLS system has been in use since the 1980s and has since been adopted by several other countries, including Japan, South Korea, and Australia — making it one of the core projects that D’Alfonzo and his team take a great deal of pride in.

Military and defense work makes up a large percentage of American Metaseal’s business. Its black oxide finishing complies with MIL-DTL-13924 E, and provides a uniform and durable black finish with excellent corrosion and abrasion protection, as well as improved lubricity. The process involves several steps, including cleaning and pre-treatment of the metal surface, application of the blackening solution, rinsing and application of a protective coating. Black oxide is typically used for a variety of applications including firearms, automotive parts, and other metal products where a black or dark color is desired.

In addition, American Metaseal also offers testing capabilities including part material identification (PMI) technology for analyzing and identifying alloy composition.

Certification and qualifications

American Metaseal holds numerous metal finishing specification approvals including ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System Certification, as well as approvals from major defense contractors for AS9003, AMS-C-26074, ASTM=B733, AMS 2404, MIL-STD-276A and Lockheed 5982305.

The company has also qualified as a Top Shop multiple times, initially taking the benchmarking survey when it was first offered in 2015. The goal of the Top Shops program is to aid finishers in identifying optimal shop floor practices and improve operations and business procedures. Hundreds of shops participate annually, resulting in a wealth of data and statistics that proves invaluable for assessing areas of improvement, such as finishing technology, performance and practices, business strategy, and human resources. D’Alfonzo considers it another tool in his arsenal alongside such certifications as ISO.

“It tells us where we are as compared to other companies,” he says.

Emphasis on work ethic

The walls of D’Alfonzo’s office are adorned with military memorabilia and the company’s pride at its work to support the U.S. military is evident from the moment you walk in the door. That sense of duty is at the heart of the company’s mission and can be felt in everything it does.

That fact makes it all the more difficult for D’Alfonzo to wrap his head around one of the most common challenges facing finishers today. Like so many other finishing operations, American Metaseal points to the skilled labor gap as one of its biggest challenges. D’Alfonzo says that finding skilled workers is difficult, but it’s also a challenge to find people willing to put in the work to learn the industry.

The programs that a small company like American Metaseal is involved in — from work with Lockheed to parts for hydraulic rescue tools manufacturer Holmatro Inc. — are evidence of the great careers and important work that finishing operations contribute to a wide array of manufacturing sectors.

D’Alfonzo says the key to accomplishing anything starts with putting in the work. “My grandfather grew up through the Depression and started out selling newspapers — he was definitely old school. And, my father started out in vending, selling peanuts. But, because they had work ethic, one thing led to another. They were entrepreneurs.”