Amalco Trade Show Video

During a recent Design2Part Trade Show American Aluminum Company – also known as Amalco – was featured in a video highlighting the company's deep draw and hydroforming capabilities. In the video, Al Chillemi, part of Amalco's domestic and international sales division, explains the company's sought-after metal forming processes. "As a deep draw and hydroforming company, we take sheets of any type of metal – Aluminum, Stainless, Carbon Steel, Hastelloy?, Inconel?, Nickel, Copper and others – and we do what is called multiple draws; where we reduce the size of the blank smaller and smaller and deeper and deeper, while keeping the material thickness uniform throughout the process, to form custom shapes. Our Custom enclosures are used for any and all applications/markets, including the Military, where “seamless construction" is required.

Amalco's Hydrographics Capabilities

Amalco uses a process known as hydrographics to imprint designs on three-dimensional parts. This allows Amalco's expert engineers to create intricate, complex shapes. As Mr. Chillemi explains, "If a customer selects an image they like, we cut the image – the transfer paper – to size. That paper is laid in water and it's held at about 90 degrees Fahrenheit. The backing melts away, leaving the ink to float on the water. And we simply take the enclosure and dip it in, and the ink transfers on to the plastic part - or the aluminum part, or whatever - and we clean it up, dry it, and then we lacrospray it, and we have a custom type, a novelty look, or whatever the customer wants."

Amalco's Deep Draw Capabilities

Amalco has more than 100 years of experience manufacturing hard-to-make metal components. In reference to one particularly complex order, Chillemi remarks, "A part like this military sensor housing is very difficult to form. The actual customer that came to us found us on the web, and they said, 'You have 101 years of experience in metal forming. Can you make this for us, because no one can?' And we actually did the part for them, and they love it. And that's our specialty, really. It's custom parts that no one else could draw."

Amalco's Design Services

In addition to Amalco's deep draw and hydroforming capabilities, the company also offers expert metal fabrication and design services. As Chillemi explains, "A lot of engineers will design a part, but there's not a good a way to manufacture it. We'll help them design it so we can manufacture it as cheaply as possible, yet maintain the quality. And also we have in-house capabilities to do almost any secondary operation. So once we draw a part, we can put holes in, we can paint it, iridite, anodize, or whatever is needed. We also have CNC machine centers, so we're really a one-stop shop."

About Design2Part

Design2Part offers the largest design and contract manufacturing trade shows in the United States. Each Design2Part show gives design and manufacturing engineers, managers, and purchasers the opportunity to meet directly with exhibiting companies to discuss services, see samples, and ask questions.

Look for Amalco’s metal design experts at numerous 2012 trade shows.