F.M. Callahan & Son, Inc.

The company plate precious metals of silver and gold, electroless nickel, sulfamate nickel, zinc, copper, tin, and tin-leads. Our surface treatments include black oxide, pickling, passivating, conversion coating, and chromating.

This is an organization of specialists skilled in all phases of industrial plating. The company has combined ability, service, and quality to produce plating on sizes from microscopic pinpoint to gigantic two-ton pieces.

Their Ultra Filtration Membrane System ensures compliance to local and Federal Regulations.

• Rack Plating – An industrial plating process with special designs for critical parts to prevent damage.
• Barrel Plating – A bulk process that is an economical method of obtaining a long-lasting superior finish.
• Precious Metal Plating – Silver plate. Bright and matte finish available. Gold plate. Both hard and soft finishes available.
• Bright Nickel Plating – Ideal as an ornamental finish for sales appeal where cost is a predominating factor.
• Tin – Used on items that come in contact with foods or in electrical field.
• Bright and matte finish available.
• Zinc Plating – Lustrous zinc coatings can be produced over ferrous and non-ferrous metals for increased eye appeal.
• Electroless Nickel – Assures absolute uniformity of plate inside and out regardless of irregularities of shape. RoHS compliant available.
• Tin-Lead, 60/40, 90/10 – Applied to parts that have to be soldered after assembly.
• Copper Plating – Primarily used as an undercoat and also for selective carburizing.
• Sulfamate Nickel – Ideal for aircraft and nuclear applications but has many industrial applications.

The company has been NADCAP certified for approximately twenty years. This important standard indicates that accredited shops follow documented guidelines on how the parts are processed. The result is a consistently plated part.

Company President Eric Jacklin is in a good position to compare the two quality certification programs.

“NADCAP tends to be more specific and a lot more intense than ISO”, he says. “For NADCAP, the auditors that come in are trained in metal finishing. They may have particular expertise in one area, such as anodizing; but they have also worked in the finishing industry and in the labs. Thus, they have a very specific checklist”.

“We have ISO 9000 as well, and it is looking at specific quality things. But it is more general than the NADCAP. It deals with what you are actually doing; whether it is welding or chemical processing or something else”, he concludes.

Jacklin believes the NADCAP certification is worth the intense auditing process. “If you are NADCAP certified you are probably also GE certified or Rolls-Royce certified, he says. “The Boeings of the world really trust the NADCAP system. They are leaning more on the NADCAP auditors and doing a lot fewer specific prime audits themselves.”

George Abelli, the company’s Technical Support Manager, recently commented on the role of importance that the company has in the Aircraft and Aerospace industries throughout the USA and abroad.

“Our continued presence at the SAE meetings gives F.M. Callahan the opportunity to work with all of the prime aerospace contractors in working out the needs and requirements in today’s demanding aerospace and defense metal finishing market. This allows F.M. Callahan to better provide their customers with the latest and most up to date process requirements required in today’s market,” Said Mr. Abelli.

F.M. Callahan & Son has once again moved forward with recent renovations and equipment upgrades of its state-of- the-art Analytical Lab which is a key component in ensuring maximum quality control in in-process chemicals and final inspections of the plated finish to give their customers the very best in industrial plating.

The analytical laboratory is responsible for maintaining precise tolerances of the various process solutions used in the plating and anodizing lines at F.M. Callahan. Chemical testing includes volumetric and atomic absorption analysis on the process solutions, Hull Cell testing, Salts Spray testing, Coating Weight testing, Hydrogen Embrittlement testing, and various Hardness and metal purity testing.

This is combined with Quality Control Improvements already made this year which included state of the art thickness testing equipment, microscopes, and mechanical inspection equipment.

Also added were new real time video equipment that will allow F.M. Callahan to forward real time video inspections of crucial aerospace parts that can be forwarded to their customers. All of these new renovations will allow F.M. Callahan to move into the future and grow while meeting the demands of their customers.

The X-Ray machines are used for checking the thickness of the electroplated coatings while The Eddy Current Testing Machine is used for checking the thickness of anodize and hardcoat anodize coatings. Both X-Ray and Eddy Current are used in the Quality Control Department.

The Atomic absorption machine is used exclusively by the lab. Its main purpose is for testing our wastewater effluent discharge assuring the various metals have been removed and assuring that they meet the environmental requirements set forth by various agencies. It is also used for testing the concentration of metals in various plating solutions.

F.M. Callahan is certified to perform the following procedures:

• Copper Plating – AMS 2418; MIL-C-14550; Silver Plating – AMS 2410; AMS 2411; AMS 2412;
  ASTM B700; QQ-S-365;
• Sulfamate Nickel Plating – AMS 2403; AMS 2424; AMS-QQ-N-290;
• Electroless-Nickel Plating – AMS 2404; AMS 2405; AMS(MIL)-C-26074; ASTM B733;
• Aluminum Anodic Coating – AMS 2471; AMS 2472; MIL-A-8625, Type II and Type III;
• Aluminum Conversion – AMS 2473; MIL- DTL(C)-5541;
• Acid/Alkali Cleaning – P4TF2; P4TF3;

• Titanium Cleaning – P4TF3; S-421;
• Black Oxide – AMS 2485; MIL-DTL-13924;
• Gold – AMS 2422; MIL-DTL-45204;
• Tin – AMS 2408; ASTM B545; MIL-T-10727
• Zinc – AMS 2402; ASTM B633;
• 90/10 Tin Lead – MIL-P-81728;
• 60/40 Tin Lead – MIL-P-81728;
• Passivation – AMS-QQ-P-35; ASTM A380; ASTM A967; AMS 2700;
• Chem Film – AMS 2473, AMS 2477, MIL-DTL(C)-5541

Approvals
F.M. Callahan & Son, Inc. currently plates precious metals of silver, gold, electroless nickel, sulfamate nickel, zinc, copper, tin, and tin-leads in a 40,000 square foot facility on Eastern Avenue. Their services also include black oxide, pickling, passivating, iridating and chromating. F.M. Callahan & Son, Inc.’s history of military and aerospace work continues under the quality certifications of NADCAP and ISO 9001.

F.M. Callahan & Son, Inc. also has proven excellence in partnering with medical, R.F. Communications, automotive, and general commercial companies.

For more information about F.M. Callahan & Son, Inc. please call them at 781-324-5101 or visit the company website at www.fmcallahan.com.

22 Sharon St,
Malden, MA 02148

Phone: (781) 324-5101
Url: www.fmcallahan.com
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