Chemical conversion coating on aluminum to MIL-DTL-5541, Class 1A and Class 3, serving Fort Worth aerospace work from our Rowlett plant. AS9100D and ISO 9001:2015 registered, ITAR registered, DFARS compliant.
Chem film is the finish specified when aluminum needs corrosion protection and electrical conductivity at the same time, which is why it appears on so much airframe and electronics work. It is also a finish where the class and type on the print genuinely change what we run.
Class 1A for maximum corrosion protection; Class 3 where electrical resistance is the controlling requirement. Call out the class — they are not interchangeable.
Type I contains hexavalent chromium. Type II is defined by the specification as containing no hexavalent chromium, which is what RoHS and REACH-driven prints increasingly require. Most commercial Type II products are trivalent chemistry, though the specification itself does not require that.
Chem film is frequently the pretreatment beneath MIL-PRF-23377 or MIL-PRF-85582 primer. We run those coating systems too, through our Gleco Paint & Powder division.
Where only part of a surface takes the treatment, call out the boundary from a datum. Masking is quoted by the feature, not by the phrase “as required.”
Fort Worth to Rowlett is roughly 50 miles across the metro, about an hour on I-30. Most Fort Worth aerospace work moves by freight with paperwork attached, which is the right way to handle it — and where technical data is export controlled, tell us in advance so it is handled under access control.
The hour matters less than it looks when the print carries an approval requirement. A shop closer to you that cannot satisfy the specification is not actually closer — it is a requalification waiting to happen.
Class 1A where corrosion protection is the requirement, Class 3 where electrical resistance is specified. If your print calls out one, use it. If it does not, tell us what the surface has to do and we will tell you which class the requirement implies.
Yes. MIL-DTL-5541 Type II is defined as containing no hexavalent chromium, and it is what most RoHS and REACH-driven prints now specify. Worth knowing that “Type II equals trivalent” is industry shorthand rather than what the specification actually says.
Yes, inside one company. Chem film runs on our plating side and the primer and topcoat systems run through Gleco Paint & Powder — one purchase order and one certificate of conformance rather than shipping the part between two vendors.
Yes, under access control. We are registered with the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls. Identify the control status in writing at the time of order; we will not infer it from the drawing.
If conductivity is not required, anodizing may be the better answer — and chem film may be better if it is. That is a conversation worth having before the print is released rather than after.
This page covers sourcing chem film in Fort Worth. If you are writing the callout or deciding between chem film and anodize, these go deeper.
Send the print with the type and class, the alloy, and any masking called out from a datum. We will quote it properly the first time.
Precision metal finishing since 1979. Plating, anodizing, coatings and passivation from two Texas plants.
Our paint, powder & Cerakote division: Gleco Paint & Powder Coating
Gleco Rowlett
2220 Grisham Drive
Rowlett, TX 75088
972-475-4300
Gleco McAllen
3800 W. Ursula Ave
McAllen, TX 78503
956-800-4069
