Mar. 30—CANNONSBURG — When it comes to the gasoline-powered internal combustion engine, the piston and the crankshaft, the sparkplug and the manifolds are commonly hailed as the MVPs of the machine.

But without the humble gasket, the engine wouldn't work. Whether it be a head gasket in a 1992 Fox Body Mustang or a rudimentary carburetor gasket on a weed eater out in the shed, a gasket-less engine is a leaker and a leaker won't run — at least not for long.

At the Paul Coffey Industrial Park, in two non-descript prefab buildings joined together, the cutting edge of gasket technology is at Innovative Manufacturing.

Founded by Billy Riggs and Scott Coleman last year during an impromptu get-together, Innovative Manufacturing is using one of the most cutting-edge CNC machines in the country to turn out customer order gaskets and more.

Coleman said he and Riggs went to school together, graduating from Russell in the class of 1980. The two lost touch — Coleman said he moved out West and raced in Formula One speed boats. To make ends meet, he performed "reparations of stolen cars in Mexico" — essentially a repo-man south of the border.

When asked which was scarier — getting a stolen car back from Mexico or racing a boat that goes as fast as a rocket — Coleman said it was Mexico by a long shot.

"That was very scary at times," he said.

Coleman said he got out of the business and found himself up in Naperville, Illinois, running a roofing company.

A visit back to the Tri-State led to the meeting with Riggs, thus Innovative Manufacturing was born, he said.

Out on the shop floor, a machinist punches in coordinates for the mill to cut out a custom crest for the golf resort. Spinning at nearly 22,000 RPMs, the machine makes quick work of the sheet of metal, cutting out a G to exact dimensions.

The machinist blows the metal shavings off with an air hose before carefully prying the piece out with his fingers, careful not to cut himself on a burred edge.

"When people heard we got this machine, we had people come out from all over," Coleman said. "There's nothing like it around here."

With the capacity to cut 5-by-10-foot sheets, Coleman said the CNC machine will allow the company to break into industrial markets, providing large-scale gaskets for plants and factories.

Taking into account changes in pieces from the bench, Coleman said about 40,000 gaskets can be cut on the machines a month. Once the shop is up and running, he anticipates having 18 more machines turning out pieces.

Up in the front office, a 3D printer cuts little paper gaskets for old Husqvarna and the like. While the big ol' machine on the shop floor will one day be turning out the bread and butter the company, for right now the main source of income is the obsolete small engine market.

Chainsaws, lawnmowers, rotor tillers — everyone has an old one laying around. The parts counter at the local feed store long since quit carrying stock in these.

That's where Innovative Manufacturing comes in, Coleman said.

"Billy was doing this in his garage, but he couldn't do big orders," he said. "He could do small batches, but he couldn't do 3,000 orders."

But even small batches was enough to make it lucrative, Coleman said. Landscaping companies and construction companies are remiss to replace expensive equipment because the gasket isn't in production.

So having a source for obsolete gaskets keeps old machinery running, Coleman said.

"I think once we have the industrial component of this up and going, it will probably overshadow this end of the business, but it will always be here," he said.

Once running at full capacity, Coleman said he anticipates hiring on about 20 employees to man the shop.