Blog posts of '2019' 'February'

In addition to bending, Albina can assist its customers by providing added processes to materials we handle. Many value-added processes can be included with our scope of work allowing our customers to receive turn key parts. Whether the parts are rolled, or standard straight sections, we are here to help.  Albina has countless pieces of fabrication equipment allowing us to provide complete parts whenever required.  Our talented fabrication personnel and equipment can reduce a customer’s lead-time and overall cost by handling some fabrication processes in house.

Albina employs several full-time welders and fabricators that carry various welding certs from AWS to fit the various needs of our customers. Our fabricators can weld steel, aluminum, stainless and copper nickel materials. We have MIG, TIG and Stud welding abilities in most of these materials. In addition to being able to weld, our fabricators and equipment allow us to add production cut (CNC), precision CNC trim (saw or plasma), punch/drill holes, CNC plasma cut holes (round, square, diamond, triangle and oval), rollbead ends of round material, flare ends of round material (37° and/or 45°), cope (manually and CNC) up to 6” OD material, split and taper both wide flange and HSS sections, cope T,K and Y connections in round and square materials, and thread or tap items.

Albina continues to grow and evolve as a full-service shop.  We have invested in CNC technology over the years to provide repeatable quality parts. Many of the secondary processes we offer customers can be performed using manual processes (for smaller quantity runs) or CNC processes (for larger quantity runs).  We are constantly adding to our capabilities and capacities. Please contact sales or estimating if you have specific questions regarding our ability to assist with your next project.

If we can’t do it….we know who can.  The industrial area of Tualatin where our facility is located is home to many businesses that can assist with the needs of your project.  We have developed some very close-knit ties with local vendors allowing us to partner up and service all of your needs.  External services such as laser cutting, hot dip galvanizing, sandblasting, painting, powder coating and precision machining are all within a mile of our facility.

I often take time at the beginning of each new year to reflect on some cool projects we have done over the years and to make sure that we get those out to the digital world and share them with steel enthusiasts. One of the coolest art projects we have been a part of was the "Molecule" by Larry Kirkland for Winona State University in Minnesota.

Albina rolled 200, 12 foot lengths of ½" SOLID ROUND 6061-T6 Aluminum to net 133 full circles. Our customer then trimmed and fabricated the "Molecule" complete.

Another Awarding Winning Project in the books for Albina Co., Inc. "The Spheres" have received the AISC 2019 IDEAS2 Presidential Award for Excellence in Fabrication! Albina bent 750,000# and 1,050 pieces rectangular tube steel bent the easy way and a portion bent off-axis for this project. Almost 8 miles of welding work and grinding was avoided because of Albina's ability to bend a portion of the project. Almost NO correction was needed during fabrication or erection as the bends fit to the fixtures within 1/32nd of an inch! Numerous Pacific Northwest businesses collaborated to make The Spheres possible. Way to Go Team & Congratulations!

The Albina Co., Inc. team recently spiraled a true HSS stair stringer to a very tight configuration for a spiral staircase project in Washington. The project consisted of using an induction heat source, on our custom made bending equipment, to spiral bend tube steel 16" X 12" X .625" WALL A500 GR B the easy way to a 77” Center Line Radius. VERY TIGHT and VERY IMPRESSIVE! Great work team!