Blog posts of '2019' 'June'

The last few years have been sensational for Albina Co., Inc. We have seen a great deal of change in our industry and have been fortunate to recognize growth in our capabilities, capacity and in both our shop and office team members. We are excited to introduce the newest member of our Estimating / Project Management team, Joseph (Joe) Daniels. Joe is joining Aaron Hughes, Mark King, Brad Lund, Stuart Hasman and Brian Smith in Albina's Sales department. Joe has many years of experience in the steel and fabrication industry and has worked in Albina's shop, as an Ironworker, since July 2014. Joe has developed an outstanding reputation at Albina and will be a welcomed addition to our outstanding sales and estimating team. Joe possesses a comprehensive work ethic and will service Albina's customers just as you have grown accustomed to from the other members of our team. We are confident Joe's commitment to quality and integrity will make him a valuable resource as our company and your business continue to grow. You can contact Joe or any of our other existing sales staff with your estimating and technical needs at 503-692-6010. Joe's email is jdaniels@albinaco.com. Thank you for your continued support.

Albina's plate roll has been extremely busy as of late and we recently rolled 1/2" X 96" A36 and 3/8" X 96" A36 plate to a 55 foot radius for a large tank.  Very cool pictures below! Did you know that our plate rolling capacity is determined by a number of factors. The thickness we can roll is tied directly to the width of the plate we are bending. For example our plate roll can bend up to 10 foot wide material, but can only bend ¾” thick plate at 10 foot wide. As the plate becomes smaller in width we can bend thicker material. For example if a piece of plate measure 18” wide, the material could measure 2” thick.

Check out the cover spot and three page feature article on Albina Co., Inc. in the June/July West Coast Edition of A2Z Manufacturing Magazine. Pages 24-26! Portland artist Devin Laurence Field produced the laser-­cut stainless steel flame sculpture and Albina Co., Inc. bent 18" STD A53B ERW 10 lens x 40 ft down to a 42 ft radius for the sculpture.

We had such a great time working with Linda and Kim to highlight and showcase all of the amazing curved steel projects we have done in Oregon, Washington, and California. Some projects featured in the article include:

We had to mill order 12" SCH40 (.406" WALL) 6061-T6 Aluminum material to create the curved members for the overhead canopy at Pacific Plaza park in Dallas, Texas. This is a VERY rare material to get out of a mill. We ordered 30 lengths in total and bent, trimmed and marked top dead center on all parts. The material was bent to AESS (Architecturally Exposed Structural Steel) standards and very tight tolerances. Pacific Plaza has officially broken ground and is part of an urban renewal project transforming surface parking lots into a neighborhood park. The park is slated to be completed by the fall of 2019.

The Madison Center is a 530 foot tall, 36 story high rise office building in Seattle, Washington and is featured in the June edition of Modern Steel. Albina Co., Inc. was the bender/roller on this project and worked specifically on what is being called "The Great Room" which is a 45-foot tall steel framed entryway rotunda. Albina bent many material types for this project including tube steel 8" x 6" up to 12" x 12", 3" x 3" angle, W10 and W16 wide flange, 8" pipe and more. Check out the article for some more details on the architectural feat and some great pictures. We will be heading up to Seattle soon to get some pictures of our own to share. Stay tuned!

I'm proud of my hard work. Working hard won't always lead to the exact things we desire. There are many things I've wanted that I haven't always gotten. But, I have a great satisfaction in the blessings from my mother and father, who instilled a great work ethic in me both personally and professionally. -Tamron Hall

Father's Day is upon us! Father's Day is particularly important to me as I lost my father, Bill, over 8 years ago, and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about him or get a reminder of him while at work. It can be a phone call from someone in the industry who used to work with him, it can be an old quote I see come across my desk with his name on it, it can be my daily rounds through the shop where I can still see him problem solving with a machine operator on a particularly challenging job. Whatever it may be, I always remind myself that I am a representative of the Smith Family and the steel bending business that my grandfather and father helped to build. Jaime and I have been building on their values for many, many years now and feel great about where we have been able to take the business. All three generations have worked in both the shop and office during our careers. A fourth generation spends their summers pulling weeds, washing windows and doing database entry in their spare time. We have four generations of family who believe in the steel industry and believe in the value of hard work. I have no idea if my son and daughter will be interested in taking over the family business some day, but if they do, I am confident that they will work hard, be honest and carry on the traditions we have lived by for the last 80 years! I am a proud business owner and a proud Father. Happy Father's Day to all you Father's out there!