Tag Archives: pipe bending

Rare Curved Aluminum Material Creates Overhead Canopy at Pacific Plaza in Dallas, TX.

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.

Pacific Plaza Park 12" SCH40 (.406" WALL) 6061-T6 Aluminum Curved Pipe
Beginning stages of erection
Pacific Plaza Park 12" SCH40 (.406" WALL) 6061-T6 Aluminum Curved Pipe
Pipes in bending process
Pacific Plaza Park 12" SCH40 (.406" WALL) 6061-T6 Aluminum Curved Pipe
Pipes Ready to Ship
Artist Rendering of Pacific Plaza Park Curved Structure

Modern Steel Magazine Highlights “The Madison Center” Curved Steel Features in June Issue

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!

Curved Aluminum for Rock Guard Frames

We recently completed a job bending some rock guard frames out of 1″ SCH80 6063-T52 Aluminum. Albina cut and bent the aluminum to net 500 pieces.  All of the pieces were bent on a 5″ center line radius. It was quite an amazing site to see them all packaged and ready for shipment in our yard!

Curved Aluminum for Rock Guard Frames
Curved Aluminum for Rock Guard Frames
Curved Aluminum for Rock Guard Frames

Curved Steel Pipe for Bridge and Pedestrian Railings

We recently completed a project that consisted of rolling 6″ SCH40 A53B ERW to a 18″ center line radius. The project consisted of 54 pieces in total and in going to a company that specializes in bridge and pedestrian railings. 

Albina specializes in bending railings and handrails for commercial, recreational, transportation and residential applications. We can bend to customer specifications and we also have handrail kits available. We can bend and trim per drawing, trim and cope mid-rails, and assemblies can be supplied as individual parts or fabricated complete. 

6" Sch40 curved steel pipe for bridge railings-1
6" Sch40 curved steel pipe for bridge railings-3

Curved Steel Sky Bridge & Knight Campus Groundbreaking!

On Friday, March 2nd, almost a year-and-a-half after announcing the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact, the University of Oregon broke ground for the new campus! The project is slated to be complete by 2020. A signature sky bridge over Franklin Boulevard will connect the campus to other U of O research facilities while creating a gateway corridor between Eugene and Springfield. Albina Co. Inc. bent 22″ OD X 1″ WALL CARBON STEEL PIPE to a 105 foot centerline radius for the sky bridge. What an amazing project! Stay tuned for install pictures! 

Phil Knight Campus Curved Steel Sky Bridge
Phil Knight Campus Curved Steel Sky Bridge

Custom Made 1940’s Bending Machine Displayed On-Site at “The Smith-sonian” in Honor of 80 Years in Business!

In honor of our 80th Anniversary, Albina has created a museum on site, called “The Smith-sonian”, which honors the family name and houses one of the first ever pieces of equipment that Albina owned and used to bend materials. John Smith, Brian’s grandfather, built the “Model-T” bending machine in the early 1940’s utilizing the transmission and differential from a “Model-T” Ford. This machine was used to roll/bend various materials such as pipe, tube, and square and rectangular HSS (hollow structural steel). The machine would pull material around a bend die resulting in a smooth radius finished good. The “Model-T” was in operation at Albina until the 1990’s when it was replaced by more efficient bending equipment. “The Smith-sonian” is ready for visitors. Stop by to see us! Cheers to 80 Years! You can check out a virtual tour on YouTube.

Albina 80th Anniversary "The Smith-sonian"

Albina 80th Anniversary "The Smith-sonian"

Albina 80th Anniversary "The Smith-sonian"

Going Above and Beyond to Meet Our Customers Needs

Albina is not only known for bending large structural members, but we service a wide range of manufacturing companies. We have consistently bent hydraulic lines for a local manufacturing company in Portland Oregon. We will bend 100’s of parts at a time on our CNC equipment. A recent production run was bent out of ½” OD X .049″ WALL T316 S/S material. This customer required some very specific radii. We did not have all of the tooling to match the exact needs. So to service our customer and meet their requirements, Albina purchased tooling to meet every radii our customer required!

Picture Vault Getting Rave Reviews from Customers!

Our new “Picture Vault” has been live for almost two weeks and our customers are loving it! We have sent picture links to dozens of customers and have gotten extremely positive feedback. Customers think the vault is “cool”, “informative” and “a great way to learn about the steel bending process.”

If you haven’t heard about the vault yet, here is a recap! We recently added a new bar coding system to our shop orders which allow our operators to take pictures during various stages of a bending project. Customers can now login to a secure portion of the Albina Co., Inc. website to see their jobs in four various phases of the steel bending process: raw material, in-process, in quality control and ready to ship.The objective is to offer yet another value-added service for our customers and to keep them well informed throughout their project. Once pictures are taken and uploaded to Albina’s internal picture vault, the project manager at the customer site will receive an email with a secure login username and password, as well as a link letting them know that they have new pictures ready to view. Pictures will be categorized based on Purchase Order Number and Project Name and will remain available for viewing indefinitely. If customers like the pictures posted in the vault, they are welcome to contact us and we will provide a JPEG image for both internal or external use.

The secure site is also useful for ordering Standard Duct & Component Parts online! So quick and easy! If you haven’t ordered online yet, call us today and we will get you set-up immediately to start ordering online.

Picture Vault

This is just the first phase of the secure site. Our plan is to provide a resource for customers to view and track other items including invoices, packing slips, order confirmations, etc.

NEW “Picture Vault” Allows Albina Co,. Inc. Customers to See Pictures of their Material During Various Stages of the Steel Bending Process

Customers can now login to a secure portion of the Albina Co., Inc. website to see their jobs in four various phases of the steel bending process: raw material, in-process, in quality control and ready to ship. We have added a new bar coding system to our shop orders which allow our operators to take pictures during various stages of a bending project. The objective is to offer yet another value-added service for our customers and to keep them well informed throughout their project.

Picture Vault

Once pictures are taken and uploaded to Albina’s internal picture vault, the project manager at the customer site will receive an email with a secure login username and password, as well as a link letting them know that they have new pictures ready to view. Pictures will be categorized based on Purchase Order Number and Project Name and will remain available for viewing indefinitely. If customers like the pictures posted in the vault, they are welcome to contact us and we will provide a JPEG image for both internal or external use.
This is just the first phase of the secure site. Our plan is to provide a resource for customers to view and track other items including invoices, packing slips, order confirmations, etc.

Gearing Up for Our 80th Anniversary in 2019!

We are hard at work planning lots of fun events and stocking up on lots of COOL Albina Company swag to prepare for the year-long celebration of our 80th Anniversary. We are in the planning stages of some great activities and events in order recognize all of our employees, customers and vendors that have helped us reach this milestone! We are also creating “The Museum” on site which will house one of the first ever pieces of equipment that Albina owned and used to bend materials. My Grandfather (John Smith) built our “Model-T” bending machine in the late 1930’s / early 1940’s utilizing the transmission and differential from a “Model-T” Ford. This machine was used to roll/bend various materials such as pipe, tube, square and rectangular HSS (hollow structural steel). The machine would pull material around a bend die resulting in a smooth radius finished good. The “Model-T” was in operation at Albina until the 1990’s when it was replaced by more efficient bending equipment.

We hope to have “The Museum” set up and ready for visitors after the first of the new year. Stop by to see us! We are happy to take you on a tour of our shop and show you the machine!

Bending Machine powered by Model T Ford Engine

Bending Machine powered by Model T Ford Engine