Tag Archives: structural steel bending

Curved Steel Bent for the St. Augustine Cathedral Square Conference Center in Tucson, AZ.

Albina provided 41,000# of bent steel to a Arizona fabricator for the St. Augustine Cathedral Square Conference Center and Offices project located in Tucson, AZ.
Albina was responsible to bend 13 different materials including angle, square tubing and rectangular tubing. Sizes ranged from 2” x 1½” angle up to TS 16” x 4” rectangular tubing. This project shipped on multiple trucks, but to help reduce freight costs to our customer we were able to combine the different releases with other goods shipping to the area allowing our customer to pay for partial trucks vs. full trucks.

The bent steel is part of a $12 million, 50,000 square foot four story complex (click here to see rendering). The first, third and fourths floors will house the cathedral offices, while a 500 seat conference and education center will reside on the second floor.

NEW MACHINE! Bend-Tech Dragon A400 Plasma Cutter

The Bend-Tech Dragon A400 is a commercial grade CNC tube cutting, engraving, and marking machine with the world’s most powerful CAD/CAM software. The machine will arrive in mid-November and is capable of cutting holes, notches and other designs on Round, Square, and Rectangular tubes. The machine can handle a material weight up to 400 lbs due to its heavy frame and support gate. The machine’s marking system is used for bend location marking and part identification. To see this amazing machine in action, click on this YouTube video from Bend-Tech.Yet another example of how we are willing to continue to add technology and additional machinery to service all of our customers needs!

Another IDEAS2 Awarding Winning Project in the Books (Literally)!

Sponsored by the American Institute of Steel Construction, the Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel (IDEAS2) recognizes projects where structural steel has been utilized in an innovative manner. We have been an integral part of many award winning projects, but this year, our curved steel was featured on the award-winning project of the UC Davis Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art.

In honor of this years award winners, the AISC produced a high quality coffee table flip Book of the winners. The UC Davis Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art is featured on pages 39 and 40 Feel free to check out the whole book to see the entire list of winners.

Curved Steel Roof UC Davis

Curved Steel Entry

Curved Steel Roof UC Davis

50,000 Square Foot Permeable Roof

Curved Steel Roof UC Davis

Overview of Curved Roof Structure

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.

Curved Steel Wide Flange Bent for Large Formwork & Scaffolding Application

We recently completed bending 3 lengths x 45 feet of Wide Flange W8 X 35# A992 Bent the easy way to a 16’ 6” radius. 120° of content. Albina rolled, trimmed, drilled and assemble complete the three lengths displayed in the front of these images. These large span bends were for one of the leading formwork and scaffolding companies in the construction industry.

Formwork and Scaffolding Wide Flange

Formwork and Scaffolding Wide Flange

Formwork and Scaffolding Wide Flange

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

Do You Have Plans for SteelDay 2018?

SteelDay is just a week away on Friday, September 28th! Don’t forget to register for a SteelDay event near you at www.steelday.org/events. If you can’t get to a physical location, AISC is offering a free webinar titled “Birth of the Steel Skyscraper”.

This year marks the 10th Anniversary of SteelDay, the steel industry’s largest educational and networking function of the year. If you would like to look back at some of the past webinars offered by AISC from 2011-2017, please log on to aisc.org to check them out!

Bending Steel Angle Heel Up, Heel Out, Heel In, Leg In and Leg Out! Plus Bulb Flat!

We bend all sizes of angle that the mill produces, up to 8” x 8” x 1¼”. We can bend all types of angle as well; including aluminum, stainless and carbon steel. Carbon angle (mill produced) is classified as ASTM A36 resulting in a yield point (PSI) of 36,000 minimum. We bend all stock lengths as well as non-stock lengths. Stock lengths range from 20 to 40 feet. Angle is produced with equal legs and unequal legs. Unequal legs would measure differently on the horizontal leg versus the vertical leg. We have the ability to bend angle with the leg in, leg out, heel in, heel out and heel up. We also have the ability to bend bulb flat. Bulb flat is similar to angle with one of the legs cut down to a very short “stub”. We can bend bulb flat with the stem out and the stem in. We can bend all mill sizes produced up to 430 mm x 20 mm (16.93” wide x .787” thick). Bent angle can be used for many different applications. The most common application would be angle flanges which are full circles that are used to join sections of pipe together. Bent angle is also used for canopies, roof trusses and tunnel shoring applications.

Bent Steel Angle Leg Out

Angle Leg Out

Bent Steel Angle Heel Up

Angle Heel Up

Murray Park Amphitheater Rennovations Include Curved Steel Roof Structure

Albina bent 55,000# of wide flange W24 X 76# A992, W30 X 108# A992, W36 X 135# A992, W36 X 170# A992 for the Murray Park Amphitheater in Salt Lake City, Utah. Over a planning period that lasted several years, the city received input from patrons and citizens that focused on the needs and wants for improvements to the amphitheater. The largest improvement to the amphitheater was a curved steel roof over the stage and orchestra pit. “In the summer, we have microburst storms that roll in at around three or four in the afternoon and rain out events,” Sorenson said. “The stage can also get very hot, which limits what you can do in the afternoon. If we had a roof, we wouldn’t have to cancel. It would allow us to keep events running.” One of Albina Co., Inc.’s slogans over the years is “We’ve Got You Covered” and in this instance, we truly did! The wide flange was all bent the hardway to a radii range of approx. 90 ft – 100 ft. and it was all bending to AESS (Architecturally Exposed Structural Steel Standards).

Murray Park Amphitheater Curved Steel Roof Structure

Murray Park Amphitheater Curved Steel Roof