Blog

Albina Co., Inc. is not just a structural steel bending shop! Some of our biggest customers are manufacturing companies that require bent material and repeat jobs of small parts. We recently finished a project that required some complex tube bends on our CNC draw bending equipment out of the following materials: 136 pieces of 1" OD X .065" WALL T304 S/S bent to a 2½” center-line radius. 136 pieces of Tube Steel 1" X 1" X .083" WALL T304 S/S bent to a 3½” inside radius. 68 pieces of ½" OD X .049" WALL T304 S/S bent to a ½” center-line radius. All parts were cut, bent, washed and packaged by Albina Co., Inc. for shipment. Prior to shipping all parts needed to be free of dirt, debris and oil.

Albina is your steel bending expert for large material as well as small material! We just finished a project that required 650 safety bollards. Bollards are thick, low posts, usually made of iron or steel for the purpose of diverting traffic from an area or road and also often used on a wharf for fastening mooring lines. This particular project was used for auto traffic diversion and the bollards were constructed out of 2" SCH40 A53B ERW BARE, bent to a 6” center-line-radius x 180 degrees. We produce custom bollards for urban traffic and vehicle control, for fastening mooring lines, as barriers and barricades, for pedestrian security, for ornamental landscape structures and for unique bike rack solutions.

Our capacities keep on expanding with the arrival of two new machines! We just received new 2" and 3-1/2 capacity draw bending machines. Rotary draw, or compression bending occurs when material is bent by rotating it around a bend die (and typically pulled or pushed over mandrel rod). A bend die is formed to fit a specific material size/type and at a specific diameter to fit the bend requirements. The material to be bent is clamped to the bend die and then is drawn, or pulled, around the bend die until the desired degree of bend is met. This method produces clean, tight radii bends and is mainly used by manufacturers or industrial companies. [caption id="attachment_1358" align="aligncenter" width="1632"] 2" Rotary Draw Bender[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1356" align="aligncenter" width="1632"] 3-1/2" Rotary Draw Bender[/caption]

Albina has finished the steel bending for the new LAX Midfield Satellite Concourse North Project. This project was part of an estimated $1.2 billion dollar modernization program at Los Angeles International Airport. Albina partnered with Schuff Steel and we bent over 1.2 million pounds of curved HSS (Hallow Structural Steel) as well as structural steel members for the project. This project consisted of various structural shapes and sizes and resulted in 0% rework. The steel bending was done over 7 months and we were able to meet or exceed all of our customers scheduling requirements. The satellite concourse will be a remote facility initially served by an airport busing operation and a passenger access tunnel (PAX) connection to the Bradley West Terminal. The new MSC will permit greater flexibility in scheduling improvements at other facilities, reduce reliance on remote gates, and ensure a high level of service for LAX passengers. [caption id="attachment_1352" align="aligncenter" width="1311"] Bent HSS (Hallow Structural Steel) For LAX Midfield Satellite Concourse North Project[/caption]

Albina really enjoyed seeing some of our valued customers at the NASCC trade show earlier in 2017. After the show Albina was asked to spiral bend some TS 20" X 4" X .500" WALL A500 GR B material! This very difficult material was successfully bent by Albina to a varying pitch over the entire length. This bending project was for the Cambridge North Bridge at the University of Kansas. This particular customer is located in Kansas. They know, if you want it done right, you call Albina. No matter how far away they are located.

I recently ordered a comforter that was to include one comforter and two pillow shams. I only received the comforter and no shams. They couldn't just send me the shams, because they were supposed to come in a set...clearly. I had to return the original comforter at my own expense and reorder. I ordered a t-shirt for my daughters cross country team. I received the shirt and the entire bottom hem was ripped and shredded. I took it to the vendor and they offered to cut off the loose strings for me and thought I was crazy for even asking for a new shirt that was actually sewn correctly. I ordered a headboard and was told it would be one week till delivery and I also asked them to email me a receipt. It took 3 weeks, 5 phone calls and not one return call to get the answer that they have no idea when the headboard will ship and that their system doesn't allow them to send receipts. All of these experiences in just one day left me questioning how our world even functions anymore? Have we just accepted that we don't get what we pay for, that below average quality is acceptable, and that customer service and on-time delivery just doesn't really matter? Well, it matters to me. Does it matter to you? Well, guess what? We are investing in you. When we make improvements to our business, we ask ourselves if it will add VALUE to our partners - YOU. Here are some examples of recent advances we have made to give you a fantastic ALBINA EXPERIENCE: Everyone says your call is important, so why do you always get VM? We value your initial phone call so much that last month we invested in and installed a new state of the art VOIP phone system to field your calls. This phone system allows us to redirect phone calls to our cell phones when necessary so calls are rarely missed. You need your quote WHEN? Our typical quote return is 48 hours. If you have a specific date that you need the response by, please list it on the request. We always strive to meet or beat the date requested, in some cases we have even returned the quote the day of the request - just let us know. Your peace of mind via Confirmation Every order that we enter to our system has a corresponding order confirmation that is emailed to you for your review and records. What's my status? With our state of the art scheduling software we are able to provide you real time status updates as requests are made. Show me... We have installed a new camera system in our shop with 2 Megapixel cameras. These cameras offer Albina management high quality images of our production process right from our desks. We both value efficiency and quality and these cameras will allow management to better service your needs by providing real time data on what phase your job is at in our shop. When will I get it? When an order is shipped, our shipping manager sends you tracking information of the shipment (when this information is available) so you know exactly where the order is once it leaves our facility. We want you TO BE PART OF THE EXPERIENCE that we provide at Albina Co., Inc. We want to be your "go to" steel bender. I guarantee you will not be disappointed and it will be AN EXPERIENCE worth having. [caption id="attachment_1337" align="aligncenter" width="3472"] Double Day Inn Gettysburg, PA.[/caption] Thought it would be fun to let you all be a part of OUR EXPERIENCE by sharing this picture and story. On our summer vacation, we returned to the exact spot on the battlefields of Gettysburg where we got engaged. Almost 20 years later, the porch remains unchanged and we were able to recreate that special event with our two kids, and our fabulous tour guide! What a cool experience! It felt so good to know that some things never change, and that what worked 20 years ago, still works today! Here's to another 20 years!

Albina has been involved with the Transbay Transit Center construction project since late 2014. Construction of the Transit Center, whick will connect eight Bay Area counties and the State of California through 11 transportation systems: AC Transit, BART, Caltrain, Golden Gate Transit, Greyhound, Muni, SamTrans, WestCAT Lynx, Amtrak, Paratransit and California’s future High Speed Rail from San Francisco to Los Angeles/Anaheim. is currently underway. Construction is expected to be complete in late 2017. For the most recent phase of the project, Albina provided 48,000# of 4" OD X .125" WALL A513 and TS 8" X 2" X .250" WALL A500 GR B all bent to various configurations. To perform to the highest quality standards we sand filled some of the materials prior to rolling, which helped hold the original shop during the bending process. For more information on the project, please visit TransbayCenter.org.

Albina Co., competes all over North America. This summer Albina finished processing some TS 18" X 6" X .500" WALL A500 GR B for Mills High School located in Arkansas. Albina spiral bent the rectangular tubing the easy-way to a 15 ft plan view radius and also bent the landing / flat sections the easy way to the same 15 ft radius. Everything on this project was to AESS standards. Albina is the national expert in HSS spiral stringer bending. Our quality standards are unmatched. Do not let distance be a deterrent, consider us your "local" bending partner and experience the unmatched quality and service we offer at Albina Co., Inc.

Modern Steel recently interviewed our very own General Manager, Mark King, to help construct the recently published article "Above all, ART" that highlights the precise structural design and inspiring architecture of the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at the University of California, Davis. As a bender/roller, we were involved early enough in the process that we were able to reduce complicated curves, simplify the steel bending and reduce significant costs. The canopy consisted of HSS 14" x 10" rectangular tubing bent in multiple planes (both the easy way and the hard way). An important highlight of the project was that some of the material that was bent in multiple planes was rotated off-axis by a slight amount, and the radius was large enough, that we were able to bend it cold, which is a faster process than hot bending. [caption id="attachment_1091" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] 50,000 Square Foot Permeable Roof[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1092" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Curved Steel Entry [/caption] [caption id="attachment_1093" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Overview of Curved Roof Structure[/caption]

Albina has recently started making bike racks for a new customer. No matter the size or shape this customers knows that Albina will perform as promised. Albina can make racks from pipe, tubing (square / rectangular) and flat bar. The most recent project required 446 racks made out of Flat Bar 5/8" X 2½" A36. Each rack needed to be cut, bent, trimmed to length and the ends required 1,784 pcs of welded rod to act as anchor pieces. This material needed to remain rust free to avoid the process of sandblasting after fabrication and before powder coating. Albina shipped all material to our shop tarped. All material was unloaded inside our facility with overhead cranes. Once unloaded, the raw material and finished product remained in our facility until it was time to ship to the powder coater (who is located across the street from our shop). Call us if you need a custom bike rack and need a dependable supplier that will meet your every need.