Blog

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!

Albina recently completed some very complex spiral bends for a Spiral Staircase which will be installed at the new Moab Hoodoo Hotel, Curio Collection by Hilton in Moab, Utah. The 117-guestroom hotel will offer an upscale lodging option to travelers heading to the Moab desert community. The hotel will be surrounded by large sandstone monoliths that feature balanced stones, known as hoodoos. Materials bent for the spiral staircase consisted of: 4" X 4" X ¼" ANGLE A36 2 pcs bent leg out to a 7' 4" inside radius 2 pcs bent leg in to a 13' 0" outside radius C15 X 33.9# A36 2 pcs spiral bent to a 7' 4" outside plan radius. 2 pcs spiral bent to a 13' 0" inside plan radius. 1 pc bent in a single plane to a 7' 4" outside radius 1 pc bent in a single plane to a 13' 0" inside radius

We are now accepting Visa/Master Card as a form of payment. If payment is made with Visa/Master Card we will charge a slight surcharge to cover the costs of the transaction. Call our main office if you would like more information and ask to speak with either Debee or Cindy.

AISC recently released the first ever Design Guide of its kind in the United States offering information on the fabrication, design and detailing of curved members. Design Guide 33 was a collaborative effort of the members of the AISC Bender/Roller committee. We worked together for many years to provide this invaluable resource for the industry. Modern Steel Construction recently published an article titled "Design with a Twist" in the October 2018 Issue giving a brief highlight of topics covered in the Design Guide. AISC also created a very insightful webinar for their continuing education program titled "Design of Curved Members." If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the Design Guide to assist with your efforts of specifying curved members on your next project, please contact us.

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!

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. 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.

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. 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.

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!