HISTORY


IT ALL BEGAN IN 1913

Alaskan Copper Works was founded as a marine copper-smithing company in 1913. Its major activities for the Pacific Northwest shipbuilding industry were forming and brazing piping, kettles, coils and other products made from copper, brass and bronze.

Beginning in the 1920's, many of the area's growing process industries, such as pulp and paper, which had relied on wood stave and cast iron as corrosion-resistant materials for their tanks and piping, welcomed the development of a new weldable alloy, silicon bronze. This alloy had special advantages in cost and corrosion-resistance. Alaskan Copper Works participated in the transition to this innovative metal and in the development of the welding techniques necessary for its proper fabrication.

In the 1930s austenitic stainless steel, an alloy with even greater corrosion-resistance, became available not only to the pulp and paper industry, but to other new developing industries as well, such as petrochemicals and food processing. Alaskan Copper Works also participated in the application of this new material and in the development of related special welding and fabricating techniques.

As the community of metal shops grew, the demand for sheet, plate and other mill products increased and many fabricators looked to Alaskan Copper Works for support.

In 1932, the company officially responded to this growing demand and established the Alaskan Copper & Brass Company, a new division devoted exclusively to the distribution of corrosion-resistant alloys. The addition of a complete line of aluminum products helped the company become a primary distribution source for customers in a variety of industries such as boat building, food processing, chemical, petrochemical, water treatment, mining, power and many more.

Copper-nickel alloys became integrated into the company's distribution network in the early 1970s. These alloys made marine materials more resistant to both quiet and moving sea water than copper, copper zinc alloys and galvanized steel or iron.

Today, Alaskan Copper & Brass Company offers a full line of products, including pipe, rod, bar, sheet, coil, plate, tubing, fittings and flanges. Metals stocked include aluminum, brass, bronze, copper, copper-nickel and stainless steel. Alaskan Copper offers customers over 20,000 stocking items and the latest in processing services including precision shearing, coil processing, abrasive and carbide blade sawing, computerized plasma cutting, automatic splice welding and waterjet processing.

Alaskan Copper & Brass Company is at the hub of Pacific Northwest shipping and transportation. Our largest warehouse located in Kent, Washington, 20 miles from Seattle, has over 300,000 square feet of warehousing space with the latest in material handling and processing equipment. Our Portland, Oregon warehouse is located in the center of industrial Portland, with a complete inventory of products to service the entire Oregon market. Our Vancouver, Canada warehouse serves the needs of our Canadian customers throughout the various provinces. Our San Diego warehouse services customers in a variety of industries.

Customer service continues to be the driving force behind the company's success. Our sales staff offers years of experience and the product knowledge to provide quality support for our customers. This capability, coupled with over 100 years of industry experience, has enabled Alaskan Copper to become one of the nation's largest combined full service center and manufacturer of corrosion-resistant alloy products.


Founders




1913




Today