Info

Northwest Aluminum Specialties, Inc. (NWAS) is an employee owned company located in Oregon. We are engaged in the production of aluminum billet for hot extrusion, hot/cold impact extrusion, and hot/cold forging stock in most aluminum alloys. We buy and/or toll-convert, high quality recycled aluminum and pure aluminum into aluminum billet (logs) in any of 19 different cast diameters from 2.9" to 11". We also have the capability to custom bar-turned diameters to most specifications between 2.9" to 5.025" (Please inquire about diameters between 2.9" and 2.0") and any cut length down to 3/8" thick. We utilize electric induction furnaces which produce less dross than conventional gas fired furnaces, resulting in better recovery, more uniform chemistry and higher purity. Wagstaff AirSlipÔ tooling is used which provides a uniform, smooth surface with an extremely thin liquation zone (chill zone) and very small, uniform grain size. We employ SNIFÔ (spinning Nozzle Inert Flotation) in-line de-gassing units along with ceramic foam filters that delivers metal with minimal inclusions to the casting tables. Fully tilting casting Seco WarwickÔ furnaces are used which allows for immediate alloy changes as the furnaces can be poured dry. Ultrasonic inspection stations configured to D.O.T. specifications are used to ensure that material is free of any centerline cracks. Maximum physical properties are achieved through state of the art CanefcoÔ Homogenizing furnaces with controlled, stepped, custom, homogenizing cycles, and then cooled using forced air cool down chambers. This process along with being matched to our internal chemical specifications for each alloy that we produce assures that the proper physical properties in the end product are met or exceeded. A KieserlingÔ bar-turner, capable of tolerance control to +/- .005 inch, is utilized to produce material on an order of magnitude tighter in diameter than standard commercial extruded bar tolerance. Material is cut on WagnerÔ puck saws feeding directly into in-line de-burring units. Finally our material is packaged both as log and billet in a variety of configurations, or pucks/slugs packaged into cardboard boxes or returnable, collapsible, plastic boxes, for damage free shipping.