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Interior of Northern Manufacturing's dedicated stainless-only fabrication area, with a large stainless assembly in progress

Stainless Steel Fabrication

Stainless steel fabrication in a shop dedicated to stainless.

Stainless steel fabrication, plate to passivation, under one roof: a 40,000 sq ft fabrication area that never sees carbon steel. ISO 9001 · AWS D1.6 · Since 1951.

  • ISO 9001:2015
  • AWS D1.6
  • ASME Section IX
  • CAGE 137T8

40,000 sq ft

stainless-dedicated fabrication

Physically separated from carbon steel. Own tooling, consumables, welders. No free iron on finished surfaces.

55-foot

pickling & passivation booth

Entire assemblies pickled in one pass per ASTM A380. No sectioning and re-welding after finish.

60 welders

AWS D1.6 qualified

78 welding stations. Continuous recertification. Continuity logs are current and provided with the assembly when your purchase order calls for them, not reconstructed at final inspection.

Since 1951

75 years fabricating stainless

Third-generation family shop. ISO 9001 certified since 2015. CAGE code 137T8.

What stainless steel fabrication looks like in a shop built for stainless

Stainless steel fabrication punishes shortcuts. Free iron from a shared grinding bench shows up as rust bloom weeks after delivery. A weld that ran hot leaves a heat tint that fails a sanitary inspection. The fix for every one of those failure modes is the same: a shop where the tooling, the welders, and the finishing line never touch carbon steel.

That is what the 40,000 sq ft dedicated stainless-only area is. Plate arrives with its mill heat number, gets cut on one of five laser cells, formed on four Trumpf TruBend and one Ermak CNC press brake, welded by AWS D1.6 qualified welders, and finished in a 55-foot pickling and passivation booth per ASTM A380. The same building, the same quality system, one accountable name from plate to passivation.

Welder running a GTAW pass on a large stainless steel assembly inside the dedicated stainless fabrication area
GTAW on 316L inside the stainless-only area: 60 AWS D1.6 qualified welders across 78 stations.
Exterior of the 55-foot spray pickling and passivation booth at Northern Manufacturing
The 55-foot booth pickles entire assemblies in one pass per ASTM A380, the final step of stainless steel fabrication done in-house.
Interior of Northern Manufacturing's dedicated stainless-only fabrication area

40,000 sq ft dedicated to stainless, with zero carbon steel on the floor

Carbon and stainless share the same shop in almost every fabrication facility. Free iron transfers from grinders, clamps, tables, and weld spatter, then shows up weeks later as rust bloom or pitting on finished stainless surfaces. Our dedicated stainless-only room has its own tooling, its own welders, its own consumables. Free iron verification per ASTM A380 on critical service assemblies.

Quality inspector recording dimensional data with a tablet linked to a Leica laser tracker

You inherit the quality record, not rebuild it at final inspection.

MTRs and heat records are provided as your specification and purchase order require. Welder continuity logs stay current as the work runs. WPS, PQR, and welder qualification records are maintained as you fabricate, not reconstructed at final inspection. For critical service assemblies: back-purge verification, digital oxygen analyzer readings, Niton XRF PMI, and Leica AT960 laser tracker dimensional inspection.

Exterior of Northern Manufacturing's 55-foot stainless pickling and passivation booth

Plate to passivation. No subcontracting.

Entire assemblies pickled in one pass: no sectioning, no re-welding after finish.

Most shops outsource pickling, passivation, or post-weld finishing. Your part travels, waits in queues, and picks up handling damage between stations. At Northern: flat laser, tube laser, 5-axis laser, robotic and manual welding, a 55-foot spray pickling booth, PMI, ultrasonic testing, hydrostatic testing, and 3D scanning inspection, all in-house, with radiography coordinated through a qualified partner. One partner. One quality system. One accountable name.

Booth length
55 ft
Spec
ASTM A380
No sectioning
1 pass
Zero outsourcing
In-house
12 × 12 × 12 ft

max fabrication envelope

80,000 lb

max single-piece weight

1.25 in

max stainless plate, fiber laser

9/16 in

max stainless plate, rolled

Materials we fabricate

Austenitic, duplex, and specialty alloys, all P-numbers qualified under ASME Section IX.

Austenitic

304 · 316 · 309 · 321 · 347

ASME IX
P8 · Group 1
Stock
20 ga to 1″ plate · heavy to 2″
Note
Stocked in standard sizes

The backbone of food & beverage, pharma, and sanitary applications. Deep welder continuity on both 304L and 316L. Stocked in standard sizes.

Austenitic specs →

Duplex

2205 · 2507 · LDX 2101

ASME IX
P10H
Stock
Sourced per project (mill order)
Note
K-TIG keyhole welding with ER2209

Specified for chloride service, seismic loading, and stress-corrosion-cracking resistance. Single-pass full-penetration K-TIG keyhole welds on duplex from 1/8 in to 1/2 in with ER2209 filler.

Duplex specs →

Specialty alloys

Hastelloy C-22 · Hastelloy C-276 · AL-6XN · Inconel 625

ASME IX
P43 · P45
Stock
Per-project mill order
Note
Dissimilar welds to P8 / P10H on file

For aggressive chemistry, high-temperature, and pollution-control service where austenitic grades are not enough. PQRs available on request.

Specialty specs →

Fabrication capability pages

Detailed pages on the processes behind this work, in shop sequence: cut, form, weld, finish, then trial-fit and assembly. Each page covers how we do the work, which alloys we run, what equipment we use, and the questions buyers ask.

Batches of formed stainless steel angle brackets with slotted holes stacked on a pallet with inspection tags

Stainless Steel Laser Cutting Services

A 12 kW Trumpf fiber laser cuts stainless sheet and plate up to 1.25 inches thick, a 3,200 W CO2 cell runs production sheet behind it, and an 8-person engineering team programs every nest from your CAD.

Laser-coped stainless steel tubes fit up into a multi-branch node on a fixture table at Northern Manufacturing

Tube Laser Cutting Services

Round, square, rectangular, and structural tube and pipe cut on a Trumpf TruLaser Tube 7000, with copes, slots, tabs, and hole patterns finished in one cutting cycle. Send your tube files or CAD model and a stainless cutting estimator will quote the package.

CNC 5-axis laser cutting a cylindrical stainless steel section at Northern Manufacturing

3D Laser Cutting Services

A Prima Optimo 5-axis laser cuts bolt holes, ports, bevels, and trim lines into formed and welded parts up to 150 by 80 inches, at 0.005 inch accuracy, after weld shrinkage has already happened.

Operator forming a stainless steel bracket on a CNC press brake at Northern Manufacturing, with laser-cut blanks staged beside the dies

Precision Bending and Forming Services

Five CNC press brakes, two Trumpf TruBend 5320s among them, form stainless from sheet gauges through heavy plate, with springback compensation set per grade and formed dimensions verified against your CAD model before parts move to welding.

Northern Manufacturing welder running a manual GTAW pass on a stainless steel heat exchanger tubesheet

Stainless Steel Welding Services

60+ AWS-certified welders running ASME BPVC Section IX qualified procedures across nine processes (GTAW, GMAW, FCAW, SAW, robotic, K-TIG, and more) on stainless, duplex, and nickel alloys.

Fingertip beside a laser weld seam on a stainless steel sheet, with the weld bead narrower than the fingernail

Laser Welding Services

Laser welding puts a narrow, full-penetration seam on thin stainless with a fraction of the heat an arc process leaves behind. Less distortion, less straightening rework, and sheet assemblies that arrive at finishing flat.

Two FANUC robotic welding arms welding a curved stainless steel assembly on a fixture table at Northern Manufacturing

Robotic Welding Services

Robotic GMAW cells with laser vision seam tracking, multi-fixture setups, and family-of-parts programming: weld automation built for a job shop, where batches are small and parts change weekly.

Massive hexagonal honeycomb tube bundle standing inside the 55-foot spray pickling booth at Northern Manufacturing

Stainless Steel Pickling and Passivation

Welding leaves stainless with heat tint, free iron, and a chromium-depleted layer that fails service life if it ships out the door. We pickle and passivate to ASTM A380 and A967 in a 55 ft booth, and run copper-sulfate verification (ASTM A967 Practice D) when your specification or purchase order calls for it.

Large stainless steel assembly staged inside the bead blast room at Northern Manufacturing

Stainless Steel Bead Blasting Services

Bead blasting gives stainless a uniform, non-directional matte finish that hides handling marks and leaves the surface in compression, run on dedicated stainless equipment with ASTM A380 pickling available under the same roof.

Painted-steel WESP module with plenums on both ends, fully assembled for trial-fit in the Northern Manufacturing fabrication bay

Trial Fit and Functional Testing

Before your fabrication ships, we assemble it on our floor, verify it against your CAD model with a Leica AT960 laser tracker, and exercise the moving parts, so a fit problem costs hours in the shop instead of days in the field.

Assembled stainless steel rotary drum unit with drive motor staged under an overhead crane while Northern Manufacturing craftsmen look it over

Mechanical Assembly Services

Our craftsmen carry your fabrication past the weld floor: shafts, bearings, drives, pneumatics, and customer hardware installed in dedicated assembly bays and verified under the same ISO 9001:2015 system that built the parts.

Tanks, beams, and pipe

Custom tanks, built-up beams, and pipe spools. The cut, form, weld, and finish sequence above is how they get built.

Large stainless steel conical-bottom tank under an overhead crane in the Northern Manufacturing fabrication bay

Custom Stainless Steel Tanks

Tank shells rolled in one piece to remove longitudinal seams, welded by 60+ AWS-certified welders under ASME BPVC Section IX qualified procedures, then pickled and passivated to ASTM A380 and A967 in our 55-foot booth before shipment.

Two Northern Manufacturing craftsmen welding a long built-up stainless steel structural beam on fixture tables

Custom Stainless Steel Beam Fabrication

When no mill rolls the stainless section your design calls for, we build it: web and flanges laser cut from plate on a 12 kW fiber laser, then welded in robotic cells with laser vision seam tracking.

Low-angle view down a row of large-diameter flanged stainless steel pipe sections fabricated at Northern Manufacturing

Stainless Steel Pipe Fabrication

Pipe spools cut on a tube laser to 10 inches in diameter, welded root to cap under ASME BPVC Section IX qualified procedures, and verified by in-house NDE before they leave the shop.

From drawing to delivery

Five steps. One partner. One accountable name on the PO.

  1. 01

    Share your specs

    Upload drawings (STEP, DWG, DXF, IGES, PDF), tolerances, material, and quantity. We review under NDA on request.

  2. 02

    Engineering review

    We review your drawing for manufacturability, weld-map planning, and WPS selection, and bring cost-saving or weld-count ideas back to you for approval. You hold design responsibility; we build to your drawing. Questions surface during review, not after the quote returns.

  3. 03

    Fabrication

    Cut, form, weld, and finish, with stainless work run in our dedicated stainless-only production space. 60 welders across 78 stations. 5 laser cells, 5 press brakes, Roundo PS 310 roll.

  4. 04

    Inspection & certification

    PMI verification, weld NDE, Leica AT960 dimensional inspection, ASTM A380/A967 pickling verification, and MTRs pulled by heat number, available as your spec requires.

  5. 05

    Ship complete

    Weld maps, heat lists, continuity logs, and quality certificates provided as your specification and purchase order require. Flatbed through RGN / lowboy for oversized loads.

Have your drawings ready?

Share your specs

Audit trails, not anecdotes.

Surface-finish records, weld documentation, and MTRs by heat number are available as your specification and purchase order require. Welder continuity logs stay current. In-house NDE.

  • ISO 9001:2015

    AVU Registrations cert #00157-4. Continuous since 2015.

  • AWS D1.6, Stainless Steel

    Primary welding code. Continuous welder continuity logs.

  • ASME Section IX

    P8 (304/316), P10H (2205), P43 and P45 qualified, including dissimilar welds.

  • ASME U Stamp · #63199

    Pressure-vessel manufacture authorization, Oak Harbor shop. Shop location only.

  • ASME PP Stamp · #63198

    Pressure-piping fabrication authorization, Oak Harbor shop. Shop location only.

  • ASME B31.3

    Process piping built to the code when your spec invokes it.

  • API 650

    Welded storage tanks built to the standard when your spec invokes it.

  • CAGE 137T8 · SAM UEI

    Federal / defense contract eligible.

Industries we serve

Specified and held to the tolerance your drawing requires

Stainless cylinder for food-grade processing

Food & Beverage

Fabrication built to 3-A sanitary and ASME BPE requirements when your spec invokes them. Mixer housings, sanitary tanks, skid-mounted CIP systems, 316L weld finishes that pass crevice inspection.

wastewater digester cover trial-fit in the yard at Northern.

Water & Wastewater

Municipal and industrial treatment systems. Troughs, weirs, chemical dosing skids, duplex 2205 storage tanks for chloride service, fabricated to your seismic and corrosion drawing requirements.

Stainless components for power generation infrastructure

Power, Energy & Chemical

Exhaust ductwork, process and tower internals, process piping, and structural components welded to code-quality procedures. 304, 316, and high-nickel alloys for high-heat and aggressive chemical service.

Completed stainless steel scrubber vessel staged outdoors at Northern Manufacturing

Pollution Control

Wet scrubbers, quench vessels, stack liners, demister housings. Corrosion-resistant fabrication built for sustained acid dew-point exposure.

Sunset Spectacular: architectural stainless steel structure fabricated by Northern Manufacturing on Sunset Blvd

Architectural

Mirror-polished facade panels, sculptural features, outdoor installations. Surface-quality and weld finish specified and held to the architect's drawings.

Stainless fabrication for pulp and paper mills

Pulp & Paper

Process tanks, chutes, vacuum box frames, heavy-gauge stainless equipment built to survive abrasive, corrosive mill conditions without line-stop repairs.

Projects other shops passed on

Two stainless builds other shops passed on or could not hold to print.

Yours isn't the first tough one.

Share your specs

Frequently asked

Ten answers with evidence: the ones a procurement engineer usually asks first.

Do you fabricate stainless only, or also carbon steel?

Both, but in physically separate facilities. Our 40,000 sq ft dedicated stainless-only room has its own tooling, consumables, grinders, clamps, and welders. There is no cross-contamination risk from carbon steel grind dust, weld spatter, or tooling transfer. Free iron verification per ASTM A380 is available on critical-service assemblies.

What stainless grades do you fabricate?

Austenitic (304/304L, 316/316L, 309, 321, 347), P8, stocked in standard sizes. Duplex (2205, 2507, LDX 2101), P10H, K-TIG capable with ER2209 filler. Specialty alloys (Hastelloy C-22, Hastelloy C-276, AL-6XN, Inconel 625), P43 and P45 qualified with dissimilar-weld combinations to P8 (304/316).

What is the largest piece you can fabricate?

Maximum single-piece envelope is 12 × 12 × 12 ft, up to 80,000 lb. We have shipped 45 to 80 ft assemblies using stretch flatbeds. Larger or oversized loads coordinate through our shipping team ahead of design, flag it at RFQ.

What is the thickest stainless you can process?

Fiber laser cuts stainless up to 1.25 in (Trumpf TruLaser 5040 Fiber). Plate rolling (Roundo PS 310) handles stainless up to 9/16 in. Press brake forming is thickness-dependent by machine, typically up to 1/2 in stainless on our Trumpf TruBend brakes; heavier sections are reviewed by engineering. For heavier plate we weld-prep with bevel cuts and K-TIG in a single pass.

Do you handle pickling and passivation in-house?

Yes. Our 55-foot pickling and passivation booth handles entire assemblies in one pass per ASTM A380. No sectioning, no re-welding after finish. We are one of the few U.S. shops this size with true in-house spray pickling.

Are your welders certified to AWS D1.6?

Yes. All 60 of our welders maintain active AWS D1.6 (Stainless Steel) qualifications, along with D1.1 (Structural Steel), D1.2 (Aluminum), and ASME Section IX P-number qualifications. Continuity logs are current and provided with the assembly when your purchase order calls for them, not reconstructed at final inspection.

What industries do you serve?

Food & beverage (3-A sanitary, ASME BPE), water & wastewater (municipal, industrial), power / energy / chemical (exhaust ductwork, reactor internals, process piping), pollution control (scrubbers, stack liners, demister housings), pulp & paper (process tanks, chutes), and architectural stainless (mirror-polished facade panels, sculptural features).

What quality documentation is included?

We provide the records your specification and purchase order require: Material Test Reports (MTRs) traced by heat, weld maps with WPS references, welder continuity logs, dimensional inspection records, and pickling/passivation certification. PMI, radiographic testing, hydrostatic test reports, and Leica AT960 laser-tracker inspection are available when your spec calls for them.

How do you handle NDA projects, and do you run a second shift?

We run a 15-person second shift (7 second-shift welders), so capacity extends beyond a single shift. NDA work is routine. We fabricate under NDA for power, energy, defense, and aerospace programs. CAGE Code 137T8, SAM UEI registered for federal eligibility.

Where are you located and how do I ship to you?

Ship inbound to our Oak Harbor, Ohio plant by direct truck: flatbed, double-drop, lowboy / RGN, or dry van dock. Stretch flatbed capable 45 to 80 ft. We coordinate inbound freight on request. Plant visits welcome, schedule through the RFQ form.

Request a quote

Engineering reviews every drawing and flags ways to cut cost or weld count. Share drawings, tolerances, material, and quantity. We'll review under NDA on request.

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Drawings (STEP / DWG / DXF / PDF)? Paste a file-share link below, or we'll request them after we review the description.

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