Metal fabrication, CNC machining & marine repair
Send a drawing, a sketch or the broken part. Price and lead time in 48 hours, from a shop in Anacortes since 2004.
316 stainless bow rail for a 32-ft landing craft
About the shop
21 yrs
building and fixing metal in Anacortes
What we do
3- and 5-axis milling and CNC turning for one-off prototypes, replacement parts and production runs, held to your print and checked on our CMM.
TIG, MIG and stick welding in steel, stainless and aluminum: brackets, frames, skids, tanks, railings and structural steel, built on our tables or welded on site.
Fiber laser and plasma cutting from your DXF, then press-brake bending and plate rolling, so flat parts arrive formed, deburred and ready to weld.
Aluminum hull and deck repairs, T-tops, rails, davits and fuel tanks, plus shaft, rudder and propeller work. We come to the dock, the yard or the haul-out.
Equipment & specs
Everything below is under one roof, so your part never waits on an outside shop.
| Machine | Capacity |
|---|---|
| 5-axis CNC mill | 30 × 16 × 20 in |
| CNC vertical mills (2) | 40 × 20 × 25 in |
| CNC lathe, live tooling | Ø12 in × 24 in |
| Fiber laser, 6 kW | 5 × 10 ft · 1 in steel |
| CNC plasma table | 6 × 12 ft · 1¼ in |
| Press brake | 175 ton × 12 ft |
| Plate roll | ⅜ in × 8 ft |
| Welding bays (6) | TIG · MIG · stick |
| CMM inspection | 48 × 28 × 24 in |
What we do every day
For boats, processing plants and job sites from Bellingham to Everett. One crew, one quote, one number to call.
Request a quote
Why crews call us back
“They machined a new rudder bushing overnight from a worn sample and had our boat back fishing by Friday.”
Industries served
From seafood plants to ferry yards, we know the inspections, the materials and the downtime you can't afford.
Recent work
Marine fabrication
CNC machining
Reverse engineering
Sample projects with rendered parts. Your own job photos go here.
5 out of 5 stars
“Sent a STEP file Monday, had a quote Tuesday and 40 brackets on the truck the next week. Every one fit.”
Marco T.Plant engineer, food processing
Sample review
5 out of 5 stars
“They welded a cracked davit mount at the dock on a Sunday. Clean work, fair bill, no drama.”
Lauren B.Yacht owner, Cap Sante Marina
Sample review
5 out of 5 stars
“First articles came with a CMM report and mill certs. That's why we keep sending them our runs.”
Priya N.Buyer, aerospace tooling
Sample review
How we work
PDF, STEP, DXF or a photo with measurements. No drawing? Bring the part.
Price, lead time and material, in writing, from the person who'll build it.
First article checked on the CMM before the run, with mill certs on file.
Pickup, our truck to your dock, or installed on site by the crew that built it.
Our story
Ruth and Sam Okafor opened Ballast in a rented waterfront bay in 2004, fixing fishing boats between machining jobs. Today we're 26 people, and the owners still quote the hard jobs.
“If it leaves our shop, it fits. If it doesn't, we fix it on our dime.”
Co-owner · quoting & machining
Co-owner · marine & welding
Quality lead · CMM & certs
Shop foreman · laser & forming
Request a quote
Quotes within 48 hours, from the people who'll make the part. Rush or broken down? Call the shop.
Answers
Anything not covered here? Call the shop and you'll get someone who runs the machines.
No. A sketch with measurements, a photo or the worn part is enough. We can draw it in CAD and send it to you to approve before we cut metal.
No minimum. One-off repairs are half our work. For runs over 100 pieces we quote price breaks at 25, 100 and 500.
STEP and IGES for 3D, DXF and DWG for flat parts, and PDF prints with tolerances. SolidWorks files are fine too.
Yes. Our marine van covers Skagit, Island and San Juan counties, 24/7 for breakdowns. Callouts start at a flat $185.
Mill certs come with every order on request. CMM first-article reports and weld procedure records are available for production work.