Marine metalwork in Port Stephens

We’re a machine shop on George Road at Salamander Bay, five minutes from the boat ramps. We machine, fabricate and repair metal for boats — aluminium, stainless and steel — and we deliver the welding and fabrication side through the welders we work with regularly.

What we take on

• Aluminium hull repairs — cracked plate, transom work, splits, dents and corroded sections
• Stainless rails and fittings — bow rails, grab rails, rocket launchers, bait boards, T-top frames, ladders, brackets
• Boat trailer repairs and modifications — rusted members, winch posts, rollers and skids, drawbar extensions, hubs
• Propeller shafts and marine machining — straightening, re-sleeving, cutlass bearing housings, keyways, tapers, custom bushes
• Pontoon, jetty and marina parts — brackets, ladders, cleats, hand rails, gangway components
• One-off parts copied from a sample when the original is obsolete and there are no drawings

What we don’t do

We don’t do fibreglass, gelcoat, paint, upholstery, motors or electrics. We don’t do antifoul. We’re metal — machining and fabrication, and that’s it. If your job needs a mechanic or a shipwright as well, say so early and we’ll work in alongside them.

We’re not a slipway either. Small boats and trailer boats come to us on the trailer. For anything bigger, the part comes off the boat and comes to us, or we come and measure it up. Measure-ups are no charge anywhere around Port Stephens, and we travel out as far as Newcastle, Beresfield and Thornton. Further than that, ask — it depends on the job.

Materials

We work in 316 marine-grade stainless for anything living in salt air or salt water, and 5083 and 5052 marine aluminium for hull and structural work. On the machining side we run 4140 heat-treated and tool steels for shafts, pins and anything that has to take a load.

Grade matters here more than most places. Port Stephens is salt water with a lot of sun on it. General-purpose 304 stainless and general-purpose aluminium will look fine for a season and then let you down. We use marine grades because that’s what lasts.

Why local matters

Right now, if you want proper marine metal fabrication done, most people on the peninsula are told to head for Gosford or Warners Bay. That’s an hour and a half each way with a boat on the back, twice, plus the time the job actually takes.

We’re on George Road at Salamander Bay. You can drop a rail in on the way past.

Our machines run overnight, unattended, which means the machining work gets done while the shop’s shut. That’s why our lead times are usually shorter than people expect for a small shop.

Small shop — what that means for you

There’s Todd and one machinist. You talk to the bloke doing the work, not a service adviser. It also means we’re honest when we’re booked out — if we can’t get to it, we’ll tell you straight rather than sit on it.

How to start

Take a photo. Then another one, further back, so we can see how the damaged bit joins to the rest of the boat. Send them through and tell us the make and model if you know it. That’s usually enough for us to say yes or no and give you a rough number.