VB Steel is a family-owned steel fabrication and welding shop in Chisholm, Ontario, twenty minutes outside North Bay. Ian and Lisa Van Blyderveen own and run it. Ian has worked metal for 26 years. He holds a Red Seal as a Structural Plate Fitter/Welder and works as a CWB Certified Welding Supervisor. The company itself is CWB Division 2 certified.Every winter, homeowners around Nipissing watch gates sag, railings rust through at the welds, and cheap imported brackets give up somewhere around the third freeze-thaw cycle. Road salt finishes off whatever the cold started. VB Steel handles custom metal fabrication for those who would rather not go through it twice. Structural components. Small structural steel like brackets, frames and reinforcements. Fencing and gates. Fire pits and outdoor features. Stairs, railings, beams and columns. Everything is cut, fitted and welded in the shop on Pioneer Road. Nothing is imported and resold.
"People ask us why a sign costs what it costs," a company spokesperson said. "It costs that because it comes off the same table that cuts brackets for a structure that has to pass inspection. Same steel, same welder, same standards. We do not have a cheap line and a good line. If we would not bolt it to our own property, it does not go out the door. That is the whole thing, really."
The shop runs a CNC plasma cutter that goes through material up to one inch thick on a five-by-ten-foot table. It cuts anything conductive, and has handled copper, brass, aluminum and steel. Signs are cut from 16-gauge stock, with 14-gauge and 11-gauge used on larger pieces. Most finished work is powder-coated and cured in an oven at roughly 350 to 420 degrees, baked on rather than sprayed on top. Raw stock is sold as well: square tubing, angle, flat bar and plate, with anything else available to order. Custom work starts with a sketch or a photo, and a design screenshot goes back for approval before a single cut is made.
About VB Steel
VB Steel is a CWB Division 2 certified fabrication shop serving North Bay and the surrounding area from Chisholm, Ontario. The company produces structural steel components for residential, commercial, and industrial work, as well as gates, fencing, fire pits, and custom steel decor sold across Canada. Shop hours are Monday to Thursday, 8 am to 4 pm, and Friday, 8 am to 12pm. Call 705-303-5680 or send a sketch through the contact form for a quote. For more information, visit https://vbsteel.ca/.