Why you should always use a good vacuum chamber...

[Waterpumpee]

Here is a picture of a dual vacuum interlocked inert atmosphere welding chambers that I designed for welding titanium aircraft parts in an argon atmosphere, after entering the inert atmosphere chamber through a vacuum interlock to exclude atmosphere and remove residual moisture.

Holy wowzers!

 

[Gray Wolf]

Nice craftsmanship, GW. Did the workers wear pressurized suits, or did they wait for the argon to fill the chamber before entering?

Thanks, they were built for me by Instafab in Vancouver, WA, which does superb work.

Only the parts go in the chamber, and the welding is done from the outside using glove ports.

 

[gunnaknow]

Ofcourse, why didn't I think of that? I've seen a similar method used when hazardous materials like plutonium or deadly viruses are being handled.

 

[Gray Wolf]

Ofcourse, why didn't I think of that? I've seen a similar method used when hazardous materials like plutonium or deadly viruses are being handled.

Reaching some welds without getting close and intimate can be tricky, and lawrd knows we talked about space suits, but we never actually tried it, because of all the safety and enclosed space issues.

It is downright amazing how far the craftsmen that we used, could extend the tungsten and even bend the end to more precisely aim the arc, so as to put in pristine x-ray quality welds at arms length on jet and rocket engine parts as large as 72" in diameter.

Especially to me, who would be hard pressed to put in six feet of tig weld up close and personal down hand, without dipping the tungsten at least once.