Hi Dariusz,
I'm not an expert on the subject but am somewhat in the know because
of my desire to have a large window in a price range that I can afford
and still be able to get 1000 foot depth.
Sheet acrylic as far as I know is not available in widths of greater
than 48 inches. In a dome shape this limits you to about 39 inch
diameter.
I had Greg make up a dome 39 inches diameter and 2.5 inches thick. I
then had two rings formed to make the seat area and have welded them
together. This seat has now been tacked to the transition cone which
is 11 inches tall and transitions from the sub 48 inch OD to the 42
inch OD of the window seat.
When this is finish welded I will take the assembly to a machine shop
that is capable of handling this piece and machine the seat area. In
my case the cone is 3/4 inches thick and the rings of the seat are 1.5
inches thick the forming was quite expensive.
The steel work to accomodate the window is more expensive than the
window itself. I will have a very nice window when complete, but the
entire window and seat/cone will be close to $9,500.00.
While this is a lot of money, it gives me most of what I want. I
originally wanted a 48 inch dome, but the cost would have put a stop
to my project.
If I am correct in saying 48 inch diameter sheet is the maximum you do
not the option of making a 59 inch diameter flat window, as I would
never do this by overlaping and bonding sheets.
I no this is not what you want to hear, but I think my experience is
accurate.
Best Regards,
Jim K
----- Original Message ----- From: "Dariusz Hoffmann"
<darekhoffmann@gmail.com>
To: <personal_submersibles@psubs.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 09, 2008 6:04 AM
Subject: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Dome alternative - flat acrylic endcap
Hello.
Apart from acrylic dome endcap I am considering an alternative - flat
acrylic endcap. This would be a flat window about 59" (150cm) in
diameter, 10" (25cm) thick. That kind of front side would be very
inefective hydrodynamically. So there should be another acrylic
layer, a thin dome with holes in it to allow flooding it while
submerging. This would increase the hydrodynamic effectivness and
would also help protecting the main window. I think this could be
cheaper than purchasing 59" od, 3" thick dome for the main window.
What are disadvantages of that solution?
Thanks
d.
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