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Hi Jon. I live near Santa Cruz in northern Calif.
It's a beach town about 50 miles south of San Francisco.
I have chosen a supplier in Los Angeles called Hansen Tank as they have the
parts in stock and can arrange for shipping.
The parts I want are pressure tank end caps, semi-elliptical. They are
referred to as "tank heads".
The diameter is 96 inch and thickness is 3/8 inch.
I also need a 96 inch round sleeve that's 10 inches long and again. 3/8
thick.
I may do the welding myself but would rather have the welds done by
machine. The consistency of the welds would be better and I don't have a mig
welder large enough.
The remaining welds needed can be done by me with a tig set-up.
My son-in-law is a master machinist and will do any machining work I need.
Most of the other weldments and fittings should be available locally.
I'm always looking for advice, and would appreciate any that is
offered.
I was wondering if the pressure hull needed to be heated for stress relief
after hull completion.
Has anyone you know taken this step?
It would take an awfully large oven to put this thing in!
I don't plan on going very deep with my sub. I think 150 feet is the
minimum depth for a good look but may go deeper as the craft proves
it's capability.
I am a certified diver and my maximum depth with tanks was a short dive to
120 feet.
It starts getting dark at that depth and my bottom time was very
short.
Although the sub will be autonomous, I plan on keeping it tethered to the
surface down to the 150 foot depth, with electrical and air supply as redundant
backup from the surface.
I'm hoping this will allow greater flexibility in power and lighting
choices plus add a measure of safety.
One concern I've had is the slow speed of most subs on the surface,
and I'm working on an idea to attach the sub to it's own tender craft with air
and power on-board plus an engine to drive both to the dive site at a reasonable
speed.
Once on-site, the two will separate but stay tethered together while the
submersible section dives.
Wish me luck! Thanks......Frank
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