Stuff that I've worked on lately

Date 01-11-2013 23:11

Well... the captions didnt work the way I wanted....
Descriptions of the pics going left to right;
1, part of a mold which I had to repair showing the effects of weld shrinkage. I think whats showing was .0015 under the rest of the finish cut (dont hold me to that number...). A former co worker welded it but didnt get enough penetration... like barely any. When they were cutting it an 1/8" square groove opened up and that was the end result of me filling it in...
2, Big arsed frame for lifting something heavy.... some kind of coil of wire.
3, Tiny Thin 304 SS "sample hanger" for a local lab. I had to tack the 2 baskets together... the arc would blow it apart just for stepping on the foot pedal with the machine turned all the way down...
4 and 5, 304 SS carts for a fiber optic camera used to inspect sewers (so happy I was building new instead of repairing....)
6, Curvey complex part for covering an even stranger looking part during some sort of brutal coating process... the 2 parts bolt together with the bolt going through the tube sticking out of the middle of it...
7, Shiny Titanium!!! :D done without the aid of legitimate purge blocks... the bit of color is where my aluminum foil purge dam melted.... :P
8, previous co workers attempts at welding a similar part... and why I wasnt too concerned about the little bit of color I had... This thing was in successful service for a while anyways...
And the last 3, A scale model of the U.S.S Albany done for the ballston spa submarine veterans memorial. I only got to work on the prop and the long tube on the side which I cant remember what it was called.... something about the sonar array?
Whew.... if only the captions worked the way I wanted...

By Chris2626 (***)

Date 01-12-2013 02:41

That sub is freaking AWSOME

By PlasmaHead2 (***)

Date 01-14-2013 21:39

It was quite a sight to see it flying around on the overhead crane. :grin:

By Northweldor (***)

Date 01-12-2013 18:27

When I grow up, I want to work in a shop like yours!

By PlasmaHead2 (***)

Date 01-14-2013 21:49

It's not all fun and games, but it is the kind of shop I like to be in. Sometimes I get bogged down with orders for a few hundred to a thousand of these little stainless parts that I have to spot weld.... Then it can get kinda tedious. I like seeing the arc melt the metal, not getting blasted in the face by the sparks the spot welder kicks out, and the whole burning the fingers thing gets old real quick....
Still can't complain too much. :wink:

By Tyrone

Date 01-16-2013 11:48

Yep,
Love that sub model.
Way too cool!
Tyrone

By MMyers

Date 01-14-2013 14:44

That sub looks strangely familiar. You up near Schenectady NY? I think I walked through your shop a few months ago.

By ssbn727 (*****)

Date 01-14-2013 23:25

That is a 688 - Los Angeles Class Attack Submarine - SSN 753-USS Albany - Advanced/Enhanced Vertical Launch Tubes with hull mounted bow planes instead of the original fairwater/conning tower planes found in the earlier versions of Los Angeles Class Submarines... Notice how the Fairwater/Conning Tower is located further back from the nose in order to accommodate for the VLS (Vertical Launch Tubes) system just behind the Sonar array in the nose of the boat. :lol:

Also, notice how the propeller is exposed? That is not the case with both the Sea Wolf or Virginia Class Submarines and I'll leave it at that. :eek:

Nice model! :eek:

Respectfully,
Henry

By Smooth Operator (***)

Date 01-14-2013 23:43

Thought that was a sub.... not an expert like you though Mr. Henry :eek:

!!!!! Glad to see you postin' :grin:

By Chris2626 (***)

Date 01-15-2013 00:49

Henry How thick is the Hull of the subs?

By ssbn727 (*****)

Date 01-17-2013 17:38 Edited 01-17-2013 17:42

Thick enough! :yell:

Seriously, it depends on what part of the boat one is referring to... :roll:

So, it could vary where some sections are 2 inches thick, and some being up to 4 inches thick of HY-80, HY-100, after refits - HY-140 and HTS.
Inside, there is a wide variety of different metals in a wide variety of shapes & thickness used for the multitude of components that make up the operating machinery and other crucial equipment.

BTW, that boat, USS Albany was built in Virginia by General Dynamics Newport News Division back in the day and has since gone through multiple refits & upgrades. :lol:

Respectfully,
Henry

By Chris2626 (***)

Date 01-17-2013 23:28

Still thought it would have been thicker, what is the process that the use Tig?

By ssbn727 (*****)

Date 01-18-2013 00:43

Hi Chris,

If you ever get a chance to get inside one of these in the not to distant future, you'll understand why...

SMAW, GMAW, and SAW... Some of the hull openings that didn't pass initial NDE were repaired with GTAW... Most of the welding inside was SMAW, GMAW, GTAW.

FCAW was used on some components in the Huge Fabrication yard shops away from the boats...
There were other processes used but, I'm not at liberty to them in a public format.

Respectfully,
Henry

By Chris2626 (***)

Date 01-18-2013 01:20

Thanks guess you gotta be dam good welder to weld on these things.

By PlasmaHead2 (***)

Date 01-17-2013 22:12

Thank you for the kind words and the sweet pictures of the real thing :) I still have one question though, what does the tube on the side of the hull do? Or is that totally classified?
I must add that the gentlemen who brought us this project were the ones who made the nose cone for the sub, all we did at the shop was the steel work and the paint.
Fun part to the propeller, they had to ask the Navy if we were allowed to make it look like that, I guess some part of it is classified but we got the OK to make it as is. They were going to use a small motor boat prop and it would have looked silly...
I'll get my hands on a good camera and go get a few pictures of the sub in its home, the cell phone would not do it justice.
Good to see your still around and kicking Henry!

By RonG

Date 01-18-2013 13:43

I can add some insight about the propeller. We have OSB (Operating Speed Balanced) some in the past for the Navy and thay always arrived wiith guards that stayed with them at all times (except when we pulled a vaccum). The even brought people to over see the set up. Needless to say no pictures were taken.

By 99205

Date 01-19-2013 02:41

Don't mess with Navy Sub Props, sensitive info there.

By PlasmaHead2 (***)

Date 01-19-2013 17:24

Should I be worried about a visit from the NSA, FBI, CIA or some other 3 to 4 letter agency? The sub is on public display, and when we made it we winged it... We had a rough sketch from one of the guys we were working for...
:eek:

By RonG

Date 01-19-2013 18:21

I doubt it LOL. What they told us was they were designed for silent operation (the props). This was back in the 80's.

By ssbn727 (*****)

Date 01-17-2013 17:48

Thanks Al!

It's good to be back home after 2 months in the Hospital and physical rehab center. No more flashlights in the face while I try to sleep!!!

Good to read from you and Brent & the rest of the folks in here! :lol:

I almost forgot to say "HEY" to
Smooth Operator who I can have healthy disagreements with and yet still remain respectful of each other also! :wink:

I hope business is good for you these days too.

Respectfully,
Henry

By 803056

Date 01-17-2013 18:57

Hello Henry;

It is good to hear you are doing better these days.

Business is good. I have no complaints other than the days and weeks are too short. An extra couple of hours per day and an extra day or two per month wouldn't hurt a thing. I've got several home projects that need attending to and no time to get at them. It is a nice problem to have.

It appears Brent is doing his best to stir up the mud. We're going to have to post a few questions to keep him on his game. He gets lazy if no one fires a couple of questions at him everyday. He's a walking encyclopedia!

I hope your health continues to improve. We can use your opinion and thoughtfull responses.

Get over to Gaston's post. He's needs some help or at least an opinion that agrees with him.

Best regards - Al

By Smooth Operator (***)

Date 01-18-2013 01:49

It's all good Henry!!!! I can disagree w/ somebody and not hold a grudge :razz:

Just glad your gettin' better, because MOST of your posts are a wealth of info.....also very interesting!!!!!! :lol: