This was a job for our micro-electronics manufacturing clean room on campus from about two years ago. The previous tank was made of 1.5mm 304 stainless and would balloon out with applied pressure. The clean room tech designed a new tank made with 6mm walls and asked us to build it. All the parts were cut on a water jet with a few machined fittings. The main labor in the project was all the welding.
Every seam was TIG welded inside and out. I first welded the bulkhead rim on to the front panel inside and out. This significantly bowed the plate, so I had to flatten in on a hydraulic press. From there it was standard fillet and butt welds, with many in the confines of the tank. The only seams not welded inside and out were the ones joining the final back plate to the main body of the tank. The bulkhead opening in the front was just too small to reach in and weld. The designer had thought of this and had made the back plate slightly larger to allow for a double pass of weld to attach it. After all the parts and ports were welded, the sealing surface of the bulkhead was milled to ensure flatness.
This was a really fun project because it challenged me to do more non-dominant hand welding. I was reasonably proficient using my non-dominant foot to control my pedal, but only had limited experience with welding left handed. In total I laid over 7m of weld, at least 2 of which was left handed.
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