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Thanks Jim. I'll give them a call. I am leaning toward using 72 inch
diameter 2:1 semi elliptical tank heads and a 10 inch sleeve between the two as
my pressure hull. ( one for the top and one for the bottom. ) I think I can
get those from " Fort Worth F&D Tank Dead Co. " in Texas for about $1000
each plus shipping. That gives me a hull 72 inch in diameter and about 52 inches
high. Round and almost a sphere.
I was quoted $1420 each for 96 inch diameter heads at 3/8 inch thick by
them last week.
That should put my basic hull cost at about $3000 or so and reduce the
number of welds considerably.
I received the hull calculator formula today and am still trying to figure
out what it means.
I really want to get a maximum depth of about 600 feet out of my hull so
I'm assuming I will need a crush depth of about 2000 feet, allowing for
unforeseen flaws in the metal and of course the windows are always the weakest
part. I probably won't go deeper than 150 feet but if it sinks and won't come
back up ( oops! ) I want a chance at waiting for a rescue.
I keep waffling on the two designs I came up with, and summer is almost
over. I promised myself I'd get started on this thing this summer. So....Come
Tuesday, I'm going to order the two heads and work out it's crush depth as I go
along. I saw a Chinese sub made with two tank heads like that ( by Tarwa ? ) and
they make them for sale. Don't know how thick theirs is but the buoyancy of
something that size is about 10,000 lbs displacement which means this thing will
have to weigh that much to get down!
( Guess I better buy a bigger truck! )
Thanks for your help, and good luck on your project.
Frank Dalgleish. (408)353-6645 shellydalg@aol.com
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