tooter's manifold adventure...

[CrankyOldMan]

So many Freudian themes in this project! I was wondering where the actual seam would be on the bellmouth--for some reason I was thinking you would put it all the way up to the squared shoulders.

[tooter]

Originally Posted by CrankyOldMan

So many Freudian themes in this project! I was wondering where the actual seam would be on the bellmouth--for some reason I was thinking you would put it all the way up to the squared shoulders.

That's right, Cranky. I had originally planned for it to drop all the way down to the square corners, but that makes the round part of the bellmouth drop below the contact surface of the hemisphere creating a gap. While the welder could easily fill that gap, I want to try to keep burn through to a minimum by retaining complete contact between the two surfaces so that the inside surface is not compromised.

It took a couple of hours of handwork to get the fit as precise as possible, and I'm totally satisfied with the results.





When I bead blast the whole assembly to normalize all of the surfaces, you'll hardly be able to see the seam even with no welding.

The raised square corners will end up working out nicely as the whole circle of the contact seam is easily accessible to be welded from the outside of the hemisphere. Exploring how to make the best of each detail in the design process is what makes this project no end of fun.