Home About USS Squalus About the diving operations Manufacturing the helmets Part machining & finishing Sub-assembly fabrication Final Assembly Progress Updates
The 26 USS Squalus HEO2 helmets will be constructed to a point where with a little additional work (clean up & media blasting) they will be ready for plating. This will be the "stop point". In the late fall or early winter 2008 the helmets will be sent two or three at a time to the platers every week or so. This spacing will allow us to control the pace of final assembly so we can have them ready for delivery on the Anniversary date.
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09/03/08 Today we finished machining the front window retaining rings for 21 front doors.
Last week we had to return a half dozen canisters to the foundry to be remade. They had significant flaws which did not appear until the canisters were sanded and polished. The sanding and polishing is subcontracted due to the amount of labor involved. The subcontractor did not know what to look for in the way of defects, but that has now been addressed. Most times porosity or other flaws are not visible until the casting is sanded, and sometimes not until buffing is done. The subcontractor has been instructed to stop work immediately on questionable castings so we can inspect them.
Porosity is the main problem with castings like these. Very small holes can form in the casting. Another problem is when the core shifts in the mold and the wall thickness is reduced in one area. These are things we look for when receive a raw canister casting here. Using a subcontractor for finishing the canister castings is a double edged sword. The labor involved does not interfere with our ability to serve all of our customers, but we do not see the finished parts until they are done. The other downside to subcontracting then having to remake the canisters is DESCO has to absorb the cost of sanding and polishing done by the subcontractor. The foundry replaces the bad castings but does not reimburse for the additional labor. The price of the helmet is based on time and material put into the helmet so there is no allocation for recouping the wasted labor. The bad canisters are melted down and recast. With the demand for raw materials drive up metal costs we have been seeing large surcharges on brass from the foundry. Reusing the bad castings eliminates the surcharge as the Brass is already paid for. The surcharges are a serious problem as the foundry has maintained the original price for the parts but the metal surcharge can sometimes be greater than the part price. We believe the quality control problems with the canisters is a result of the number of pieces being made. The last time canisters were produced in numbers was in late 1970 - early 1971 with about 20 Helium Helmets produced in a row. From old helium helmets we have seen porosity problems are not new. When the problem is just a few small holes or one or two larger hole they are drilled out and Silver soldered. We have seen old canister with significant patch work done on them. Even a canister that looks perfect can leak when under pressure. Each canister is pressure tested to locate flaws and then appropriate repairs are made.
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8/27/08 The breastplate tags have arrived from Torgny & Co.. We installed the tag on helmet 01/26 which has been on display in our offices. It took some Brasso and elbow grease to get the helmet ready for pictures which will appear in the HDS magazine.
The manufacturer's tag in the photos is not permanently mounted yet as these helmets have not received serial numbers. The serial numbers will be assigned and stamped in as we get near the completion date, so as to keep them in the proper order with our Mark V helmet production. All helmets will bear the manufacturing date of 09/13/09 which is the 70th anniversary of the successful recovery. The date of manufacture is also stamped on the welding lens bracket. Each brail will be stamped with the sequence number of the helmet (01 - 26).
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8/7/08 We have been making slow but steady progress on the Squalus helmets. Helmets 14 through 20 are in various stages of construction. Other projects have been drawing our attention away. The arcing issue with the switch on the lathe returned and the electrician replaced the switch with a better (read more expensive) one. Sales of other helmets take time and parts from this project.
Helium helmets 14 -20 on shelves Mark Vs 411 & Breastplates for Mark Vs 411 & 412 Finished orders waiting for shipping
412 on the top left.
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6/11/08 Progress has slowed somewhat on building the helmets. Other projects are drawing our attention. Several helmets are waiting in the soldering area for their turn in front of the torch. Sales of other products have been steady and so draw manpower and material away from this project.
The storage racks are set up and we are putting the completed sub-assemblies on them. We have received the first batch of shells from our new supplier. They are using hydro forming to shape the top of the shell, then shaping the taper on our old wood mandrel. The finish we are seeing is superior to that which we were getting from our previous supplier. This means we have to do less in house finishing of the shell.
Last week we also received more door and door base castings from the foundry. We placed a large order for Brass stock and 32 blanks of Copper for breastplates with our metal supplier. The 3 foot bar of 3" Hex we use for the canister nuts, and the 2 1/2" round for the canister sleeves has arrived. The Copper blanks are on the way. The supplier shears full sheets of Copper into a standard sized blanks we can use for Mark V, Commercial, or Lightweight breastplates.
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05/14/08: The lathe was repaired the day after the switch melted down. Other jobs conspired to delay the start of the discharge nozzles. Christian & Jim ran out of Communication elbows so those were bumped to the head of the line. Meanwhile we received a couple of helmets for repair, and some equipment & parts orders. Servicing customers take priority so other part machining for the Helium helmets got back burnered. The revised Silver tag proof has come in from Torgny & Co.
As of today we have 8 Helium helmets at the stop point, and 5 under construction. Additional parts are on order and should arrive within a week. Having 8 helmets to the stop point with more to be done in short order has raised the issue of safe storage. We have reconfigured our finish storage area and purchased a additional large rack. A stand has been designed to hold 3 helmets a piece per shelf. We are waiting on reinforcing brackets for the new rack unit then we can consolidate the helmets in the new storage space. Pictures 1 & 2 below show the current state of storage, and picture 3 shows the new racks. The new storage system will also allow is to take a "group picture" when the helmets are done.
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4/17/08: This page created to post updates on the progress of the project.
Recap; At this time we have one helmet plated and on display in our office (01/26). Seven helmets are completed to the stage where they would go to plating. The foundry delivered 200 lbs of castings today. Our subcontractor for the machining of neck ring castings is working on castings they received. The canister nut machining is complete (52 pieces). It took three weeks on and off to complete. The discharge nozzles were started yesterday with cutting billets. Unfortunately on the first piece to be machined the on/off switch for the lathe went up in smoke so we are waiting on the electrician.
