It is essential when welding critical metallic joints in titanium and zirconium that the welding zone is purged of oxygen to a level as low as 10 parts per million (ppm).

A purging environment for a fraction of the cost of a rigid welding chamber is available for this type of work from Huntingdon Fusion Techniques HFT®.

HFT®'s Flexible Welding Enclosures® provide a solution where a rigid chamber may not be economically viable or where space may be at a premium.

Luke Keane, Technical Support at HFT® said: “For many years the enormous cost of a metal enclosure prevented all but the major companies taking on work involving the fabrication of zirconium and titanium alloys. To the rescue came HFT® a decade or so ago with the introduction of Flexible Welding Enclosures®.”

Size for size, HFT®'s range of Flexible Welding Enclosures® cost considerably less than a metal glove box or vacuum system.

During the last decade aerospace, automotive, biochemical, medical, food, beverage, semiconductor and nuclear sectors have all taken advantage of the low cost and easy to use Flexible Welding Enclosures®.

The enclosures are manufactured with two sets of glove ports as standard and the upper half of the enclosure is optically clear, providing excellent welding vision. A transfer sleeve makes it possible to pass small parts in or out of the enclosure without affecting the purge quality.


Special Flexible Welding Enclosures® can be designed and manufactured to suit any purpose. HFT® has recently manufactured systems for complete robot manufacturing cells and for laser additive manufacturing applications.

Operator comfort and ease of use with Argweld® Flexible Welding Enclosures® versus the disagreeable conditions with a rigid plastic or metal chambers make the HFT® versions a big hit with welding personnel.