Last week, the Navis Pack & Ship in the Philadelphia area packed some most unusual objects. The items were a "diving bell,” a shallow dish with fused silica appendages extending above, below, and outside the dish, and a cathode (see accompanying photo). The items had a commercial value of $7500, but our client made it clear to us that the “Value for us is priceless – we only have one shot, this one, the object takes a long time to manufacture and there is only one of these in the world.”
The bell had a superficial coating that was protected with several layers of polypropylene sheets, such that nothing but the special lens tissue was touching the parts. Additionally, the parts needed to be protected from exposure to air, so they were bagged in inert nitrogen by the client. We packed both items in custom foam-in-place molds, creating a “pedestal” to keep the bell from resting on the appendages. They were then separately crated and air freighted via UPS-SCS (Supply Chain Solutions) to the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sass in Assergi, Italy.
Well, everything made it to Italy just fine, as expected. Here's what the physics professor had to say upon receiving the shipment:
“I just un-crated the diving bell and cathode window. We brought the diving bell into the cleanroom and unwrapped it all the way to bare quartz. Everything looks perfect! I'm glad I didn't see the wrapping process -- too nerve-wracking, but it looked very secure. Much thanks for careful and skillful work!”
