Method for fabricating isolated phase bus

In a method of fabricating an isolated phase bus system, the isolated phase bus system including a cylindrical bus conductor and a mating enclosure therefor, the mating enclosure having a larger diameter than the cylindrical conductor, comprising the steps of:

• (a) fabricating said cylindrical bus conductor, including the steps of:
• (1) providing a first plurality of cylindrical workpieces of a first diameter,
• (2) disposing said first plurality of workpieces in a fixture and aligning said cylindrical workpieces such that the longitudinal axes thereof are substantially coincident,
• (3) rotating said workpieces together in said fixture about said longitudinal axes,
• (4) welding said workpieces to one another end-to-end while said workpieces are rotating to form a cylindrical bus conductor of a desired length,
• (5) cutting a plurality of openings in said bus conductor while it remains in said fixture, for receiving mounting hardware, at least two of said openings being located in spaced relation along the length of said bus conductor, said two openings having a predetermined angular relation therebetween with respect to the longitudinal axis of said bus conductor, the cutting step including precisely locating said openings in a predetermined reproducible manner, and
• (b) fabricating said mating enclosure, including the steps of:
• (1) providing a second plurality of cylindrical workpieces, said second plurality of cylindrical workpieces having a larger diameter than said first plurality of workpieces,
• (2) disposing said second plurality of workpieces in a fixture and aligning said second plurality of cylindrical workpieces such that the longitudinal axes thereof are substantially coincident,
• (3) rotating said second plurality of workpieces together in said fixture about said longitudinal axes,
• (4) welding said second plurality of workpieces to one another end-to-end while said workpieces are rotating to form an enclosure of a desired length,
• (5) cutting a plurality of openings in said enclosure while it remains in said fixture, the cutting step being performed substantially as in step (a) 5, said openings in said enclosure including openings which are precisely located in said predetermined reproducible manner so that said enclosure openings are substantially longitudinally and angularly aligned with said bus conductor openings formed in step (a) 5.