Any one ever play with the "build your own submarine" idea?

[projecthog]

Re: Any one ever play with the "build your own submarine" idea?

Thanks for all the replies,
As soon as I wrote the post I got called out to work, and I've been away all over the North US and I will never forget St. Cloud MN, as it was the coldest I have experienced for a long time!

Out fuelling the truck and a1/2 minute later and the ears froze, bought a trooper cap and went at it again to only freeze some more. I never thought I'd whine about the cold, well....that just changed!

I just got home last night, only to have to struggle with the van and the house because they were frozen. That took from yesterday evening till this morning.

Any way, make a long story short, liked the replies and you guys are ok!
I'll get to sinking the sub one of these days, and I'll feel good about it.

Now I have to eat, go to bed and leave for Ponchatoula LA. in the morning,
Adios,

PH.

 

[Nos4r2]

Re: Any one ever play with the "build your own submarine" idea?

I think it's quite possible. Find a welder on craigslist and learn

If you think someone with no experience and a 2nd hand welder can build a pressure hull, you're as cracked as the hull will be. 1 bar of pressure will push a lot of water in.

 

[projecthog]

Re: Any one ever play with the "build your own submarine" idea?

Hey folks,

Up for air, been busy working off some of the other projects, one of which was a foamy slow aerobatic type indoor flyer called "Enticement" had fun flying that a bit and am bored with it at the moment, some more small aluminum boats and motors, and built a Subaru opposed four prop driver for an airboat, including a 2.5:1 reduction belt drive that was a challenge.

Done some serious driving miles all over the US and Canada between the last post and now, and being busy as a bucket full of greased monkeys.

I enjoyed the comments and you're all right and justified in your answers.

I AM going to do it when the time comes, and I have since collected a 20 foot piece of high (or reasonably so) pressure pipeline of about 50 inches OD.
That'll hold all the pressure that I'll come across at 10 meters or there abouts.
I am looking at submersible electric trolling motors for drives, but wonder what I'm going to find when they are submersed and tested to 20 meters.

The backup thought on that is a single enclosed motor (in an airtight compartment) as a through the hull driven prop, and diving planes, which would require a lot more thechie stuff and time to figure in.

It really shouldn't be too dangerous for an experiment, to dive a tube (hopefully watertight) after all the bugs have been worked out and a decent ballast release system and related buoyancy gear has been figured out.

I can Mig, Tig, Stick and Gas weld and have lots of experience there, and
I have machines to work with in my little home machineshop.

Electronics are also in my scope of dubious knowledge, so those things won't stop me either, and I'll be sure to research water related applications with the things that need to stay dry.

The water I will be doing this experimenting in, is approximately 40 feet deep at most, so that in itself leaves a reasonable safety margin for myself if things get..umm.., pressing .

I wondered about battery gases during use and discharging and in case of malfunctions or leaking water, and thought to isolate the battery compartment from the space I will be in when operating.

I have five more years to look at it and learn all the ins and outs of this kind of experiment, and the way things are done in the real world, so I can imitate some of that and also do some of my own inventing and general messing around.

I have visited a lot of homebuilders sites and studied quite a few subjects on it, and think it WILL be a big challenge to bring to fruition, but I am optimistic......, and stubborn as hell.

This project has been a thought ever since I was just a boy visiting one of the original and operational WW11 wolfpack subs (Early sixties) that was moored as an attraction at the wharf in Rotterdam Holland, where I grew up in the leftover ruins of the war.

Anyway..., Thanks for the interest and jokes about this, It makes it all worthwhile already.

Parts and pieces are slow to come as I am busy with my driving career, house, boats, planes, machineshop and other interesting things.

So..., I'll check in again sometime and hope you'll check out the thread every once in a while,

Take care Y'all,
John.

 

[HappierWet]

Re: Any one ever play with the "build your own submarine" idea?

OK, So am I the only one here thinking ( re: asking ) can we combine this with the cardboard boats thread?

I KILL ME

and with ideas like this I just might.......
how did I ever make it past adolesence?

 

[FBPirate95]

Re: Any one ever play with the "build your own submarine" idea?

You could start a new website...

www.iuboats.com

 

[projecthog]

Re: Any one ever play with the "build your own submarine" idea?

If you think someone with no experience and a 2nd hand welder can build a pressure hull, you're as cracked as the hull will be. 1 bar of pressure will push a lot of water in.

No doubt it can and will if a breach happens Nos4r2,

Pressures at some of the depths are; (approximately, and ambient pressures at sealevel not included.) In other words, GAUGE pressure under water,

FEET-PSI

5-16.9, 10-19.1, 40-32.5, 80-50.25. 100-59.1, 200-103.6, 300-148.

As you can see, things get depressing pretty fast should a mishap occur.

That's one of the main reasons I want to keep in the 40 foot range with the bottom of the lake as a barrier, so I can physically overcome any mistakes or leaks inside of a reasonable pressure envelope with no serious effects to my person should things go wrong.

I'll worry about deeper dives if I'm still hooked on the project after I do this part of it, but do the first part I will!
As it usually goes, I will probably only do the experiment and get it to work and be bored with it after and build a rocket or a 319.4 mile an hour boat

40 feet of under water depth is also above the danger zone for bubbles to form in the blood stream when bodily surfacing.
A regulator and single small tank can be a backup for an escape situation.

I intend to subject the tube to the 30-35 PSI it will encounter at the planned 40 feet max depth with no counter pressure from the inside, and believe that it will adequately handle that pressure, and easily at that.
As for my welding skills, they are adequate according to the test coupons I weld.

At 40 foot of depth is where a breached hull could definitely cause physical harm and threaten life!
Life wouldn't be any fun without a risk or two.

Breathing will be from a bottle of medigas or equivalent breathing gas which must be capable of supplying more PSI than ambient gauge pressure at test depth but metered at sufficient breathing pressure.
Compartment air will be vented outside the hull via a pump at or near the keel, when breathing gas pressure gets to a preset value.

I am not so much worried about my workmanship and hull breaches as the chance of losing buoyancy in a bottomless lake, so most of my theoretical effort has gone into system redundancy and duality, and that gets very interesting when you start digging for info.

That buoyancy loss possibility-that's always a possibility no matter how well things are built- is why I chose to do it in a way that would, in any scenario, still allow me to evacuate and surface in safety.

Thanks for the comment, I realize it wasn't meant for me, but I felt that the info would get one to think on what you said here, and I agree.

It all works well in practice, but it will never work in theory! (unknown)

Thanks and regards,
John.

 

[projecthog]

Re: Any one ever play with the "build your own submarine" idea?

being a private pilot and certified deep water diver, i can say this with no trepidation. YOU DO NOT LEAVE A GOOD RUNNING AIRPLANE IN THE SKY, AND YOU NEVER EVER SINK A BOAT ON PURPOSE!!!!!!! That is unless you are making an artificial reef.

Just merely planning a controlled flooding of manned test chambers Murph,

Or you could call it a Redneck mobile portable manned horseless pipeline, able to hold beer on both sides.

Take care,
John.

 

[projecthog]

Re: Any one ever play with the "build your own submarine" idea?

OK, So am I the only one here thinking ( re: asking ) can we combine this with the cardboard boats thread?

I KILL ME

and with ideas like this I just might.......
how did I ever make it past adolesence?

Dunno...., but it'd be hard to add this to the cardboard boat thread though, they wouldn't like the idea of going 40 feet under
But I can watch em come down once they get wet no?

Don't wet yerself ,
Regards, John.

 

[projecthog]

Re: Any one ever play with the "build your own submarine" idea?

You could start a new website...

www.iuboats.com

Naww,

Too busy, thanks for the links,
Ciao, John.

 

[mudslinging79]

Re: Any one ever play with the "build your own submarine" idea?

well, there was one during the civil war, round, propulsion was hand cranked props, balast was water, eother let in tasnks or pumped put, had an auger on the top to drill into the bottom of ships... was just a simple round ball with the rudimentary devices. didnt even have any back up air, once the person was inside, they had bout an hour.

 

[PiratePast40]

Re: Any one ever play with the "build your own submarine" idea?

google "homebuilt submarine". Tons of information out there.

 

[aspeck]

Re: Any one ever play with the "build your own submarine" idea?

Kewl idea ... keep us posted on the project as it materializes. If I had the time I would fly up and help ya!

 

[Aviator5]

Re: Any one ever play with the "build your own submarine" idea?

Don't forget to fill all cavities with foam.

 

[projecthog]

Re: Any one ever play with the "build your own submarine" idea?

well, there was one during the civil war, round, propulsion was hand cranked props, balast was water, eother let in tasnks or pumped put, had an auger on the top to drill into the bottom of ships... was just a simple round ball with the rudimentary devices. didnt even have any back up air, once the person was inside, they had bout an hour.

Yup,
and they "stuck" what could be described as the first torpedo on the hull of the old Virginia if I'm not mistaken and fled the scene, and dissapeared for a few decades 'till just recently when the thing was discovered I think, might have been one of the dreadnaughts too, can't recollect.
But I do know that a replica of what you describe was found unmanned and bobbing around in long island sound or there abouts recently.

Take care,
Thx, john.

 

[projecthog]

Re: Any one ever play with the "build your own submarine" idea?

google "homebuilt submarine". Tons of information out there.

Thank you Pirate,

Been treading those waters for a while.
It's amazing what some of the folks have done in their spare time.
Some of those subs could be considered as High tech, for sure, and some of them are just downright COOL!

I will NOT be going into it that deep (PTPun), but I do intend to see the waves at least once from the bottom up through a dome or at least glass, and after that it's anyone's guess what happens. (or not.)

It will be one long term project looked after and that will be that.

I'll probably take pictures and have a video or two by then, but I am not tackling that till I'm retired, and that another 5 years, no.., 6! (Keep getting that messed up.)

Thanks for the reply,

Take care,
John.

 

[projecthog]

Re: Any one ever play with the "build your own submarine" idea?

Kewl idea ... keep us posted on the project as it materializes. If I had the time I would fly up and help ya!

Thanks, your positiveness,

I am not starting the majority of the project till I have time, and that's 6 years away, and the reason for that is simply that I need to apply myself when I finally get to it, and to gather more junk to put together for then, but BY then I will have most of what I need and probably will also have built a few sections and other stuff, and then the fun starts.
Never a dull moment in my life!

But if it all works out, I could probably pick you up in a homebuilt gyro by then, I have a half of one together sofar.(another slow going project.)
In any case, I will probably have some pics and a video or something to remember my crazy adventures by.

Thanks for the reply,
John.

 

[projecthog]

Re: Any one ever play with the "build your own submarine" idea?

Don't forget to fill all cavities with foam.

I could probably find a cavity that'll really need it by the time I am on the first dive Av! (my head!)
The thought is a good one, but I just can't see how I'm going to float about 3tons of steel with a bit of foam lol.

However; I thought to incorporate dead spaces as air tight chambers, and those especially along the top part of the tube between the ribs, so there'd be at least some buoyancy (about 10-15% of the total tube cubic feet.)to the hull for safety, or prevention of a total loss should that problem try to manifest itself. (I doubt that I'll ever get to go deeper than 40 feet, cause I don't feel the need.
All I want is to kill that gnawing "wanna see it done" feeling.

Funny you should mention foam, I have been thinking about foam as an insulator on the inside of the hull, In part for sound absorption, and in part for safety should I get bumped around a bit in case of a control loss or worse.
Foam can also act as a temperature buffer so temperatures can change and settle without having too much condensation going on.

It all goes in the think tank for evaluation of merit, and even though you're joking, you're not far off the mark.

Thanks for the reply, take care,
John.

 

[aspeck]

Re: Any one ever play with the "build your own submarine" idea?

Thanks, your positiveness

You are welcome.

But if it all works out, I could probably pick you up in a homebuilt gyro by then, I have a half of one together sofar.(another slow going project.)

I'd be game for that, too!

In any case, I will probably have some pics and a video or something to remember my crazy adventures by.

Can't wait to see them ... and in 6 years, maybe I will have the time to come up and help! Incorporate a little fishing in with the program ... it would all be good! We could really scope out the big ones in the sub ... radio the follow boat where to cast ... look out fishes, here we come!

 

[mudslinging79]

Re: Any one ever play with the "build your own submarine" idea?

you just need to be able to acheve neutral boyancy with some air tanks/compartments. fill the tanks with water to sink, pump out water to rise. can yse the tanks for trim, depending on location. reat about a salvage person who used empty 50 gallon drums fitted with water spigots and an air line on the other end. he would fill them to sink them, run lines to what needed to come up, open the spigot and pump air into them to float them. if one was rising too fast, use the spigot to adjust the flow of water coming out.
depending how deep, you can run lines, and have a helper on shore or boat, similar to the old time deep sea divers who had air and communications through the helmet.

 

[PGFISHER]

Re: Any one ever play with the "build your own submarine" idea?

This is going to sound like BS, but it's true. In 1971 I was building airplanes in San Diego, next door to a shop that was building concrete sailboats. A guy had a home made sub in their shop. It had a flat top and bottom; both leaf shaped. The sides were about 5-6' high and looked to be made of corigated metal, which came to a point fore and aft; joining to a vertical bow and stern. Near the stern was a can shaped tower, about the size of 1/2 of a 50 gal. drum with 4 portholes. The sub had a thruster on top and one on the rear, with one on each side near the bow, in addition to diving planes fore and aft.
The cool thing about it was how he got around battery fumes and electrics. He had a dozen or so air tanks inside and used air drills to turn the thruster props.