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Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Rebar/Fiberglass Hull- 1 ATM design



All your strength will be in the fiberglass hull. If you make the FG thick enough it would be great. I think you will find that the cost of FG will be too expensive for you.
 
I think the main reason most people are interested in FG, or wood, or any of the other "non-conventional" ideas presented on this list, is because they don't have experience working in steel, and these materials seem like "do-it-yourself" kind of materials (they really aren't; they require considerable skill).
 
For the life of me I can't understand why more people haven't latched onto the idea of buying premade boiler end caps to construct a saucer shaped hull. There wouldn't be any forming, and welding would be minimal, I'm sure you could get a mobile welding service for your needs. Somebody really needs to put one of these together and document the time and money saved with this technique.
 
JP
----- Original Message -----
From: Rf3500psi@aol.com
To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2002 3:46 PM
Subject: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Rebar/Fiberglass Hull- 1 ATM design

I had an idea for a hull that I wanted to run by you guys and get an opinion-good, bad, or indifferent.  

The hull is frame based.  The frame is made of 5/8" rebar, bent and welded into circular rings, spaced 1' apart along the length of the keel.  For the nose cone, rebar lengths would be bent into oval or parabola shaped sections and then crosed and welded.  The tail would go the same way, shaping sections of rebar and welding.  Then, the frame would be covered in a thin, flexible plywood.  We are also considering a sheet metal layer on top of this.  Finally, the hull would be coated with fiberglass.  
Penetrations would be sealed with o-rings and a sealant.  

So,what do you think?

Thanks,
Ryan

P.S. What do you guys think of a spray on bedliner layer somewhere in/on the hull?  Just some half-baked idea my colleague had; figured I should ask.