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Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Wooden Submarine design for discussion



Pat: et el...
 
Thank you for taking a look at "my" design. It was my thought to make this Psub out of wood primarily because I felt more people could potentially work in it. Though I have done a lot of welding (MIG, TIG and Stick, Oxy Acetylene...) in my area of professional work (museum exhibit design and construction) I also have done a lot of wood work.
 
I wanted to see what others people's ideas were in regards to the design? I do realize that there will be significant need for additional weight added in order to control buoyancy and draft. I was thinking about using metal tubes (pipe) filled with some weight such as rebar or concrete or recycled lead. I feel confident the hard points for these weighted cylinder could be incorporated into the wood structure and one or more could function as my drop weight in case of emergency.
 
You will note that I included two sizes because of my own concern for displacement and completed submarine weight.
 
Any additional comments or concerns would be greatly appreciated. I would like to open a dialog with other people who are interested in this idea of a "modern" wood Psub.
 
Sincerely,
 
John Gaertner
----- Original Message -----
From: Captain Nemo
To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
Sent: Friday, May 31, 2002 3:45 PM
Subject: [PSUBS-MAILIST] John Gaetner's Wooden Submarine

Hi John,
 
Without running the numbers: she looks like she can be made to balance, but if this is a dry sub, she'll displace a few tons.  Wood being relatively light and buoyant, there's a good chance the waterline will be so high your prop will chop air on the surface; and where's the weight required to submerge?  You could stuff her with lead, but that will take up a lot of space and could lead to a structural failure. 
 
It's a nice design.  Why not build it in steel?
 
Pat