RE: [PSUBS-MAILIST] warning for smyth

["Alec Smyth" <Asmyth@changepoint.com>]

I have a rather humorous photo of myself after about 3 hours of grinding inside the hull. My face is entirely black except for two circles around the eyes where I was wearing goggles. Grinding is by far the noisiest, dirtiest, part of building a sub, and doing it inside a small steel pipe will make you cherish other moments in life, like visits to the dentist. But above all grinding demands heroic stoicism from my family and neighbors. If anyone has an alternative method, believe me I'll volunteer to try it!

Alec

-----Original Message-----
From: Gary R. Boucher [mailto:protek@shreve.net]
Sent: Wednesday, September 25, 2002 10:44 AM
To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] warning for smyth


Mr. Lauser,

     They radiograph and use ultrasonic methods to find cracks and flaws in 
a weld.  Exactly how would you suggest fixing a flaw?  Perhaps drill it 
out?  Of course you grind it out.  There is no way other than to throw the 
hull away and start over.  That is the method used by certified welders and 
has been since the beginning.
     As far as grinding of a finished weld goes, it does tend to weaken the 
weld, but all must be considered in the larger scope of things such as the 
amount of stress the weld will be subjected to and the types of materials 
used.  If you want to see some grinding, I suggest you come look at my 
sub's sail section.
     I have met Smyth, and sir, I can assure you he is paying attention.

Gary R. Boucher, D.Eng.
Dept. Chemistry-Physics
Louisiana State University - Shreveport


At 06:28 PM 9/24/2002, you wrote:
>ATTENTION ALEC SMYTH:
>
>Alec,
>
>It was great to see your progress on the SOLO sub, but I read something 
>that caused me great concern for your safety, so if you're listening, 
>please pay attention! I'm sorry to post this over the list, but I didn't 
>have your e-mail address at hand.
>
>In your description from August 29th, you mentioned a few things needing 
>attention and in one you said "grinding out small welding flaws in the 
>hull". I don't want to be an alarmist, and perhaps someone else has 
>brought it to your attention (hopefully), but you should NEVER EVER EVER 
>EVER grind on a weld. It will weaken the weld and can seriously endanger 
>your submarining efforts if it is on the pressure hull. I say this only to 
>keep you safe. I can only imagine, not that I particularly want to, what 
>could happen to a weakened pressure hull weld at depth. Please be careful 
>since it looks like such a cool sub and I wouldn't want anything to happen 
>to the operator. Good luck and keep working hard!
>
>- Jacob Lauser
>   University of Arizona Student Underwater Bouyancy System Initiative 
> (UASUBSI)
>