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All good advice. The first step in building a sub of any kind is to decide
what it's used for.
The next step is educating yourself in the skill sets needed to design and
build a boat that can accomplish those goals safely. The books Ray outlined
are essential to give a prospective builder the beginnings of an education on
design parameters.
Actual building comes after a good understanding of the principals and
dangers involved.
These things can and will kill you if not done properly.
Very early on in my own submarine adventure I built some full size
cardboard mock-ups of different hull shapes. That helped me figure out just what
kind of sub I wanted and it cost almost nothing. It was a fun time filled with
dreams of sailing the seas in my own submarine.
I didn't buy anything until I had read most of those books. Good
thing too as the information I got made it clear what might work and what
definitely wouldn't work.
I asked a lot of questions and made a lot of designs, then moved to scale
model testing of my favorite shapes.
It's a long process but there's help available if you take the time to
approach the task seriously.
I don't try to discourage anyone from attempting to build a sub, but I do
recommend caution.
Read some books, read through the archives to see what's been discussed,
and be prepared for a multi-year undertaking. Nobody builds a sub quickly. Even
a little ambient one takes a long time before beginning. It's not rocket science
but there's a lot of basic information you'll need just to get started.
Enjoy the process. It really is a lot of fun.
Frank D.
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