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How to build a submarine and survive [video]

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Re: How to build a submarine and survive [video]

#11

Post by NoPedantsThanks »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #2

It reminds me of an obsession I had when I was young (maybe 12 or 13) where I kept iterating on a design for a mini-sub I had hoped to build. I must have checked out books on the history of the submarine about that time and became obsessed with the simplicity of the original Turtle submarine — operated with hand screws (propellers). Likely too I saw a homemade sub or scuba tow on the odd Popular Mechanics cover.... I…

Oh man, that's great! For me it was a go-kart. They were illegal where I lived (Chicago suburbs), but whatever.

There were two big hurdles for a kid: acquisition of a side-shaft motor (lawn mower engines' shafts were vertical, so no dice) and acquisition of a clutch. I couldn't afford either of those. Nor could I weld.

My friend and neighbor, as it turns out, inexplicably had a snow-blower engine in his garage. Horizontal shaft, perfect! But I still couldn't get a clutch.

So I decided who needs to start or stop in a sane manner? I'd simply attach a bicycle wheel directly to the shaft of the engine, and use lawn-mower wheels for the other three.

Then I set about to build the frame, by hacksawing an old angle-iron bed frame apart and bolting it into a rectangle. I managed to cut the metal, but drilling holes in it for bolts proved to be essentially impossible.

So I built a crude platform out of wood and attached the wheels to it. The front wheels were bolted onto the ends of a board that I could pivot with my feet. Then I bolted the engine onto the back, with wood shims to make the bicycle wheel meet the ground at the same height as the three other wheels.

There were no brakes and no way to totally stop the engine. I propped the back up on some bricks and went to start it... and the pull-start mechanism broke. Probably saved me from serious injury or worse.

And that was that.

Re: How to build a submarine and survive [video]

#12

Post by ElFitz »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #2

It reminds me of an obsession I had when I was young (maybe 12 or 13) where I kept iterating on a design for a mini-sub I had hoped to build. I must have checked out books on the history of the submarine about that time and became obsessed with the simplicity of the original Turtle submarine — operated with hand screws (propellers). Likely too I saw a homemade sub or scuba tow on the odd Popular Mechanics cover.... I…

> It reminds me of an obsession I had when I was young (maybe 12 or 13) where I kept iterating on a design for a mini-sub I had hoped to build.

I don’t know when that was, but nowadays it is feasible, for a kid [0]. Not sure how deep it can go though.

[0]: https://youtube.com/watch?v=KLEH8RJsYgI

Re: How to build a submarine and survive [video]

#13

Post by actionfromafar »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #7
JKCalhoun wrote: post #2

It reminds me of an obsession I had when I was young (maybe 12 or 13) where I kept iterating on a design for a mini-sub I had hoped to build. I must have checked out books on the history of the submarine about that time and became obsessed with the simplicity of the original Turtle submarine — operated with hand screws (propellers). Likely too I saw a homemade sub or scuba tow on the odd Popular Mechanics cover.... I…

> I mean, I planned on using plywood for the hull, ha ha. https://www.svseeker.com/argonaut-jr-building-and-diving-a-w... (“Argonaut Jr – Building and Diving a Wooden Submarine from 1894”)

Both the replica and the original are totally amazing! I expected something impractical.

Re: How to build a submarine and survive [video]

#14

Post by jacquesm »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #2

It reminds me of an obsession I had when I was young (maybe 12 or 13) where I kept iterating on a design for a mini-sub I had hoped to build. I must have checked out books on the history of the submarine about that time and became obsessed with the simplicity of the original Turtle submarine — operated with hand screws (propellers). Likely too I saw a homemade sub or scuba tow on the odd Popular Mechanics cover.... I…

When I was 7, with a bunch of friends, I built a 'plane' in our attic. We went all over the globe with it looking for treasure ;) It's funny because until your comment I had totally forgotten about it but now I remember the cables that moved the ailerons, and the two old car seats for pilot and co-pilot (or passenger...). Some magazine (Panorama?) had printed a treasure map and even though the magazine itself was strictly off limits to us the father of one of my friends had donated the map to our cause which we kept as our most precious secret.

Re: How to build a submarine and survive [video]

#15

Post by jacquesm »

seanhunter wrote: post #9

Not a homemade submarine story but very much related. When my dad was a teenager he saw a film by Jacques Cousteau, one of the coinventors of the first aqualung and became obsessed with the idea. He lived on a smallholding and had been taught to be self-reliant, so by borrowing his dad’s welding gear he made himself a home-made aqualung. But how to test it? On the smallholding there was a water reservoir that was dee…

What an absolutely awesome story.

Re: How to build a submarine and survive [video]

#16

Post by stavros »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #2

It reminds me of an obsession I had when I was young (maybe 12 or 13) where I kept iterating on a design for a mini-sub I had hoped to build. I must have checked out books on the history of the submarine about that time and became obsessed with the simplicity of the original Turtle submarine — operated with hand screws (propellers). Likely too I saw a homemade sub or scuba tow on the odd Popular Mechanics cover.... I…

Yes but what an amazing 10-foot journey that would have been!

Re: How to build a submarine and survive [video]

#18

Post by kolektiv »

NoPedantsThanks wrote: post #11
JKCalhoun wrote: post #2

It reminds me of an obsession I had when I was young (maybe 12 or 13) where I kept iterating on a design for a mini-sub I had hoped to build. I must have checked out books on the history of the submarine about that time and became obsessed with the simplicity of the original Turtle submarine — operated with hand screws (propellers). Likely too I saw a homemade sub or scuba tow on the odd Popular Mechanics cover.... I…

Oh man, that's great! For me it was a go-kart. They were illegal where I lived (Chicago suburbs), but whatever. There were two big hurdles for a kid: acquisition of a side-shaft motor (lawn mower engines' shafts were vertical, so no dice) and acquisition of a clutch. I couldn't afford either of those. Nor could I weld. My friend and neighbor, as it turns out, inexplicably had a snow-blower engine in his garage. Horiz…

To be fair, I raced 2-stroke karts for years, and up until relatively recently, clutches weren't a thing. Most karts were direct-drive, as you didn't want lag and power loss, and simplicity was usually more important than anything else for weight and general sanity. The engine was more likely to stall when you didn't want it to than go when it shouldn't - if you spun in a race, that was it, race over.

That said, the rest of your kart sounds like it was probably best avoided - you should be grateful for that pull-start breakage, yes!

Re: How to build a submarine and survive [video]

#19

Post by Titan2189 »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #2

It reminds me of an obsession I had when I was young (maybe 12 or 13) where I kept iterating on a design for a mini-sub I had hoped to build. I must have checked out books on the history of the submarine about that time and became obsessed with the simplicity of the original Turtle submarine — operated with hand screws (propellers). Likely too I saw a homemade sub or scuba tow on the odd Popular Mechanics cover.... I…

Thanks for sharing, your story is great : - )
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