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Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Brass vs. Bronze



Here's the thread for the concrete sub
 
http://wwwpsubs.org/mlist/archive/0312/msg00112.html
 
from the archives
 
 
George Slaterpryce
----- Original Message -----
From: Akins
Sent: Tuesday, April 11, 2006 3:29 PM
Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Brass vs. Bronze

Hi Doug.
 
Your below post made me think of something. I wonder if anyone has ever used a similiar molding process to cast an entire sub. Imagine if someone used foam to create the hull thickness and any
exterior and interior parts they wanted casted along with the hull. Then they could fill the interior with sand and coat the outside with the same sand. Then the whole thing gets cooked underground
to allow the now molten foam to run out before the metal is poured in. Then after the mold cooled you would have to remove the sand from the subs hull interior.
I'm sure I have not stated this procedure technically correct, but you get the idea. Like the discussions on concrete subs we've had here
before, this would allow hull penetrations, reinforcement rings, and other things like hatch covers to be cast with, or next to the sub. I've made a few underground sand ovens for cooking pigs in the ground Hawaiian style and was
wondering if someone made a mold and then buried it underground so you could heat it underground like the Hawaiian Umu sand oven, if this idea is possible. One nice thing would be there would be no
weld joints to ever fail and you wouldn't take as much time in construction and welding your sub, and you could have thicker portions of hull material in different spots with ease. I wonder if a guy could actually
dig up his backyard and build a small to moderate size 1 atm sub hull this way. They used to cast cannons, which are a cylinder, why not a sub hull? Just a concept idea I came up with. 
 
An even easier idea might be to take a propane tank and encase it with special concrete and make a concrete sub really cheaply compared to a steel one. I like the whole molding, casting, pouring, your sub idea,
what a time and materials saver. Every day I look out back on my acreage and see my two B52 wing tanks and think that if I don't wind up making a pontoon boat out of them how interesting it would be to encase them
in concrete and make them 1 atm two person subs.
 
Does anyone know of any information, web sites, etc that might explain about making a mold out of sand and pouring your own metal sub as well as info on concrete subs? I remember seeing someone here was building a concrete sub.
 
Bill Akins.
 
 
 
 
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, April 11, 2006 2:29 PM
Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Brass vs. Bronze

I have made several parts for my sub project, including a gear box.  The lost foam process that Jon describes is the easiest especially when using Petro-Bond (oily sand) as the refactroy.  To see details; select  Lost Foam in Petro-Bond   from the top of this page:
http://www.submarineboat.com/sub/foundry.html .  There are lots of examples of things you want to avoid on this page too!   I have only worked with aluminum so far, and I think its a good starting point. Brass,  Bronze and Iron require significantly more heat.  If you dont want to get into casting your own parts you can get professional quality custom parts at a big savings by creating your foam parts and then sending them off to be cast.
 
Best
Doug