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17 comments

May 3, 2012. 7:26 AMphlox01 says:

A friend and I made one of these when we were 15, back in the late seventies. We used silicon to seam the plexiglass and nuts and bolts to hold it in place. We also went to the local hardware and bought thirty feet of aquarium hose with the proper barb fitting and for a air supply line. We hooked the other end to a normal bicycle pump. We drilled holes around the bottom of the helmet to tie milk jugs full of mud to them. Four gallons of mud seemed to be the proper weight. We had a lot of fun using it in the local lake off the floating dock. We also hooked up a recovery rope to the helmet. We didn't strap it on to ourselves. We used an old garden hose to line the shoulder cutouts. Our helmet was an wet entry type, you had to swim underneath it to get into it. We took it down to about 25 ft.
Never made it to Phase Two which would have external lights on it.
Hope these memories give you some good ideas.

Apr 26, 2011. 6:36 PMmr.incredible says:

With out weight to off-set the buoyancy of the air in the helmet, you will only be strapped to a bobber. You will either need a huge weight belt (very uncomfortable) or weight strapped to the bottom of helmet. Here is another instructable for reference. http://www.instructables.com/id/Homemade-Diving-Apparatus/

For helmet material I'd go with transparent aluminum...

Apr 26, 2011. 7:06 PMEngineerJakit (author) says:

Adding weight to the helmet or my body is something i had already planned on doing. Since im testing it out at my college's swimming pool, they have weight belts already there, so ill be able to weigh myself down to possibly keep me sunk until i can't take anymore time being underwater.

That's a pretty useful instructable there! ill have to refer to it quite a bit.

How much is transparent aluminum? and where's the best place to get it?

Apr 27, 2011. 7:39 PMLunera says:

I'm just gonna laugh, not at you mind. Okay yeah, at you, but I'm not being mean.

Transparent aluminum is a material from the rather fictional world of Star Trek. It was a plot device in the 5th movie, wherein Scotty(James Doohan) teaches a materials engineer how to make 'transparent aluminum' that was needed to have the strength of a sheet of glass 6 inches thick, but be only 2 inches thick.

Apr 28, 2011. 4:04 PMEngineerJakit (author) says:

Me not knowing that off the top of my head is solid proof that im not a trekkie! :D

Jun 8, 2011. 6:44 PMmr.incredible says:

Ha! It was a joke but check this out it is real! http://gajitz.com/science-you-so-crazy-transparent-aluminum-made-in-lab/

Apr 30, 2011. 12:55 PMtechno guy says:

You know, the last picture reminds me of those nuclear safe suit helmets.

Apr 30, 2011. 4:14 PMEngineerJakit (author) says:

Hey, they kinda do! Lol

Apr 26, 2011. 12:52 PM

lemonie says:

I'd put more like 360^o on the transparent-stuff, that will collapse a bit too easily I think.

L

Apr 26, 2011. 2:47 PMEngineerJakit (author) says:

i think you might be right. but then two things would occur. i would look like my head is in part of a water cooler and there would be a greater chance of the helmet leaking.

if i made this look like something from bioshock, i would get so many style points.

Apr 26, 2011. 10:55 PM

lemonie says:

Not really designed for actual diving then?
Make sure someone is there to pull you out if you need it.

L

113

Apr 26, 2011. 4:44 PM

caitlinsdad says:

You could have made the clear "porthole" viewer a double walled thin aquarium. Use silicone caulk and some rubber sealed toilet tank bolts to clamp on some pieces of acrylic. Fill the middle with some of that lava tank stuff with the floating object or a real marine environment. You can then pretend to take the kids to seaworld without paying the exhorbitant amusement park fee.

Can you get the bends if you get off of your easy chair real fast?

Apr 26, 2011. 4:52 PMEngineerJakit (author) says:

Now that is definitely worthy of style points! When I make the MK2, im gonna kick it up a notch using those bolts and caulk. Maybe add some lights and an air tank on the back. Doing that may cost more, but i'll probably have a job by that time.

What are the bends? You might want to enlighten me about that.

113

Apr 26, 2011. 5:11 PM

caitlinsdad says:

Haha, the bends is the common term for when nitrogen boils out of your blood when you come up too fast from deep sea diving or scuba, you need a decompression chamber to coax some of that back into the blood otherwise...

That's why there is no such thing as amateur deep sea diving as this would be a questionable way to start the hobby.

Apr 26, 2011. 6:59 PMEngineerJakit (author) says:

well, how deep is deep sea diving?

As far as i'm concerned, the two best reasons for why i made this would be to try and win the MakerBot Challenge and to see how well I can make some things with very little budget money.

113

Apr 26, 2011. 7:05 PM

caitlinsdad says:

Hmmm, you might want to look at the comments on the linky from mr.incredible below. I guess if you are trying to replicate the conditons of being trapped in an air pocket in a sinking car, then by all means experiment with the lifeguard around.

Apr 26, 2011. 7:20 PMEngineerJakit (author) says:

you got a point there. I did see the mythbusters try a myth about that, and when you put it that way, i may need to add something to this.