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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-CA link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>Hi Hank,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>While at Nuytco in 2014 Alan and I had a short conversation about using solid oak as a syntactic foam alternative. Heavier above the surface than the foam, so a larger volume below the surface than the foam would be required. Still a lot cheaper, though. Why not cover the wood (oak or ply) with a single layer of fiberglass cloth and resin? It wouldn’t be difficult to depth test a piece.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>Tim<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>From:</span></b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> Personal_Submersibles [mailto:personal_submersibles-bounces@psubs.org] <b>On Behalf Of </b>hank pronk via Personal_Submersibles<br><b>Sent:</b> Thursday, January 28, 2016 3:10 PM<br><b>To:</b> Personal Submersibles General Discussion <personal_submersibles@psubs.org><br><b>Subject:</b> [PSUBS-MAILIST] cheap syntactic foam<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1454022025775_2425"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:black'>In an effort to come up with a cheap solution to creating buoyancy-I did some pressure testing on different ideas. I have had success with sanded plywood, I tested bare plywood, and plywood coated with gel coat. Not surprisingly the bare wood almost doubled in weight but remained buoyant and is still drying out. The wood seems to be holding the water permanently. The test with gel coat was a total success. After one hr at 800psi the weight is exactly the same. For every two pounds of plywood you get one pound of buoyancy. I have ordered trawl floats for my new deep diver but I thought it would be an interesting experiment.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1454022025775_2425"><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:black'>Hank<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal>! <o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>