One of the most popular boats at the Maker Faire Tinker Challenge was the submarine. Since the submarine is also the powerplant for many boat designs, we offer here, for your tinkering pleasure, the step-by-step instructions on how to make a submarine from recylced materials and a few simple tools.

Step 1. Collect your materials and tools. You’ll need: scissors, wire cutters (don’t be tempted to use your scissors - that’s just asking for trouble), pliers (for bending wire), utility knife (although it may be possible to do the cutting with your scissors - mine just don’t have a sharp enough point), a rubber band (make sure it’s at least big enough to stretch the length of the bottle), a piece of stiff wire, and a juice bottle.

Step 2. Make a hole for the propeller shaft. Using the point of the utility knife, drill a hole in the center of the cap. This takes a little bit of practice, so don’t feel like you have to rush. Place the point of the knife where you want to make the hole, then lay the thumb of the same hand that is holding the knife on the flat side of the blade - this will help you brace the knife and give you a better “feel” for the work. Now, while applying light pressure, twist the knife back and forth. Don’t press too hard, just enough to get the point to “bite.”

As soon as the point comes through the cap, turn the cap over and widen it from that side as well. Remember, the hole is for the propeller shaft, so it only needs to big enough to poke the wire through.

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For your enjoyment, some of our favorite moments at the Maker Faire Tinker Challange. Thanks for taking the video Julie!

Busy Builders Build Boats

The Mystery

Mystery Solved

Wheee!

A Little Push

Propulsion Lessons

Submarine

Shaker

A Novel Steering Solution

The Auger-drive System

Serious Contender

Speed Demon

Session 1 and Session 2 are officially booked up (with waiting lists!). Despite all of the flattering requests, we won’t be adding any more sessions this year. We are planning some one- and two-day events, but we haven’t settled any of the details yet. Thanks everyone! It’s wonderful to see such a demand.

Session 1 confirmed attendees: Nikhil, Piper, Fiona, Theo, Winslow, Harlo, Ozzie, Tywen

Session 2 confirmed attendees: Tyler, Sam, Theo, Azra, Hanna, Keegan, Maxine, James

Adrienne wanted to keep her boat as simple as possible.

She started with two floats, like everyone else, then realized that one would suffice. Once she had one float, the larger pair of rubber bands was replaced with a single smaller band, then filled the motor compartment (juice bottle) with water and set a session record with her pared down design.

Jeremy noticed that the PVC motor solution (orginally intended to be slung under the bottle) would fit inside the mouth of the bottle.

In this case, side floats were required to keep the boat from rotating. This worked (like in the first side-float design posted earlier) since the PVC weighed down the rear of the boat and kept the propeller submerged. The high angle of attack also let the bow of the boat ride up on the water and succesfully break the beam sensors on both ends of the track.