8 ms·
Underwater Chain Saws
- cheekibreeki2 3y agoI guess the bar doesn't need oiling?
- CBLT 3y agoFrom the user manual on that page: > Maintain proper footing and balance at all times. Is this not supposed to be used in deep water? Or am I just swimming wrong?
- lazide 3y agoIt's so no matter what they know they'll win any followup lawsuits hah! 'Your honor, our manual clearly stated to maintain proper footing and balance at all times, which the diver clear did not do, resulting in his unfortunate death when our tool exploded and severed his air line. We move for summary dismissal.'
- aidenn0 3y agoI can't imagine what the kickback would be like if you weren't secured when using one of these. I've never used one of these, but I imagine you would need to be braced against something when using it.
- pavel_lishin 3y agoI'd guess that if you're cutting something with a chainsaw underwater, they expect you to be standing on the bottom of the body of water. It doesn't sound like it's meant to be used in very deep water, since it's intended for cutting through wood: > The Stanley line of underwater chain saws are designed for cutting all types of wood structures including bridge pilings, pier and dock timbers. All chain saw models include an interlocking safety trigger with hand guard and stainless steel spool and fasteners. There's a photo of it being used, but it's very unclear what's happening: https://www.stanleyinfrastructure.com/sites/default/files/products/CS06%20UW%20Action.png https://www.stanleyinfrastructure.com/sites/default/files/pr...
- simonh 3y agoIndustrial work underwater is commonly done in weighted, metal booted diving suits you stand and walk in, rather than finned frog man type suits.
- Daub 3y agoFormer chainsaw operater speaking. I cant imagine easily using a chainsaw underwater for the every action has an equal and opposite reaction thing. However, I notice that the front spikes on the saw are noticably big. When these are dug into the timber, they offer a fulcrum using which the operator can apply force onto the timber. This could lessen though not negate the issue. I gave up chainsawing the day I accidentally sawed through my boots. Just that morning I had put on a pair of steel toecap boots for the first time. Saved my toes.
- ordu 3y ago> Just that morning I had put on a pair of steel toecap boots for the first time. Saved my toes. Amazing coincidence. Cannot help but think that it was not a coincidence, but you feeling your toes safe because of toecaps.
- Noumenon72 3y agoPerhaps he bought the boots realizing he was about to attempt things where his toes were at risk.
- dayOneFatally1 3y agoI think he only had the job for one day.
- jojobas 3y agoPut enough lead on yourself and it's much like on the surface. You don't swim with a chainsaw.
- dayOneFatally1 3y agoAll I'm hearing is, you were a chainsaw operator for one day: the same day you got your boots.
- akovaski 3y agoPreviously discussed here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37840371 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37840371
- stevespang 3y ago[dead]
- lsllc 3y agoThe screw for one of the drain covers on my pool was loose. I need an underwater screwdriver, now I know where to get one! /s
- chubs 3y agoAround $4100! https://www.amronintl.com/stanley-cs113no-hydraulic-underwater-chainshaw-cs11.html https://www.amronintl.com/stanley-cs113no-hydraulic-underwat... Amazing how capable tools can be, in industries that simply cannot get their work done without them and are willing to pay a healthy amount. Sometimes I wonder how good our dev tooling would be if we were willing to pay thousands a year, as opposed to the time-wasting bug-fest that is Xcode. Not singling out Apple, I’m sure all are comparably bad, it’s just what I happen to use :)
- thrillgore 3y agoYou think Apple is expensive? Licenses for Dassault Catia start at $12,000.
- civilitty 3y agoMentor Graphics silicon design stuff started at $50,000 last I checked. Easily 100-150k per seat for mixed signal chip design. Cost as much or more than the salary of the person using it.
- sverhagen 3y agoThink they were making the opposite claim, but then that the quality was low too.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- KennyBlanken 3y agoThis is the most strained connection employed to engage in Apple-bashing that I've seen in quite some time. I feel like we need an Apple-themed Godwin's Law - namely that no HN thread is complete without someone somehow managing to bring up Apple and how evil and undervalued they are. The irony is that high-end Macs have been widely laughed at by people who don't have a use for them...while various creative and scientific sectors gladly pay that expense because unlike the commenters they're actually using them to make money; for example, the G5 and first-gen Mac Pro had enormous memory bandwidth that made them ideal for a lot of scientific data processing, medical imagery, running instruments, etc.
- paulkrush 3y agoThis fun and understandable. I had to use a pnumantic drill to drill and tap a hole once under water. Lots of bubbles... Hydraulic motors make sense. Also they have a super high power to weight ratio.
- dosman33 3y agoAmazing, I actually saw one of these today at a flea market. I noticed it was hydraulic powered but didn't suspect it was for use under water.
- DaiPlusPlus 3y ago> I noticed it was hydraulic powered but didn't suspect it was for use under water I suspect a gasoline-powered chainsaw wouldn't work underwater... which made me wonder if maybe that does exist because you could feed it O2 from a supply tank just like the fuel, maybe even from the diver's own air tank? Now I want to know how bouyant battery-packs are and if an impractically-heavy battery-powered chainsaw work well underwater?
- jhoechtl 3y agoThe exhaust bubbles surely would steer up debris and clog your sight
- andrewflnr 3y agoNot if you route it through a flexible hose a couple feet long. Not as bad, at least.
- crdrost 3y agoFor the first question, according to [1] gasoline uses 9000L air per liter of gas and a liter of gas runs a chainsaw for an hour ish, something like 150 L/minute. This is an order of magnitude higher than humans or so, so a scuba tank that lets you dive for an hour would only let you chainsaw for maybe 5-10 minutes? [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9504215#9505263 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9504215#9505263
- steve_adams_86 3y agoI’m always blown away by how efficient animals are. No wonder we get fat.
- 3y ago
- anjel 3y agoWhile gas / electric chainsaws are unlikely to work underwater, I can't imagine a reason why a hydraulic chainsaw wouldn't work on dry ground with its superior weight to power ratio and lack of blue smoky exhaust. Probably quieter too.
- serf 3y agoit's not all that easy to generate high quality/consistent high pressure hydraulic pressure quietly either, though. the early big-dog robots demonstrated that famously.
- avs733 3y agoThe chainsaw might be lighter…but the equipment powering it isn’t.
- analog31 3y agoI think there's a massive portability difference, plus managing the hoses is a safety issue. I have an electric chainsaw, and always have to keep an eye on where the power cord is. I've seen what happens when a hydraulic line gets cut in an industrial plant.
- defrost 3y agoFor reference, an underwater diver typically has a dedicated hose-manager, a dedicated stand-by diver, and a dedicated job manager watching the vision feeds, the oxygen levels, handling comms, etc. That's a minimum of four people per job with complex time critical work in harbours holding up transit shipping can see that layered up to cover 24x7 operation. The hose management is the air mix lines to the diver along with cmms and then any tool lines required - hydraulic, pnuematic, additional electric, etc.
- ek_erilaz 3y agoYour intuition was spot on! I used to cut concrete for a living, and we had several hydraulic chainsaws. The torque on those things was incredible. They were quieter than gas chainsaws, even factoring in the diesel-powered hydraulic pump in the trailer nearby. The main drawback, as other commenters mentioned, was portability. The saw itself was shockingly light (which made the torque that much more surprising) and portable - until you ran out of hydraulic line! Plus you always had to watch your lines to make sure they weren't going to get cut by a blade, pinched under a falling piece of concrete, or crushed under some piece of mechanized equipment. Interestingly, there were three lines - hydraulic in, hydraulic out, and a water hose to spray on the cutting surface and keep the dust down. It's been a decade since I worked that job, but I still clearly remember the feeling of revving one of those things up, watching the water fly everywhere, and grinning as I just carved straight into a solid concrete wall - rebar and everything. It was a delight.
- mikeytown2 3y agoI've seen pneumatic chainsaws used in shallow water. Quite loud
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- 082349872349872 3y agonot for the squeamish (but suitable for October): check out the manually-powered origin story of the chainsaw...
- a_paddy 3y agoI don't believe any of Stanleys claims until Project Farm tests it.
- tempodox 3y agoGreat, that opens up under-water scenarios for computer games where the protagonist can pick up a chain saw.
- avidphantasm 3y agoIt amazes me how much we’ve figured out how to do underwater. For instance, cement! Now chainsaws! Although I imagine using a chainsaw while scuba diving would probably violate the terms of my life insurance policy. Paradoxically, it may be safer than using one on land; the kickback should me much slower do to the density of the water.
- alphazard 3y agoI never leave home without mine.
- aifooh7Keew6xoo 3y agoI was wondering how to determine the power of the saw and just realized (rate of flow) * (pressure) is dimensionally equivalent to watts (power) At 2000 psi and 14gpm the saw consumes 12.2 kw or 16.3 freedom (horse) powers
- Horffupolde 3y agoIt’s not just dimensionally equivalent. It is precisely that: area x pressure difference = work, take the time derivative and you get power.
- cainxinth 3y agoAnd for when you need to bring in the really big guns, there’s the underwater bulldozer: https://www.earthmoversmagazine.co.uk/digger-man/view,komatsus-underwater-marvel-blog-post-revisited_2402.htm https://www.earthmoversmagazine.co.uk/digger-man/view,komats...
- benj111 3y agoI'm most surprised that Stanley actually makes professional tools. Why do all these tool companies make actual good tools, and then license their names off to sell sub par rubbish trading off a name that used to be known for quality.
- simne 3y agoWe now need to create underwater Doom with them!