Driving Nails Underwater

[SuPrBuGmAn]

I've used several pnuematic cut-off wheels UW with great success, aside from saltwater corroding the ever living piss out of them.

If we're talking freshwater, I'd look for a pneuatic tool and run it off a spare tank and 1st stage. In my actual experience, they work great.

 

[Jimmer]

I've used several pnuematic cut-off wheels UW with great success, aside from saltwater corroding the ever living piss out of them.

If we're talking freshwater, I'd look for a pneuatic tool and run it off a spare tank and 1st stage. In my actual experience, they work great.

Agreed, I used an impact wrench off my drysuit whip last summer to get the props off a boat.

 

[muddiver]

Lose some of your dive weight and take a 1 lb to 2 lb drilling hammer with a short handle.

Most penumatic tools are depth limited and if you don't have tools specifically built for underwater use, they won't last more than a few months.

 

[noladiver]

The drilling hammer looks pretty nice and lots of gas!!

 

[The Chairman]

I just finished a chat with the Bostitch people and she said that none of thier tools work underwater. Back to the sledge and a lift bag

Sounds more like a CYA answer on their part!!! I have used air tools in pools (A drill) and just pulled my compressor near the edge. I saw no deprecation of functionality: pressure is pressure.

 

[noladiver]

Would I need to crank the pressure up on the compressor the deeper I go?

 

[Charlie99]

Would I need to crank the pressure up on the compressor the deeper I go?

If you are powering it from a scuba style regulator that is with you, the pressure goes up to compensate for depth.

If the compressor is topside, then you effectively lose 15psi for every 33 feet of depth (remember from OW cert class about 33fsw being 1 atmosphere or 14.7psi). So things might get a bit sluggish if you are really deep.

My concern would be the effect of water inside the tool. Water has a lot more resistance to movement than does air, and getting water into the moving parts may affect how the tool operates. Another difference is that water doesn't compress, while air does, so that's another way that having a tool with the innards full of water may cause it to malfunction. That probably won't change much with depth, so if the tool works in a bathtub, then it should probably work at depth.

 

[Hank49]

How about using a manual hand drill for the hole making and then drive in large self starting screws with a box end wrench? WD40 it and grease the manual drill after every day's use.

 

[DiveBarbadosBlue]

From my experience (coral tagging, transect marking, coral transplantation...) old fashioned hammer really not that bad, just watch the thumbs
Good luck

 

[SparticleBrane]