The Handshouse Experience: Building the Turtle

Making of the full scale replica of the David Bushnell American Revolutionary War Submarine - 1776

Uniting Unique Collaborators

• Handshouse Studio
• United States Naval Academy
• Massachusetts College of Art
• Timber Framers Guild
  
• Windfall Films

Windfall Films is a private film producer working with Discovery Channel, England's Channel 4, France's Channel 5 and Alliance Atlantis; the film company contracts with Handshouse Studio to research, coordinate and direct the making of a full-scale working replica of the David Bushnell submarine. Windfall Films makes a documentary of the project.

Handshouse Studio works with a film company as a partner in providing educational opportunities to other interested educational institutions, organizations and to the public. We contact and work with appropriate and interested educational institutions, museums, organizations and professionals to participate in the making of this historic object. In this example, Handshouse Studio became the link between several educational institutions and organizations that would not otherwise work together: Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA, the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD, and members of the Timber Framers Guild.

Massachusetts College of Art students and faculty work with Handshouse Studio to research, analyze and make the various parts of the Submarine (the copper and bronze hatch, the bronze water joints, brass valves, the iron bands, the auger, the pumps, the glass barometer tube, the felt and leather gaskets). The participants research the history of craft and tools of the period, analyze the documents (letters) that describe the submarine and participate in designing the working parts of the submarine. Certain parts are made by students with their faculty at Mass Art. The bonze elements were cast in a traditional sand cast method in a foundry class, the glass tube were blown in traditional methods by a student, the felt gasket was made with traditional method in the fibers facility.

Students and faculty then participated in the Workshop from December 29 to January 10 at Handshouse Studio. During the workshop, students worked hands on with faculty and professionals (members of the Timber Frame Guild) in various disciplines to succeed in the process. The learning is not based on a regular classroom environment yet this learning process compliments traditional educational programs by providing an interdisciplinary learning environment that functions in conjunction with existing regular curriculum of collaborating institutions. These students, faculty and alumnae from Mass Art used this project to learn about traditional early American craft processes by making a wooden submarine in the way it would have been made by David Bushnell in 1775. This learning opportunity provided by the collaboration between Handshouse Studio, Windfall Film and Mass Art expanded the usual Mass Art studio classroom experience.

Mass Art Studio areas affected by this Handshouse event/project

Small Metals Program - Copper and brass and metal constructions
Glass Blowing - Rondelle, glass making
Sculpture - black smithing , wood carving/construction, foundry
Fibers - felting

Naval Academy areas affected by this Handshouse event/project

Handshouse Studio also linked with Professor Lew Nuckles at the US Naval Academy to work with Midshipmen in the hull design and the testing of the Bushnell Submarine as a part of the Academy Naval Engineering coursework:

Principles of Ocean Engineering (EN245)
Ocean Thermal Systems (EN425)
Underwater Work Systems (EN430
Testing in the Hydromechanic Lab Tow Tank

The various theoretical hull designs were generated by Handshouse/ Mass Art and the Midshipmen at the Naval Academy. The final design was the result of analysis of history and the historical documents, analysis of traditional processes and materials, analysis of scientific data, computer generated drawings, and actual making of the hull by hand. The Handshouse Studio "hands on" learning process revealed information that could not be understood with only theoretical solutions.

This exchange of knowledge, skills and information were the result of the hands-on learning process provided by a Handshouse Studio project and collaboration. Students and faculty of ocean engineering from the Naval Academy working with student and faculty of art at Mass Art and professional craftsmen from the Timber Framers Guild learned to make a revolutionary war wooden submarine and also learned about each other. Windfall Film funded the learning opportunity through Handshouse Studio and documented the process.

As a result of the collaboration, articles appeared:

1. Newspaper and web page article about the Making of the Turtle
   • Mass Art alumni and friends
   • Boston Globe
   • Trident - US Naval Academy
   • Alliance News, Colleges of the Fenway
   • US Naval Academy