More detailed info for semi-folding, mitered Hexayurt

[princevalium]

I'm looking for more detailed information about how to do the miter cuts and how to tape/fold the mitered semi-folding Hexayurt variant. I read the information in this section of the wiki:

http://www.appropedia.org/Hexayurt_play ... g_Hexayurt

But I'm not quite clear which edges of which boards need to be mitered at which angle. More importantly, I'm not clear about how to tape the panels together (the part that's done at home), specifically if there is still the need to do a loose and a tight hinge in order to fold the three panels into a stack.

Any pointers to more detailed instructions would be helpful...

[vnprc]

Two years later and I am wondering about exactly the same thing. Did you ever find a solution?

[maladroit]

I don't think mitering is worth it. My hexayurt even has 2" walls and 1.5" roof panels and it goes together fine without mitering. I made it by myself in one day. I met someone on the way to the playa last year who had constructed a mitered yurt. He said he had been working on it for a month (granted, that was probably a month of weekends, but still it's a lot more work).

[princevalium]

Funny, I completely forgot that I asked here 2 years ago

I did not find better instructions at the time, but my girlfriend and I figured it out ourselves and it worked out great, we were super happy with how it looked and worked. A year later we helped friends build 3 more and those came out well too. We're going to use ours for the third time this year, we're about to touch it up a bit this weekend by refreshing the tapes that were exposed to the sun.

I documented the whole thing very thoroughly in a PDF for some other friends, you can get the document here:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3ynyuciaf50w ... vZY1a?dl=0

I think it's definitely worth it (especially if you use it several years), it looked so much nicer than many other hexayurts we saw on the playa, and it felt rock solid when it was tied down because of the way all the panel edges came together.

One problem is that you probably need power tools that are not very common, we happen to have a track saw that can be set to the right angles (as documented in the PDF), with a track that's long enough to cover the panel's diagonal. You might be able to do it with a good utility knife and some blade guide jig.

I don't think it will take a month. We spent 2-3 weekends on it the first time and we did it inside a San Francisco apartment so we had to do a lot of maneuvering with the big panels. Cutting and taping all edges took the longest. Having done it now and with good instructions to follow it would be faster.

[Meat Hunter]

Very nice PDF file. Even I could follow the directions.

[BBadger]

Those are nice instructions! They should be a standard reference guide, not just a drop-box link.

I like that you took the time to miter up the edges. Normally, I would think that would be too much extra work. However, that extra detail probably made the structure real high quality and solid.

[princevalium]

Thanks, glad you like the instuctions. I'll eventually post them on my website as a proper project report web page where hopefully Google will find them. I'll also see if I can get a link to the PDF posted on appropedia.org for now.

[maladroit]

Great instructions. However, I'm not sure that contributed to the longevity of the hexayurt; this will be my fourth year in the same non-mitered hexayurt.

[Elderberry]

As far as I'm concerned, taking the time to miter the sides is a waste of time and will certainly not help the longevity factor. Using the Camp Danger method of taping has proven to not only work great but makes setup a breeze and they last and last with only minor taping repairs between burns.

[vnprc]

Major thanks princevalium! That was exactly the information I was looking for. You da real MVP.

As for everyone telling me not to bother: thanks for nothing, losers. If I wanted your opinion on whether to miter I would have asked for it. =P

[princevalium]

Glad you like it vnprc, I'm happy if it benefits more people, that way the time I put into it was worth it and also I can justify extending/maintaining it.

To some of the other commenters, I didn't mean to imply that mitering the edges will help with longevity, I don't think it does that.

I like it because the clean, sharp corners and lack of gaps make it look and feel much nicer. It highlights the minimalistic, geometric look of the structure. I also think it helps with stability, the mitered panel edges push into each other nicely and deflect the forces from the tie down, it's rock solid.

If you spend the time and money to make this from scratch anyway, why not take it up a notch and try to build something that not only gets the job done, but is also beautiful and works well?

[maladroit]

Major thanks princevalium! That was exactly the information I was looking for. You da real MVP.

As for everyone telling me not to bother: thanks for nothing, losers. If I wanted your opinion on whether to miter I would have asked for it. =P

You have no right to control this conversation.

[trilobyte]

Calm down and deep breaths, vnrpc. No need to be insulting, and when it comes to posting and having conversations on a public message board you'll find that many opinions and bits of advice are offered without being solicited. It's kind of the nature of the beast.