How stretchy is aluminet, anyway? (making a scale model)

Riv · Post by **Riv** » Sat May 10, 2014 9:52 am

I want to make a small model of a simple shade structure before I go ordering aluminet--probably at 1"=1'. Is T-shirt jersey fabric appropriate here, or should I look for something more like spandex or tights?

EspressoDude · Post by **EspressoDude** » Sat May 10, 2014 11:22 am

ask for a sample and form your own opinion. Def not like spandex

sadie · Post by **sadie** » Sat May 10, 2014 3:56 pm

it stretches more diagonally than it does width or lengthwise. Jersey is probably a little more stretchy than aluminet is, but would work fine for a scale model.

EspressoDude · Post by **EspressoDude** » Sat May 10, 2014 7:51 pm

actually the amount of stretch will make little difference in the amount to buy, but will affect seam allowances for final fit. Be aware that the major users of aluminet are huge commercial greenhouses and they have or will order very soon. Do not delay ordering what you need

Riv · Post by **Riv** » Sat May 10, 2014 11:22 pm

Thanks for the tip, I'll order ASAP!

For the curious, I was inspired by this thread's latest update. Here's my Kodiak tent from last year--shaded only by the shadow of my Monkey Hut and some sarongs I strung up between the tent and the hut with spring clamps. Surely I can do better this year with some aluminet! Redesigning my hut to be both longer and taller was one option, but I'd rather not make a structure bigger than I need and more prone to wind load. So I'd like to leave the hut as-is and devise something special-purpose just for the tent, ideally bridging from the hut to the tent like last year.

Here's my mockup of the cross-beam design suggested in the thread linked above. 30' pieces of PVC! The arc at the front represents the rear rib of the monkey hut. I'm pretty pleased with this design, but it *is* a lot of mucking around with PVC (in 5' sleeved sections), and I'm not totally sold on the structural properties of PVC when the wind is at a diagonal to the arc rather than perpendicular like with a MH.

No frame, showing the back of the tent which I'm leaving mostly uncovered since there's a door there. Hoping the foot or two of overhang will do the trick until the afternoon.

Shot in worse lighting showing "beach ball" spacers. The idea of putting some random objects between the tent and the aluminet keeps coming up, but I've never heard of someone trying it. So I'm going to! I'm thinking of beach balls, inflated 2/3 of the way, that are in some kind of bag. Then the bag can be spring-clamped to the tent to keep the balls from travelling or MOOPing. I should get a little extra air gap this way.

I'm going to buy enough aluminet to make the cross-beam structure or a simple monkey hut in the future, should this drape+spacers plan not give me enough shade. I think I'll be able to tuck/fold the excess and use shark bites on the folded-over pieces.

We'll see how it goes! I'll take pictures and report back

Riv · Post by **Riv** » Sat May 10, 2014 11:30 pm

Oh, and I ended up going with some organza type fabric because seeing through it seemed more useful than experiencing the stretch. That stuff does stretch on the bias some, so realistic enough for my purposes.

sharke · Post by **sharke** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 4:33 pm

Hi Riv, very interesting design - any update on your progress? FWIW I also have a 10x10 Kodiak tent and I found that a teepee structure (14' center pole against the front of the tent, ends bungied to candy cane rebar on all sides) worked pretty well last year, but next time I plan to use a more breathable fabric.

Riv · Post by **Riv** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 8:26 pm

I don't think I'm going to have a free weekend between now and then to do a test run, so it's going to be a matter of improvising on-playa! Worst case scenario I'm just where I was last year...

I've revised my plan a little--I'm going to lash some PVC to the upright poles and cap them with tennis balls to get more elevation from the roof. I'd like a better story for keeping an air gap on the sides than "stake the aluminet out really far", but one hasn't come to me yet...

How stretchy is aluminet, anyway? (making a scale model)

How stretchy is aluminet, anyway? (making a scale model)

Re: How stretchy is aluminet, anyway? (making a scale model)

Re: How stretchy is aluminet, anyway? (making a scale model)

Re: How stretchy is aluminet, anyway? (making a scale model)

Re: How stretchy is aluminet, anyway? (making a scale model)

Re: How stretchy is aluminet, anyway? (making a scale model)

Re: How stretchy is aluminet, anyway? (making a scale model)

Re: How stretchy is aluminet, anyway? (making a scale model)