Conduit Bangers of The World, Unite!

Elemental666 · Post by **Elemental666** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 9:00 am

wootness! I got half my holes drilled and half my ends painted, time to make the critical length jig and be ready to start assemble tomorrow!!!

About assembly, is it ok to like start then if I run out of itme I can leave it till the next day and continue or should I git 'r dun in one go?

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 9:02 am

Elemental...are you using a hand drill or a drill press?

I have to set mine up at my sisters house(flat yard) and although the yard is fenced in I'm worried about curious neighboorhood kids going for a climb.

Elemental666 · Post by **Elemental666** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 9:06 am

Drill press, I did 120 ends in about 2 hours, give or take...

the only neighborhood kid I have to worry about has a science teacher for a father and day care provider for a mother. I gave them a heads up and they said they'd keep an eye out. The father is a weekend warrior bud and homebrewer (source of all my chocolate beer ^^ ) and he volunteered to help me erect (snicker snicker) the dome!

Elemental666 · Post by **Elemental666** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 10:07 am

Well poo, my drill bit just ko'd on me and I got no car for like 2-3hours...

falk · Post by **falk** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 12:11 pm

I finished drilling my final (260th) strut yesterday afternoon. Joy!

Now there's nothing left but bending and rounding off the corners.

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 2:53 pm

I was just at the hardware store and was looking at a 3/8" bolt compared to a 1/2" drill bit and wondered....Why so much bigger? Is it because of having enough play in the struts while assembling it? Would a 7/16" hole suffice?
So, I ended up just getting a small bag of 3/8" x 2" bolts, regular ones because I didn't see any other kind. They had grade 8 yellowish ones but the threads didn't go far enough up the bolt. Got enough nuts for the whole deal and then I also grabbed a bag of 3/8" fender washers and then a bag of regular washers too, JIC.

I am NOT looking forward to drilling and bending.

falk · Post by **falk** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 5:17 pm

I think both the bolt and the hole are overkill. I'm sticking with 1/4" bolts and 9/32" holes on my 32' dome. Of course, I paid a lot of attention to precision while making the struts. I don't think I've ever heard of anybody who couldn't assemble their dome because there wasn't enough slop in the bolt holes.

I know when I built my scale model of my dome, I was off significant amounts in the strut lengths, and I was still able to assemble the dome, it just looked lumpy.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 5:16 am

The reason that I overkill on the BOLTS is because a bigger bolt is easier to hold in your dry, cracked fingers in a dust storm....A bigger HOLE is the only kind of hole that a bolt'll go into when you're pulling six struts together in that dust storm and the bolt's leaning over about 30 degrees. Plus, a tiny bit of slop around the bolt works out to be that inch you need to tweak that one bent strut.

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 6:07 am

Ah! Thank you for the hole clarification, Robo!

I tried drilling a strut last night....it did not go well. I see that I should probably make a jig and start with a smaller bit because I made only a small dent with the half inch bit.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 12:41 pm

One thing to be watchful of- When a twist bit first penetrates the metal it can "lock up", twisting the material around while it tries to chew the rest of the hole through. Less likely on a drillpress with a jig, but it can still happen. During my last big marathon strutfest I should have taken more breaks- Had the drill wrenched out of my hand a couple of times. Really tough on the wrists!

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 2:55 pm

Elemental.....did you get your dome set up yet?

Elemental666 · Post by **Elemental666** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 7:16 pm

no, I didn't make it to the hardware store yesterday so I'll be swinging by this morning and hopefully finishing up the drilling today or tomorrow. I did get my strut length jig made tho, so all I need now is a couple more drill bits...

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 7:26 pm

What did you use for a jig? Did you use a v-notched 2x4 with a pin at the end?
Did you have to pre-drill your holes with a smaller bit first?

Elemental666 · Post by **Elemental666** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 3:10 am

I used a 2x6 5.5ft long with a v cut down the center and a bolt in one end. I used s 2x6 to make it easier to clampd to the drill press table. I then measured my 3 lengths and drilled holes to mark there location. I simply line the bit up with the holes and clamp it down good and tight. Slip the drilled end of the strut over the bolt and drill the other end while holding the strut in the groove. I have pics of my stuff, but haven't put them online yet... maybe I should do that...

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 10:05 am

YES! Pictures, please!

I think I'm definately going to be using a jig for drilling the struts.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 6:47 am

Having just yesterday been diagnosed with carpal tunnel, I want all of you C-Bangers to remember to take breaks and be good to your wrists.
Okay- Go get 'em, tiger!

Elemental666 · Post by **Elemental666** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 9:21 am

HELP!!!!!

The threads for the retainer nut at the top of the drive shaft on my Drill press just broke! It can barely drill cardboard now!!!!! It's gonna take too long to replace this thing and I don't have the flow to buy another one. I've got 130 holes left to drill, SO I need to know how to do this with hand drill and pronto!!! Please please please gimme some tips on how to do this with a hand drill... I need it sooooo bad.

/*runs off crying like a child not getting its toy*/

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 10:15 am

To the rescue! (*hands on hips, head thrown back*)

Emergency Manual Override Strut Drilling Procedure 2037-B

You will need a CORDED power drill, or a LOT of batteries and a DeWalt 18V. I'd take the corded. A smaller bit, like about an eighth, is good for pilot holes. Mark 'em and drill 'em. REST YOUR WRISTS NOW AND THEN! Now: Either switch to your 1/2", or 3/8", or 7/16" or whatever-sized-hole-you-want-bit, or do as I do and use a STEPPED bit, to open that hole up. Don't force it, or it'll lock up and twist the drill out of your hand and probably hurt you in the process. THIS STAGE IS EVEN MORE WRIST-INTENSIVE.
Repeat 129 times. Serve. Enjoy!
Good luck. Lemme know if you need further assistance.

Elemental666 · Post by **Elemental666** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 2:22 pm

So yeah, I made a bunch fo phone calls for to express my sincere dissatisfaction with said drill press. Good news, they paying for the shipping to return the press AND giving me money back. Add to that the fact that there is a branch store about a hour away and they gave me the phone number. I called this store and they have a slightly weaker benchtop drill press ON SALE FOR $50!!!!!! woot woot, off I went, found it, bought it, got an extended replacement warranty for $10 (meaning if it breaks w/i 2years I bring it back and trade it in for a new one at no cost to me), total $65. So lets do the math...

1st drill press: 189.99 + 8 shipping = 197.99
2nd drill press: $64
189.99-64 = 125.99

all of a sudden I so happy that fucker broke... however, this new one has a slightly weaker motor, sooooooo we'll see if it hold up...

However, now I have a new problem, all my friends are tied up this weekend and can't swing by my place to help me take the 1st dril press apart. This thing weighs like 100+ pounds and I have to take it apart to ship it.... damn the man, damn him I say

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 11:09 am

RANDOM TIP #23726

When cutting your EMT/PVC/Bamboo/Other, save a little piece perhaps 6" long....Drill a hole in one end, and tie together samples of whatever materials you might commonly play with. I find this "Swiss army tube swatch widget" really handy when trying to figure out what cross-purposed fixture will work with what material, or what'll nest inside of what else given that some materials give I.D. and others go by O.D......

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 5:34 am

Ok Elemental.....I'm still waiting for that dome/drillpress update......oh and pictures! *grins*

P.S. Robo...that is a wonderful tip!

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 8:15 pm

Dome update....
I just finished drilling all the short struts tonight. Then I bent them all and spray painted the ends. Now they wait in the basement until I can assemble it.

I hope it works.....

Elemental666 · Post by **Elemental666** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 9:08 pm

Got my holes finished today, bending/painting after work, assembly as soon as the paint dries. Should be erect buy Friday and start cutting and hemming canvas drop clothes. Very excited but not celebrating until whe's fully clothed. Even bought a bottle of vino for the celebrate wiff.

Pics... eventuall, They are all still in the camera...

falk · Post by **falk** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 12:16 am

Woo hoo. I designed a derrick to help with building the dome top-down:

http://www.efalk.org/OasisDome/photos/bigs/hoist.gif

And here's what we built yesterday:

http://www.efalk.org/OasisDome/photos/bigs/dsc_0876.jpg

My friend Simon says that since the hoist has five legs, I should call it a "pentard".

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 5:01 am

Oh WOW! Look at that dome! That's wonderful!

Hopefully I will figure out how to post a picture of my dome when/if I can get it assembled.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 5:03 am

Hey Falk! Nicely domed!

falk · Post by **falk** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 8:50 pm

Thanks. I was really happy with how well the derrick worked out. Now I have less than 5 weeks to come up with a cover for it. Gonna be close.

supersurly · Post by **supersurly** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 9:13 pm

Hey Falk, share the construction methods of the hoist please!

falk · Post by **falk** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 12:53 am

supersurly wrote:Hey Falk, share the construction methods of the hoist please!

Sure, no prob. The hoist is a 5-legged tripod (pentapod?) with a winch at the top.

http://www.efalk.org/OasisDome/photos/hoist02.gif is a sketch of the top of the pentapod. The legs are 1" steel pipe threaded into pipe caps which are bolted to a heavy wooden disk.

The long legs themselves are just pairs of 10' pipe butted together with a sleeve at the joint. The sleeve is just a piece of 1.25" pipe that just slips over the 1" pipes. A couple of small nuts keep the sleeve in place.

http://www.efalk.org/OasisDome/photos/hoist03.gif

There was a mechanical problem when I first tried it, though. The entire structure tends to twist round on itself.

http://www.efalk.org/OasisDome/photos/hoist04.gif

I was able to partly eliminate this by adding cross-bracing to the pentapod. You can see it at the top of

http://www.efalk.org/OasisDome/photos/dsc_0858.jpg

Ludwig · Post by **Ludwig** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 3:18 am

I ported that geodome software to Mac OS X, and it is a peach. Not terribly intuitive, but read the instructions and you'll be okay. Lets you deform your standard dome (like frinstance to enlarge an entranceway,) generates strut lists and cover patterns with a bunch more detail than the online Dome Calculator (although that tool still has its place.)

Right now it's just on the project page in the form of a patch to the source code, which you'll need the Apple dev tools and lib3ds in order to build. If there's any interest expressed here I'd be happy to put together a simple executable package for those of yall who are not down with compiling your own software.

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