Rad Inexpensive Geo dome

Materials and expertise...whether you need them or have them to share, you can let folks know here.

Is this a good Geo dome for the Burn?

Poll ended at Fri Feb 06, 2009 4:47 pm

Yes
2
6%
Yes
2
6%
no
6
17%
no
6
17%
maybe so
6
17%
maybe so
6
17%
why did you waste my time?
4
11%
why did you waste my time?
4
11%
 
Total votes: 36

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Anti-Hero
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Rad Inexpensive Geo dome

Post by Anti-Hero » Fri Jan 23, 2009 4:47 pm

So I found this Rad Geo Dome that is fairly inexpensive........ I think it could def be used for the Burn.... what do you think?

http://www.domeclimber.com/8ft.php
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
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Anti-Hero
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Post by Anti-Hero » Fri Jan 23, 2009 5:01 pm

I see like 8 views...... no responses....... weak-sauce...
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gyre
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Post by gyre » Fri Jan 23, 2009 8:47 pm

I think someone mentioned this in the past.
Where is the door?
How much wind load will it take?

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Elderberry
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Post by Elderberry » Fri Jan 23, 2009 9:48 pm

Anti-Hero wrote:I see like 8 views...... no responses....... weak-sauce...
I don't think anyone knows exactly what to say. The person that asked about the door and the wind load was asking the right questions. I think it's actually pretty small for a shade structure.

JK
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Post by THIZZkid » Fri Jan 23, 2009 9:49 pm

i say good work son. if its ment to be climbed on i imagine that it will take a pretty good wind storm. not too bad of a price for us broke middle class citizens
if you want to live... you gots to thizz

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Post by Bounce530 » Sat Jan 24, 2009 1:03 am

I'd bet that for 400 bones you could buy the stuff to build a playa dome with a door and twice the size. But it wouldn't be plug'n'play like your link. So its up to you, size vs. ease.
What other people think about you is none of your business.

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Post by capjbadger » Sat Jan 24, 2009 2:12 am

If you want "plug-n-play" domes (1 freq), I love my Starplates...
http://www.strombergschickens.com/starp ... _index.php

Check out the chart on the bottom of this link. Good info. I got my set from the first link.
http://www.avonelectric.co.nz/starplate/

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Post by Toolmaker » Sat Jan 24, 2009 5:24 am

Anti-Hero wrote:I see like 8 views...... no responses....... weak-sauce...
Ya gotta give folks more than 14 mins to reply.. some of us have jobs n stuff

Only John Kisha can reply within that time frame.
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Ugly Dougly
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Post by Ugly Dougly » Sat Jan 24, 2009 8:54 am

capjbadger wrote:If you want "plug-n-play" domes (1 freq), I love my Starplates...
http://www.strombergschickens.com/starp ... _index.php

Check out the chart on the bottom of this link. Good info. I got my set from the first link.
http://www.avonelectric.co.nz/starplate/

Badger
Yay, starplates!

Notice, in that picture of the kiddy's jungle gym, those are four-foot high children. How tall are you, and what size doorway do you need?

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diane o'thirst
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Post by diane o'thirst » Mon Jan 26, 2009 12:24 am

1.) PVC — baaaaaad. PVC turns into hydrochloric acid in contact with fire, production connected with cancer, and unstable in UV light. Just pony up for a drill press, sledgehammer and EMT pipe.

2.) 2000 pounds distributed weight load? Feh. Barely enough to support a hammock.

3.) Too short. You want more headroom.

4.) Like the man said...where's the door?
[url=http://tinyurl.com/245sagf][img]http://tinyurl.com/2bbr28j/.gif[/img][/url][url=http://tinyurl.com/23753ws][img]http://tinyurl.com/2auqebj/.gif[/img][/url][url=http://tinyurl.com/m4y82q][img]http://tinyurl.com/l56rdn/.gif[/img][/url]

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Post by capjbadger » Mon Jan 26, 2009 1:32 am

Actually folks, that link is for the big dome. 8ft high, 15ft dia.
That's about the same since as an "idea" EMT 2 freq dome. Plenty of room.

He will have to remove a strut to make a door, but that should be fine.

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Post by robotland » Mon Jan 26, 2009 8:25 am

Or you could use two "rebar staples" on not-too-far-apart sections and then a removable anchor on the opposing side, and then just flip it up to enter!

...I'm suspicious of the many, many more fasteners involved with those kiddie domes, although I'll admit to examining them at Sam's Club. I like that they "build gross motor skills"!
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gyre
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Post by gyre » Mon Jan 26, 2009 10:04 am

robotland wrote:
...I'm suspicious of the many, many more fasteners involved with those kiddie domes, although I'll admit to examining them at Sam's Club. I like that they "build gross motor skills"!
For the parents?

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Post by Ugly Dougly » Mon Jan 26, 2009 10:10 am

If you make the struts out of 2x4s you can burn them or resuse them.
Sorry, Starplates only produce a single-frequency dome. :(

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Post by Bob » Mon Jan 26, 2009 11:09 am

diane o'thirst wrote:1.) PVC — baaaaaad. PVC turns into hydrochloric acid in contact with fire, production connected with cancer, and unstable in UV light.
And you could break your neck & die falling from a height of eight feet.
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Post by Toolmaker » Mon Jan 26, 2009 6:20 pm

Bob wrote:
diane o'thirst wrote:1.) PVC — baaaaaad. PVC turns into hydrochloric acid in contact with fire, production connected with cancer, and unstable in UV light.
And you could break your neck & die falling from a height of eight feet.
You can't hang yourself properly for a suicide, at least they have that going for them.
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Post by capjbadger » Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:52 pm

Ugly Dougly wrote:If you make the struts out of 2x4s you can burn them or resuse them.
Sorry, Starplates only produce a single-frequency dome. :(
I said they were 1 freq domes...

Badger
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Post by Ugly Dougly » Tue Jan 27, 2009 10:17 am

Sorry, I am slow in the head. :(

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Post by robotland » Tue Jan 27, 2009 10:50 am

Ugly Dougly wrote:If you make the struts out of 2x4s you can burn them or resuse them.
Sorry, Starplates only produce a single-frequency dome. :(
Talk about yer Holy Grail...I've looked high and low for "Frequency Two Starplates"...guess I'll have to Do-ocracy Up and make 'em myself. I mean, it's sure possible- You'd need three distinct types of plates, for four-, five- and six-way junctions, that's all. Couplers could be made from lengths of tubing, by cutting "flaps" into both ends and then bending them over. Then you drill holes into the flaps to accept wood screws.

Trickier than it sounds...Flat tabs from round tubing ain't easy, and while square tubing is accessible it's harder to find "hex-tube" and REALLY harder to find "penta-tube".

...Stud hangers (4, 5 or 6) welded onto sections of pipe?
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gyre
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Post by gyre » Tue Jan 27, 2009 11:49 am

I'll have to try to dig out my copy of Domebook 2 if it's hard to find and see if some of the math might be useful. (See downloads)
There used to be a number of plates for building these.
I tend to think panel construction is the way to go for domes myself.

Will Super-Lok connectors work?

Downloads
http://www.publiccollectors.org/Complet ... ations.htm

http://www.shelterpub.com/_shelter/refried_domes.html
http://collections.stanford.edu/bucky/b ... rward=home
http://www.buckminster.info/Biblio/Abou ... ookOne.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd_Kahn
http://www.pacificdomes.com/about_dome_history3.html

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Post by Toolmaker » Tue Jan 27, 2009 12:34 pm

robotland wrote:
Ugly Dougly wrote:If you make the struts out of 2x4s you can burn them or resuse them.
Sorry, Starplates only produce a single-frequency dome. :(
Talk about yer Holy Grail...I've looked high and low for "Frequency Two Starplates"...guess I'll have to Do-ocracy Up and make 'em myself. I mean, it's sure possible- You'd need three distinct types of plates, for four-, five- and six-way junctions, that's all. Couplers could be made from lengths of tubing, by cutting "flaps" into both ends and then bending them over. Then you drill holes into the flaps to accept wood screws.

Trickier than it sounds...Flat tabs from round tubing ain't easy, and while square tubing is accessible it's harder to find "hex-tube" and REALLY harder to find "penta-tube".

...Stud hangers (4, 5 or 6) welded onto sections of pipe?
I too have been pondering connection of both 2x4 starplate style and strut domes. The best I could come up with for the starplate is just to weld plates together they do not offer making sure the angles are right etc. The domes strut method is a lil tricky. Weld your "sleeves" at the right angles etc and just slip your struts in on playa and bolt together. I didn't save a whole hell of alot of assembly time but there was labor so I guess it depends on how "high tech" you want your dome. Buy using this method I was able to avoid labor with bending and flattening my struts. I also have an idea concerning making an inner an outer plate that would lock struts in and be a lil stronger but that would require making an upper and lower die for each plate. I haven't really bothered to draw anything like that up in MasterCAM yet but will eventually get to it. But in all seriousness consider using the "pipe sleeve" I use and try it on a small scale, you'll save time.. I promise. Somewhere I saw a place that did offer the angles and 5 way connectors but I lost the url and if memory serves they were REALLY pricey so I wound up putting my own together. I did get the link from an eplaya post though.. good luck finding it lol.
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Post by lilsrra » Fri Mar 20, 2009 10:44 am

I'd say scratch that, since it has a lot of downsides (many, many fasteners which will take forever to set up, it's plastic which is not as sturdy, etc.) and just build your own. I've been doing a lot of research into building a geodome and have created a simplified document describing everything based on information gathered from various websites. After calculating the prices for everything it comes to a measly $315.73. That price just includes the actual dome structure (but so does the one you're looking at) and not the tarp covering, but prices for the tarps needed look pretty darn cheap as well. So you'll be saving $100, plus have a more sturdy, slightly bigger, and less complicated dome.

Here's the information I've gathered, along with pricing and where to buy the materials. Good luck.

----------------

Building a 2V Geodesic Dome (~8 ½’ Radius)

Total Materials Price: $315.73

Step 1) Materials, Prices & Tools

1) 40 pieces of ¾â€

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Post by bx1 » Fri Mar 20, 2009 1:08 pm

I don't think you can really consider a "2V" an actual dome. It's more of a tent frame.
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Post by bx1 » Fri Mar 20, 2009 1:11 pm

bx1 wrote:I don't think you can really consider a "2V" an actual dome. It's more of a tent frame.
Nevermind, I was thinking of a 1V...
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Post by Toolmaker » Fri Mar 20, 2009 2:07 pm

[quote="lilsrra"]

7) Empire ¼â€
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Post by mdmf007 » Fri Mar 20, 2009 2:29 pm

[quote="Toolmaker"][quote="lilsrra"]

7) Empire ¼â€

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Post by djnormanj » Sun Apr 05, 2009 5:23 pm

You could remove a few of the struts for a door and pitch your tent in there.
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Post by Toolmaker » Tue Apr 07, 2009 2:50 pm

[quote="mdmf007"][quote="Toolmaker"][quote="lilsrra"]

7) Empire ¼â€
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Re: Rad Inexpensive Geo dome

Post by mastermtn » Wed May 13, 2009 7:36 pm

[quote="Anti-Hero"]So I found this Rad Geo Dome that is fairly inexpensive........ I think it could def be used for the Burn.... what do you think?

[url]http://www.domeclimber.com/8ft.php[/url][/quote]

Having built a few domes..this looks good...I used 2" PVC
(when it was cheap) @ 10 ft lengths and roped joints

I found it was not so much the dome but the coverage..I would
use camo and a (not blue eghads!) tarp if it ahhh..rained (wassdat??)..
or cloth/canvas for the playa dust...

Parachutes do not stop UV...and the anchor it impt//read 2' rebar
and capped/lite
Everything you can imagine is real. - Picasso

He who climbs upon the highest mountains laughs
at all tragedies, real or imaginary --Nietzsche

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Post by mastermtn » Thu May 14, 2009 8:38 am

[quote="diane o'thirst"]1.) PVC — baaaaaad. PVC turns into hydrochloric acid in contact with fire, production connected with cancer, and unstable in UV light. Just pony up for a drill press, sledgehammer and EMT pipe.

\Most PVC today is UV stablized...and who said anythin 'bout burnin'
PVC anyway? Had my 2"PVC dome for 5 yrs now...still strong enuf
for 2 hammocks fully loaded (trick is to anchor each major node
to 2 foot rebar with some good rope outside the dome then
be sure to cross tie each node inside the dome with rope as well...)


R
Everything you can imagine is real. - Picasso

He who climbs upon the highest mountains laughs
at all tragedies, real or imaginary --Nietzsche

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