Dome ID?

[Plasticover]

Hello all,

I used a geodesic dome type thing with my friend in 2004. He built it I helped assemble it. He hasn't been since, and I quit going after 2006, He has since moved but he left the shade structure but no plans and no actual covering. I remember it being a little bit involved to assemble but since I can not remember what the design was called I am a little frustrated. To the best of m recollection it was assembled with rope. It has about 12 6' PVC pipes, maybe 4 8' pipes.

Long story short I am coming out to the playa this year on a tight budget and would like to use it. does anyone know what I am talking about and could you direct me to setup instructions

[capjbadger]

With that many pipes, it doesn't match any geodesic dome design. Got pics?

-Badger

[Plasticover]

Ok, I found it. It's a geometry dome.

Question 2: not for sure but it is looking like the parachute we used is missing. on the web sites I have seen, they only use parachutes. can I use tarps ya think, or am I just designing a kite at that point.

also to badger, I had the # wrong.

[capjbadger]

Parachutes are mde to catch wind. You can use tarps. Wrapping a round object with a flat sheet will cause you to pleat it a little, but it can be done. Stake done the dome before covering it or else you will have a kite...

-Badger

[Bob]

PVC pipe that's been sitting around for years is likely to be too brittle to be dependable. Good luck.

[Plasticover]

PVC pipe that's been sitting around for years is likely to be too brittle to be dependable. Good luck.

huh, that is a good point.

how many years do people usually use pvc domes?

or otherwise, how often do folks replace this kinda thing. It seems like my friend has been using the same monkey hut for at least 5 years, and that is under allot more stress

what are some thoughts on this?

[Bob]

Sun and flexing would degrade it.

[robotland]

That many years in Michigan.....maybe. Playa adds years to materials in a week's time! My 2x4's open up, my aluminum cyclops mask is too hot to handle.... Beers go from US to UK temp in about 30 seconds.

(Babble Filter On) I'd suspect "vintage materials" out there, especially as a BurnPup. Start your personal Burn Experiment with sterile slides!

hmmm...babble filter doesn't seem to work. How do I tweak the idiom settings?

[Plasticover]

That many years in Michigan.....maybe. Playa adds years to materials in a week's time! My 2x4's open up, my aluminum cyclops mask is too hot to handle.... Beers go from US to UK temp in about 30 seconds.

(Babble Filter On) I'd suspect "vintage materials" out there, especially as a BurnPup. Start your personal Burn Experiment with sterile slides!

hmmm...babble filter doesn't seem to work. How do I tweak the idiom settings?

It has only been to the playa once....but that was 04', it worked really well. We are setting it up tomorrow so we will see what the haps is.

Also, what is a BurnPup? Sterile slides?

[Eric]

It has only been to the playa once....but that was 04', it worked really well.

Doesn't matter that it was only there in '04, it's been sitting & aging for 7 years now. Definitely put it up before you take it out to the playa and then put pressure on all the crossbars & struts to see if they can still handle the pressure. You don't want your only shade to break if a 70 mile an hour wind hits it.

[Plasticover]

It has only been to the playa once....but that was 04', it worked really well.

Doesn't matter that it was only there in '04, it's been sitting & aging for 7 years now. Definitely put it up before you take it out to the playa and then put pressure on all the crossbars & struts to see if they can still handle the pressure. You don't want your only shade to break if a 70 mile an hour wind hits it.

Oh for sure, we are setting it up tomorrow.

Also the only plans I can find to put it together are from geometrydome.com, it has really good construction plans but calls for "several hundred feet of rope". Why is this? do you thread it through all of the pvc pieces, it is not clear on this. I don't really remember to well but I feel like we just tied the connector pieces together. "several hundred feet" of 100 pound rope is pricy.

does anyone have any hints or tricks they have used with this design. We are fast approaching gameday and would love any help you fine folks could offer

[Eric]

Also the only plans I can find to put it together are from geometrydome.com, it has really good construction plans but calls for "several hundred feet of rope". Why is this? do you thread it through all of the pvc pieces, it is not clear on this.

Those instructions that start on the very first page you posted are pretty clear. I glanced at them and got the gist, if I had the dome in front of me it would be fairly easy (as long as you know how to tie knots). If those instructions aren't clear to you- don't bring the dome. Seriously- the last thing you need is something you're trying to set up with the sun beating down on you & you can't remember how to put it together. Guaranteed screaming meltdown.

This link will take you to the google search for all the shade structure ideas on eplaya. This late in the game I'd go for ease over a complex structure you don't remember how to put together.

[capjbadger]

Ah! 25 struts, all the same size. A 1 frequency dome. Very simple.



-Badger

[Plasticover]

"Those instructions that start on the very first page you posted are pretty clear. I glanced at them and got the gist, if I had the dome in front of me it would be fairly easy (as long as you know how to tie knots)."


Yea very easy plans, the fact that the say "several hundred feet of rope" is a bit confusing.

Thinking about it it seems very unnecessary for so much rope. but this is the only site that I have really checked and other plans seem to be scarce.

Test run tomorrow after digging this thing out of a friends garage, if anyone else has any constructive criticism please post.

Lotsa thanks for all the help, namely to badger

[capjbadger]

No problem.

Looks like the tons of rope is due to the crossroping of the triangle faces to help support the covering. Otherwise the cloth will billow inwards and catch a ton of wind and put a massive strain on the structure.
http://geometrydome.com/inst04a.html


Let's do some math...

Since they are using 10ft struts, each triangle face is 8.66ft tall.
Each face has 3 ropes, so with wrapping the rope a bit, we'll say 9.5ft per rope, times 3 ropes = 28.5ft of rope per face.
The dome has 15 faces. Minus one face for the door... 14 x 28.5 = 399ft of rope.

You can get 150ft of 1/4in rope for anywhere from $4-$20 depending on the type of rope. Just don't get that clothesline cloth stuff. It's complete crap.

-Badger

[Bob]

Online I'm seeing ~$22 for a 600 ft spool of 1/4" poly truck rope. Home Depot probably has spools of common rope.

[Plasticover]

OK, it went up. took a little doing but I figure another set up and break down before the playa will suffice for a smooth going on site. Any way, I found a parachute for cheapish but I am having doubts if that is what I wanna do.

I have found some real heavy duty reflective silver tarps and I figure 2 10x12, and maybe another bigger one facing east that would hang down more for morning would be nice and work well with bungees and such. This would make it more waterproof (not a huge concern but we have been having wacky weather all year, all over), better protection from the sun, also cheaper ( well almost the same).

With this design (exactly the above picture, but PVC) I see it working well. Any thoughts?

I was pondering the wind thing but that parachute idea seems allot less stable, and with this plan I could bring a spare tarp in case of problems.

Thanks for all your help and keep it coming.

[capjbadger]

Copied over from the starplate thread...

What you are building (forgive me if you already know all this ) is an Icosahedron (minus the bottom).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icosahedron
The nice thing is to cover the sides, you don't have to cut out a bunch of triangles. The "Tilt out/Point up" and "Tilt in/Point down" triangles even out to a flat rectangle of cloth. The top 5 triangles are the only "odd" bit as far as covering it.

(Ignore those bottom triangles)
It may help to print this out and play with it before you start cutting cloth.

If you do it right, you'd only need 3 pieces of cloth (1 for the side, 2 for the roof). I'm stiching it all together as one cover and then just slipping it over the whole thing (easier said than done of course. My struts are 8'8" )

-Badger