Who wants to build a geodesic dome?

[Ira]

I know they're big/were big in certain areas. That they're not the best use of space. And the roofing is a major concern.

Also zoning/permitting and such can be a pain. (I'm looking for a parcel that's still zoned agricultural in Florida.)

We'll see, but in the meantime, I'll start scanning that book. Just something to think about.

If I find a cheap piece of land and actually do it, I can sleep in my TD while working on it!

[Mitheral]

If you want to give it a try in a small scale take a look at http://www.monkeyc.org/dome/index.html. Might even solve your extra sleeping room problem.

[Ira]

If you want to give it a try in a small scale take a look at http://www.monkeyc.org/dome/index.html. Might even solve your extra sleeping room problem.

Hey, cool link. Thanks!

[Kevin A]

If you want to give it a try in a small scale take a look at http://www.monkeyc.org/dome/index.html. Might even solve your extra sleeping room problem.

Uh oh, I can see Ira changing his plans for a side shelter for the crab, He'll be building a cardboard dome...

[alaska teardrop]

Ira, I stopped to take this pic the other day just you and posted it in the crazy weather thread. Maybe you missed it. It is a former military dome probably purchased for very little money. Note that it is well of the ground in case of high water on your new Florida land! Fred

[Ira]

That's a TOUGH one to build. The geodesics are "easier" because they're constructed of triangles.

AND I AIN'T BUILDING A CARDBOARD ONE!

[asianflava]

I guess you guys DO line in Igloos up there.

[alaska teardrop]

Ira - It is made of a triangulated tubing frame and panels. It came from an old Army communications base located up on Murphy Dome (just happens to be the name of the hill). The present owner probably got it for just disassembling it and moving it away. Rocky - Alaska Natives never lived in igloos - just modern day would-be's And, by the way, the ice towers are being built by the local ice climbing club. They are trying to set a new world record for height.

[ALAN GEDDES]

Gee wiz ! Domes, green houses, plants,,,,,,,,,,,, I remember when I. Better not go there I guess. Maybe my next tear will have shag carpet and a lava light with strobe.

[Ira]

Maybe my next tear will have shag carpet and a lava light with strobe.

Remember we had someone here a little while ago who wanted to start building one like this? I can't remember who, and I can't remember the cool name they had for it.

[D. Tillery]

Their greatest attribute is their strength once completed. But all of your triangles are not of equal size. You will be dealing with struts of three different lengths that must be assembled in the correct sequence in layers.

I'd have to revisit the plans but I think this one was about 12' in diameter, it took 330 struts of 3 different lengths and about 600' of SS tubing. I know a guy in Lubbock, TX who who makes a lot of them and has a program that helped me design this one with the appropriate strut lengths and assembly diagram.


I plan on some how incorporating some "Bucky Ball" ideas into my tear if I could ever have enough time and money at the same time to get started. Seems I always have either one ot the other.

[Rob]

Maybe my next tear will have shag carpet and a lava light with strobe.

Alan--
That is my teardrop with a lava lamp. Well, not a lava lamp, but similar. I had trouble finding one that worked on 12V. I suspect they take a lot of power to semi-melt that stuff. We have a battery-operated unit that just has a rainbow of alternating colors. They can alternate fast or slow. GROOVY!

Rob

[Laredo]

can't help you much with the 12 volt part, but if you take a perfectly clean glass jar, fill it 1/3 of the way full with common baby oil, add 2 or 3 drops of food coloring, fill it to the top with water, and put the lid on tightly, what you have is approximately equivalent to a lava lamp.

Shake well to mix then stand inverted. Every time you swap ends, the "lava light" show starts over.