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Triangle construction/ making jigs

Allthetrianglesinadomeframeusebasicallythesameconstructionmethod,threelengthsof chamferedmoldinghavetheappropriateanglescutononeend.Themoldingsarethenplacedon thejig(squareedgeinside)thengluedandscrewedtogetherusing60mmNo4screws.The protrudingendsarethencutofftoformthefinishedtriangleframe.Usingajigensuresthatall thetrianglesareaccurateandthesamesize,accuracyof0.5mmshouldbepossiblewithcareful manufacture.Becausethetriangleframesareequilateraltrianglesaframecanbeflippedover alongtheverticalaxisandshouldstillfitthejigperfectly,ifthereareanygapswhenthisisdone yourjigwillneedtobeadjusted.Theequilateraltrianglesshouldfitsnuglyanywayround.Both thepentagonandhexagontriangleshaveonesidethatisthesamelength,makeonetriangleon eachjigandcheckthattheyfittogetherbeforemakingallthetriangles. Jigmakingandtestingtriangleframes. 1. Draw very accurate pent and Equilateral triangle on a piece of ply 2. Fix angled timber very accurately on the lines ( I screw them to the ply to stop them moving) angle on outside. See diagram below for noggin detail) 3. Double check all measurements 4. Fix square molding inside the frame you have made and screw to ply to make jig 5. Remove outside triangle frame and flip over its central axis, it should fit back on the jig perfectly 6 make test triangle with your jig, do this with pent and equilateral frames 7. Take an equilateral frame and a pent frame and join them together to check that the base of each triangle is exactly the same size. 8. Finally take 5-pent frames and join them together to form one pentagon. They should fit together nicely, you may need to nip them up with cramps but there should be no gaps at the centre of the pentagon.

Basebeamdetail.

Sidedoordetail

Thesidepanelsarecutfrombirchfacedexternalgradeplyormarinegradeply. Thedoorshave2X1framesthatarecoveredbeforebeinginsertedintothedoors Thedoorpostsarecutfrom3X2thentrimmedtomakethedoorsfitnicely(thereshouldbenoneed toadjustorplanetheactualdoors)seeexplodedviewaboveformoredetails:

Windowscanbefittedonanyhorizontalstruts,flashingisfittedabovethewindowtostopwater ingressandaTsectionisfittedtobracetheframeandtofitawindowopener.Thewindowframeis madeusingastandardhexorpentframethatisturnedaroundtofitagainstanidenticalframeofthe dome.Seesectionalviewsbelowformoredetail:

Windowconstructiondetails

Usegoodquality5seasonhorticulturalgradepolythenetocoverthedomepanels.Forspeedand efficiencywewillbecoveringthreeprejoinedpanelsatatimeasthisisthemostyoucancoverwithout gettinganycreasinginthepolythene.Thepentagonpanelshaveatopsectionoftwopanelscovered separatelyfromthebottomthreepanelsandahexagoniscoveredintwoseparatethreetriangle panels.Whencuttingthepolytheneyouwillneedtoleaveabout3(75mm)aroundtheedgestoallow forstretchingandstaplingtotheframe,seediagrambelow.

Togetanicedrumtightcoverovertheframeitsbesttodothecoveringinawarmenvironment, polytheneexpandsquitealotwhenwarmedsoifyoucovertheframesonacolddaythepolythenemay puckerorsagonahotday.Gettinganeventensionwithoutanyfoldscanbequitetrickysotakeyour time,usethediagrambelowtohelpgetaneventension.

Stretchingandstaplinginstructions

Pullthecoverastightasyoucanwithouttearingitandstapleevery23downtheedges(whenthe domegoestogetherthestaplesarecovered)trimanyexcesspolytheneoffwhenyouhavestapledall thewayround. Tips: Covertheframesinawarmenvironment;alsokeeptherollofpolythenefilminawarmplacefor 24hoursbeforeyouattemptcoveringtheframes.Ifyoucovertheframesinacoldenvironment thefilmmayexpandwhenwarmweathercomescausingthepolythenetobecomelooseonthe framework. Avoidexcessivepullingofthepolytheneovertheframewithyourhands;usecanvaspliersor widemouthedmolegripswerepossible.Thereareabout35framestocoverandusingyour handstotensionthepolythenecanresultinrepetitivestressinjuriestoyourfingers,wristsand forearms. Useagoodqualitystaplegun(preferablyelectricorairpowered)youwillbeputtinghundreds ofstaplesin,usingacheapstaplercanresultinstaplesnotbeingfullydrivenintothewood whichwouldrequiretapinginwithahammerlater. Somepolythenecovershavespecialtreatmentslikeantifogcoatingsetcandaremarked showingwhichsideistogooutside.Usecoloredtapeorsomethingsimilartomarktheoutsideof thesheetwhenyoucutcoversfromtherollforeachframe.

Itisveryimportanttofixthedometunnelfirmlytotheground;thedomestructuregetsitsincredible strengthfromthisunion.Ifthedomeisnotproperlyfixeddownitcandeformorblowawayinvery strongwinds,particularattentionshouldbegiventothedoorareasothatthedoordoesntdeform. Belowisadiagramshowingfixingmethodstosoftsurfaceslikegrassordirtandalsohardsurfaceslike tarmacorconcrete.

Fixingtotheground

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