geodesic dome tent construction instructions

8/11/2019 Geodesic Dome Tent Construction Instructions

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Geodesic Dome Tent Construction Instructions

These instructions are for an order-three icosahedral base geodesic dome.The dome is approx.24 feet in diameter (142 inch radius .

Constructed dome! courtes" of Greg #.

It re$uires 120 struts %hich can be cut from 60 1&ft pipes. Three different length pieces are used('! and C . )se 1*2 inch +,T (electrical metal tubing pipe that comes in 1& foot segments.This is a gal ani ed steel conduit pipe that costs approx /1.0& per 1& ft length. ou can bu"these from ome Despot or other %arehouse st"le hard%are stores. The" come in bundles of1&. Get 3& pipes plus a fe% extra. ou %ill also need 43 bolts! 43 nuts and 2 %ashers. The bolt%idth is not critical. 1*4 inch diameter steel bolts %ill certainl" be strong enough.

name length $uantit"

' 0 0*5 inch 0&

05 6*5 inch 4&

C 0& *13 inch 6&

+ach segment of pipe is cut into t%o pieces (of possibl" une$ual length ! thus7
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There should be a little tube left o er at the end of each pipe. The final length of each pieceshould be as accurate as possible (preferabl" to %ithin 1*138 . 'ccurate pipe construction %illma9e the dome assembl" easier.

:nce the pipes are cut! the ends of each pipe need to be flattened b" hammering orcompression. The ideal tool for this tas9 is a shop press ! but unfortunatel" these are not so eas"to come b". ammering %ith a hea " sledge hammer can be a good option if "ou ha e plent" ofagression to get out and a space %here "ou can ma9e lots of noise. :ther%ise "ou canimpro ise a press using a er" hea " ise and a piece of hea " pipe as a handle. Don;t tr" touse the +,T pipe as a ise handle! because it is not strong enough and %ill bend.


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't this stage "ou should file the ends of each strut to remo e an" sharp corners and burrscreated b" the cutting and drilling. This reduces the ris9 of the dome co ering cloth catching andtearing on the strut ends.

=ext bend the flattened end of each pipe o er b" about 12@. The exact angle is not critical.

ie% from the sideA sections mar9ed %ith thic9er lines

+ach section of the dome uses the same struts in the same places. :f course %e don;t ha e tobuild it in sections. Be can build it top-do%n. It ?ust helps %ith isuali ing %hat goes %here.


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ie% from abo e

Dome Cover

ou ma" also need a co er for "our dome. This can be made out of a number of segments ofcloth.


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at thisdistance

frombase

(in feet%idth is(inches

15 &

13 1&

14 2&

12 6&

1& 6

5 43

3 02

4 03

2 0

& 3&

This example sho%s ho% to ma9e the co er using eight segments. +ach segment is 12& inches%ide at the base and is made from t%o pieces cut from a 24 foot long! 3& inch %ide cloth. Themeasurements gi en include an allo%ance for one inch seams. If "ou are using substantiall"narro%er cloth "ou %ill need a larger number of segments. Di ide the circumference of the dome( && inches b" the %idth of "our material (minus t%o inches! to allo% for seams ! to get thenumber of pieces "ou;ll need. In this case the length and shape of the segments %ill be thesame! but the" %ill be narro%er at the base. #e% the segments together to ma9e the fullco ering.


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Dome co er! ie% from abo e

Building the dome

Instructions71 a" out dome mandala on ground2 #tart at the middle and %or9 out%ards! attaching struts %ith bolts loosel"6 :nce both ends of all struts to a ertex are loosel" bolted! that ertex can be tightened4 :nce a la"er has been completed! lift the dome onto tripods to ma9e room to %or9 on the nextla"er. #upport the dome using 0 tripods placed around at the bottom most dome la"er. >ut eachtripod near a ertex! to a oid bending the struts.

e careful during construction not to bend struts or put force on ?ointsA parts of the dome %ill beflopp" and ulnerable until all struts are attached. :nce all struts are attached "ou can tighten upthe bolts and the dome %ill be rigid.

's tempting as it is! don't climb on the dome ! e en after it;s complete - +,T pipe is made ofrelati el" thin steel! and the struts %ill bend under "our %eight.


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geodesic dome tent construction instructions

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