Cover me, I'm going in...

[Sunbeam56]

It was a full day, but we wasted a lot of time making sure we knew which strut was next.
It was a mistake to build from the ground up, next time we suspend it.
Some minor tweaks we learned. Its good to try a proto before going real.
Using cordless drills was a big plus.
Many ideas for version 1.02.

[Roark]

Thanks, Ygmir. High praise indeed from a man who bends and welds too!

[Sunbeam56]

Some photos of the fully assembled dome.

[TT120]

WOW! That dome looks great! I wish I could build stuff like that.

Even the way you stacked all the poles on the table for a pic is impressive. Way beyond anything I could do.

[Frizzboom]

WOW!

[Savannah]

Gorgeous dome, Roark & Sunbeam!

Oh, to be handy . . .

If you are going to assemble that without gloves on playa, have some lotion and something more buff to go over it . . . solid cocoa butter in a jar, or some Bag Balm, or Yarn Lover's Lotion . . . and some Liquid Bandage for your poor cuticles. Obviously you know how much work it is already, but add the playa dust to things, and your hands are really going to suffer in 5 hours. I usually manage to demolish my nails and cuticles in a mere hour.

[MyDearFriend]

Gorgeous dome, Roark & Sunbeam!

Oh, to be handy . . .

If you are going to assemble that without gloves on playa, have some lotion and something more buff to go over it . . . solid cocoa butter in a jar, or some Bag Balm, or Yarn Lover's Lotion . . . and some Liquid Bandage for your poor cuticles. Obviously you know how much work it is already, but add the playa dust to things, and your hands are really going to suffer in 5 hours. I usually manage to demolish my nails and cuticles in a mere hour.

I have had good results with Badger Balm. And if you absolutely must have bare fingertips to handle those nuts, try cutting the tips off a pair of knit work gloves, and leave your knuckles protected. No kidding that stuff will eat a hole if it finds broken skin.

[Sunbeam56]

Thanks for the ideas. The tip of my thumb and first finger are sore. No cuts tho. Roark was careful with the deburring and polishing ends. I didnt feel a rough edge in the entire set up.
The man is a maniac about details.

We are going to take it down and reassemble a couple more times. Have some tweaks to add, and ideas to try.
Right now its going to sit there so i can make some measurements for the cover, while he fusses over the entry.

[Roark]

Thanks for the praise. This is turning into a genuinely fun project. Skinning the dome will be interesting.

Savannah, MDF and others have underscored the need for hand protection and lotions, so maybe I will do both. Out here we have CornHuskers Lotion, so I may take some of that as a trial as well as the Bag Balm/Badger Balm if I can find them. Liquid Bandage is always on-hand as I am a total klutz. TOTAL. Family and friends just follow the blood trail if they need me.

Presently thinking how to do a complete assembly with gloves on. Maybe just going to a glued washer stack and using oversized nuts would fix that problem. Dunno. More things to noodle upon!

Your comments are hugely appreciated, all!

[FIGJAM]

I had all those connections to make, I'd use wingnuts.

[Sunbeam56]

Damn, you are GOOD,,,
One of the tweaks is to use wing nuts for half stacks. But they dont fit in a socket wrench, so final tightening needs to be the usual.
One of the problems we encountered going from the ground up was that the first assenbly of any ,evel left partially stacked nuts, so you had to add more struts to them in the next level. Not good to go very tight until the joint is full, so yeah, i think wings for the loose stacks.

[ygmir]

WTF? gloves? huh? C'mon, the only thing you can do with gloves on is piss your pants, cause you can't undo the zipper.
Of course, I can see MDF, Savannah, using them, they're not used to that sort of thing, even though it's said Sav. wields a wicked crowbar, and MDF is a super monkey hut builder.
This is approaching safety second, minus!!

just toughen them pud-wackers up. No good project, is worth it's salt, if you don't bleed, get burned, or bruised.

IMHO, that is.
YMMV.

[FIGJAM]

Pay no attention to that man with the singed fringe!!!

Nicks and dings on your hands that would not normally be a problem can turn into a week of pain on the playa.

I got what amounted to a paper cut that was 1/16" long and barely drew blood.

It dried and cracked, and dried and cracked, untill by thursday it was 1/4" long and 1/16" WIDE!

A very painful distraction.

Any open wound can do this due to the dust.

[thisisthatwhichis]

We always built from the ground up because of the weight. If you leave the bolts and nuts loose on the joints until the very end, then tighten them after it's constructed, it works good. Wings nuts could be a pain. Power drills with sockets are much faster for tightening and loosening....

Friends are a MUST!!...

[Roark]

TITWI: Those are F3 domes? Excellent pictures! And I definitely agree that friends are a must. But... Ummm... A dome in a dome? Just how much beer was involved there?

Ygmir: I love ya like a brother, but its hard to take that advice from someone who is smouldering. LMAO!

FigJam: keep an eye on Ygmir. This is a no smoking zone.

[thisisthatwhichis]

Yea, I didn't have room for both domes on the property. Actually, building them like that made the second one really easy....

An Beer.... Yes BEER!!!.... 24x7........

phpBB [video]

[ygmir]

TITWI: Those are F3 domes? Excellent pictures! And I definitely agree that friends are a must. But... Ummm... A dome in a dome? Just how much beer was involved there?

Ygmir: I love ya like a brother, but its hard to take that advice from someone who is smouldering. LMAO!

FigJam: keep an eye on Ygmir. This is a no smoking zone.

live near the fire, pal.........get singed, get burned, just put it out in time. It's like the razor.

[Sunbeam56]

Rained out today.

[Mojojita]

I nominate Roark and Sunbeam as Stealth Virgins

[ygmir]

2nd

[TT120]

They sure don't seem like Birgins do they?

[Sunbeam56]

Luv youse.

Totally born again Virgins to the Burn. Never been.
However, extensive engineering and infrastructure experience.
Roark use to race at Willow Springs (desert).
I've been camping all my life.
I got kicked out of Girl Scouts... hahahah.... they had a camp out, and told us to bring something for dinner. I took a whole raw chicken.... they didn't grok.

[thisisthatwhichis]

They sure don't seem like Birgins do they?

Yea, they could teach Bergins something........ Hope to meet you both out there this year......