My Wonder Board

Well let me show you more about my board.

There are marking lines for each sizes of tubing. That slot on top is very important to help avoid a big mistake.

The flattening ends need to face the same direction not at 90 degrees from each other, like above LOL.
Notice how I labeled the pipe.

                                                    Just use the slot and insert one end.

                                         Place the opposite end in the press bench and squish.

Also there is a seam that runs from one end to the other. When you place the tubing in the press make sure that the seam is at a 45 degree angle or the seam will split.

 That's it for today.  I only messed up 3 tubes so far which means I'm 3 short so I better buy extras.

 

Here I am measuring the A strut. The broad is a 1x4x6 placed on two of my kitchen table chairs.  I'm in my bedroom so that I can watch NCIS.

Today I finish doing the rest of the cutting. I now have all of A side cut. Hopefully in the next two days I will have all of side A ready for drilling.

Math

Don't let the math put you off
Desert Domes is a great site to go.  You will find a calculator that will do all the math for you as far as for the struts.  Just put in the radius that you want your dome to be.  The Tips   area is also wonderful in that it will walk you through the possess of building one. Don't forget to check out the F&Q.

Another calculator would be at Geo-Dome with their 5 in one tool. Just put in your radius and you will find out what your floor space will be, surface area and so on.

Now I've been out of school for a very long long time so if you are like me here is a helper on how to convert inches to decimal since the measurements are in decimal.

Fraction        Decimal                   Fraction                   Decimal
1/16                .0625                        9/16                        .5625
1/8                    .125                         5/8                          .625
3/16                .1875                      11/16                        .6875
1/4                     .25                          3/4                           .75
5/16                .3125                      13/16                        .8125
3/8                    .375                         7/8                          .875
5/16                .3125                      13/16                        .8125
7/16                .4375                        5/16                        .9375
1/2                     .50                             1                          1.00

My measuring tape measures in 1/16th  but if yours is different all you have to do is divide the top number from the bottom number. Example 1/2

The answer should be .5

A

Well I brought some EMT and started to cut side A.  I need 30 of these little suckers. I get 2 from a 10' tube. I'm short by 2 of the 10' tubes because our Ace hardware store didn't have much and I got all they had.  I have to wait for their next shipment or drive over 90 miles to the next largest city that has one. I think not, not with the current price of gas.


Basic Materials:

1. 3/4" EMT Conduit - $4.49 at Ace Hardware per 10' section. I just will need 75 but will buy some extras just in case.
2. Bench Vise and handsaw from Walmart. I brought them a long time ago but they were under $10.
3. 1-ton Arbor Press: $49 at Harbor Freight. I use this to start the squishing of the ends of the conduit but finish it off with hammering it down.
4. Tubing Cutter ( sorry I don't remember the cost.)
5. Different color tape @ 2.29 from Ace. The different color tapes are for the 3 different strut sides: 
    A= 4.25feet need 30 of them 
    B=4.919 feet need 40 for them 
    C=5.027 feet need 50 of them.
   
   
   Check out www.desertdomes.com