Dome building: Dust storm!

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Friday: I used an angle grinder with 80 grit disk to smooth the rib edges back the vertical struts. A 'proper' industrial dust mask and ear defenders were vital considering the 3/4" of floury fine dust on my forearms by the time I had finished!

The Blackbird's nest at the back of the octagon. A single egg disappeared so it may have been a Magpie nest robbing. The nest was clearly far too exposed to survive completely unscathed.

Aerial views of the dome skeleton before sanding:

Left, taken from the veranda of the octagon. Note the 2x4 crossbar to guide the observation slit installation.

I am amazed I have actually reached this point. My patience is not my finest feature. So I am testing the patience of my blog readers and forum members instead. Though not deliberately. I find having a virtual audience makes up for my lack of determination at times of weakness. One can't easily give up half way through when people are watching. Even if invisibly. Our rural isolation ensures that very few people would ever see my activities in the flesh.

Right, taken from upstairs indoors through a closed window.

I have been very fortunate to have experts in several fields kindly guide my sometimes wavering progress. This dome is certainly not art and it's not high tech nor costly. The basic design has changed considerably from anything I originally envisaged. The materials are readily available. So anyone daft enough to copy my example is certainly welcome to try.

Hemispherical domes are far more popular. Probably more geodesic dome have been built compared with the much rarer trapezium form. My dome has the singular advantage of not needing 3D covering. All the plywood cladding panels will be flat.  I'm hoping the play of light on the facets will diminish its "blot on the horizon."

It could be more easily made by partially cutting out wedges and then bending aluminium or steel square tube. I have no welding facilities so went with timber. For the latter I strongly recommend a sliding, compound miter saw and a compact table saw. Though it could be done with a simpler, portable circular saw. 

Quite honestly, the compound miter saw made this project possible within my skill levels. Or, rather, lack of them. Repeatability and speed of cutting makes ownership well worthwhile. The saw could easily be sold on afterwards if funds are really tight. These saws are very popular on building sites. So a good model should fetch a decent price secondhand. Particularly if the maker is well recognized. 

The DeWalt 12" is a nice piece of kit but has some foolish weaknesses. It is also rather heavy so needs a younger and fitter owner than myself if it is to be considered remotely portable. Though a wheeled stand, like a built-in sack truck, is available from DeWalt. I bought one for my DeWalt compact table saw to save a lot of dead lifting from the shed floor. I like this stand quite a lot and will make good use of it when the covering panels have to be cut out. Which should be quite soon now.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

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