Dome building: Upper ribs and panels

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I have the dome lowered onto the ground mounted on minimum thickness wooden blocks to work on the upper ribs and panels. The temporary, central prop is too high and will have to be shortened slightly to bring the ribs to the correct height against the slit's zenith board.

I used nails pushed down into the existing screw holes to locate the bottom, horizontal struts instead of the original screws. I had planned to do this for speed of final assembly up on the building. So it was a useful rehearsal for the real thing. Once all the gores are in place I can go around, without great haste, fitting all the 6mm screws to hold the ribs together.

Sealer will have to be squeezed between the ribs on assembly. The gores can be safely tipped outwards to allow the gun nozzle to add the sealer. Or the sealer can be added once the gore is on the veranda before lifting it into place against the next gore.

Anything which allows me to quickly assemble the dome in place is valuable in case the wind should pick up. In fact it might be better to leave fixing the lower panels until the last moment. This would provide easy access from both inside and outside the dome for fixing gores down to the base ring. While simultaneously allowing the wind to pass freely through the lower rim. The upper panels would only be accessible from a stepladder through the open slit. So these would be better screwed down and sealed before lifting the gores "upstairs."

The options for lift and assembly are numerous but I still prefer the lifting of separate components approach. The individual gores are easily handled at about 6kg [12lbs] bare.

Friday 13th and I had another look at the dome after a week of health problems. I carefully levelled the base ring and then checked the height at the crossbar at the top of the observing slit. It was considerably higher than expected. There followed a struggle to lower the bar by rotating the slit ribs downwards, towards the center. I'm within a couple of inches now but would obviously prefer it was correct. It is scorching out there in the 78F unbroken sunshine. Tame by some people's standards but certainly not mine. It was an even more unbearable 83F yesterday!

Click on any image for an enlargement.

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