Dome build: Gluing the gores together.

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Thursday: I started gluing the gores together. Because each gore has two sides [ribs] I only need to glue every other one. Then, when that gore is carefully pushed back in, it glues the ribs on either side. Once glued, working from the outside ladder with a mastic [caulk] gun, I go back down. Then climb back up inside to the dome. Here I turn the glued gores to the south so I can fit the 20 bolts, washers and nuts through the pre-drilled holes in the ribs.

I face out from the internal stepladders and climb steadily as each bolt is inserted. Then I use a rechargeable drill with a Torx bit which fits the hex socket heads. This quickly tightens all the bolts as I apply a spanner [wrench] to the nuts.

After that I still have to glue the base strut of the gore to the dome's base ring using a flat crowbar to lift them. Then tap the long csk screws up from underneath and apply a washer and a nut to each. Cranking on the nuts with a spanner tightens down the base strut onto the glue-sealer.

It keeps getting dark as if it might rain. Though none is forecast until late this evening. I have a lot of tools out and the bare dome skeleton doesn't want to get wet either. I have stopped for a rest at 17.30 as I am very tired and aching all over. I have five sets of ribs competed and two more to do for 14 in total. The observation slit counts as two more.

The safety harness was an uncomfortable nuisance. So I made an old fashioned, climber's rope belt from three turns of thicker rope around my waist. A caribener is then hooked over the triple strand belt and onto the loop to my scaffolder's hook. No point in taking any chances of a fall when I am tired and concentrating on the work.

After tidying up I had to cover the dome with two large tarpaulins for the overnight rain which carried a cloud burst warning. The problem is that the dome won't turn with a lot of cords tying the covers down. It makes it too time consuming to try and finish the last pair of gores between showers. 

Friday: Blowing quite hard with showers forecast. It might brighten later. The covers stay on until then. In the afternoon I did manage to glue another pair of ribs and bolt it all together between hefty showers. I'm trying thin work gloves to save my hands being covered in black sealant. Had I known that only black was available locally I would have bought it online. I'm not a messy worker but the ladder sometimes gets in the way of the push rod of the mastic gun.

The gloves makes it more difficult to thread the many nuts on with my left hand. Being faddy I wanted them all facing the same way. Using the drill to drive the bolts tight saves so much time it is worth having them all right handed. My left hand feels as if it is sprained when I use it. Though I don't remember injuring it. I couldn't hold the drill with that hand.

Eventually I had to retreat indoors when it started thundering quite close-by while I was up at the top of the 20 foot aluminium ladder! I just manged to cover the dome as the rain started tipping down again. One more gore to do and I can start covering the dome with the pre-cut plywood panels. Will they still fit?

Saturday: Finished the last gore gluing. That's used up 140 bolts, 280 washers and 140 nuts. Added another 14 bolts to hold the base of the gores onto the base ring. There were already 28 in place.

Then I spent some time adjusting the steering wheels. The lock nuts on several axle bolts had come loose. I had to rout some rib notches deeper to clear the hold down disks. The dome turned more freely after that. It had one tight spot so I went round and round checking wheels for freedom without finding anything amiss. The promised thundery showers held off apart from a few spots of rain just before lunch.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

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