I've made a Bamboo Geodesic Dome - Pics and tutorial inside

[Handmade Matt]

Hi everyone.
I've had a lot of fun this week making a frame for a geo dome.
It's 5.6meters across and 2.8meters tall

Click HERE to read the article/ tutorial that I have written about the process.

I'm on the look out for a PVC cover, old advertising banners/ truck curtain sides etc.
Many thanks.
Enjoy and feedback welcome.

 

[markie*mark0]

that looks super cool !!

 

[Toddy]

Good on you

I used one a friend, Geoff Forest, made, and it was a brilliant space

Geoff's was covered with white canvas.....sounds kind of, "That is just going to get filthy", but it let the space be very lightfilled inside.
The covers were in three parts; one straight length wrapped right around, a smaller shaped piece created the doorflap, and a third, like a square with each corner stretched out into long tails, and a clear centre circle, where the stove flue vent exited too, fitted across the top and was guylined down to hold everything snug and tidy

It stood up to some truly awful weather with no bother at all

Cheapest pvc covers were the big tarps from Lidl's.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Andy BB]

Mate, that is really neat. I have just got to try that sometime!

 

[treadlightly]

Well done - I'm off to read your tutorial.

 

[Spikey DaPikey]

Excellent mate

Great blog as well

 

[Biker]

That is just brilliant!!! Just finished reading the specs at your blog. Good read too. Still love that camper van.

 

[Zingmo]

Awesome! It would be very wrong of you to remove advertising banners, but I could suggest some ;-)

Z

Sent from my fondle-slab via tapatalk.

 

[Stew]

Want one. Don't know what I ould do wiht it but I still want one!

 

[Andy BB]

Just a thought, Matt,(by the way, love the website!) but as geodesic construction is supposed to provide additional rigidity to the materials being used, could you not in fact use pvc piping instead of the bamboo? That way you get rid of the problem of making the hubs (simply flatten the ends of the tubing themselves and bolt together), the structure itself supporting the "floppy" nature of the poles? Wonder if anyone has tried it?

 

[Handmade Matt]

could you not in fact use pvc piping instead of the bamboo? ...Wonder if anyone has tried it?

Good thinking Andy. It has definitely been done. For me though the Bamboo was free and the PVC not. The Bamboo is more sustainable and eco as well as being nicer to look at. It gives the dome a very natural feeling. Additionally the Bamboo is MUCH stronger than PVC pipe. The pipe would be strong unless it was forced beyond it's limit and folded, once it was creased it would be ruined. You could remedy this by filling the PVC with expanding builders foam, but again more cost and not so ecological.
For me, there's no contest.

 

[Toddy]

The one I used was made from hazel sticks with a hole drilled in each end. The ends slipped into pre bored holes in slices of 6" water pipe and a split pin pushed through the hole in the hazel stick kept everything neatly in place.

Sack of sticks.
Bucket of yellow rings.
Tin of split pins.
Two tarps.
Bag of ground spikes for just in case.
Stove.

It was amazingly simple and it all fitted into the boot of my wee Renault clio too

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Handmade Matt]

The one I used was made from hazel sticks with a hole drilled in each end. The ends slipped into pre bored holes in slices of 6" water pipe and a split pin pushed through the hole in the hazel stick kept everything neatly in place.

I've seen this hub design it can work really well. I was a bit sceptical of this with the bamboo though because of the varying diameters of my poles. I'm sure it could be made to work. Were there two split pins? One either side of the hub wall? If not what stopped the pole pushing further through the hole? Thanks mate.