WHAT ABOUT TETRAHEDRONS ?

topic posted Sun, March 9, 2008 - 9:53 PM by  ʆōɾέɳzō
four equilateral triangles, the basic geometric 3 D object, ultra integrity and stability, and universally attachable to each other.
posted by:
ʆōɾέɳzō
Massachusetts
  • Re: WHAT ABOUT TETRAHEDRONS ?

    Mon, March 10, 2008 - 11:11 AM
    True, but a high surface-to-volume ratio, so not very economical for enclosing space..
    • Re: WHAT ABOUT TETRAHEDRONS ?

      Tue, March 11, 2008 - 9:26 AM
      True, but what about weight to volume?

      These days my interest is 1v domes with shorter struts for the top. With a flatter roof (not flat! just flatter) the 1v is a great compromise with minimal materials, decent volume, quick setup and breakdown.

      Thoughts?

      As for tetras, the volume is only half the problem. The steeply sloping insides is also a problem -- space around the floor may be hard to use, and the high peaked roof is also difficult to use. And there is nothing even remotely like a vertical wall or horizontal strut anywhere (unless you are building your tetra from smaller triangles. So, I think the tetra isn't as useful as a living space or chill space, unless it somehow accentuates the artistic theme one intends for the space. Just my opinion.
      • Re: WHAT ABOUT TETRAHEDRONS ?

        Tue, March 18, 2008 - 12:25 PM
        I'm a big fan of screw-eyes. If you've got supplies that can be hung (say, a hydration pack, for instance), S-hooks and screw-eyes can be a simple way to utilize vertical space or steeply sloping lines. This makes good use of your vertical and/or overhead space, and frees up your floorspace.
        I'm working on a 1v pvc dome for this year's burn, and the roof rafters will have screw eyes in them, for hooking things. Also, all the struts will have screw eyes in their center connectors, which will allow nylon cord to be run from vertex to strut 3x for each triangle, for extra support. Oh, how I love screw-eyes!
        • Re: WHAT ABOUT TETRAHEDRONS ?

          Tue, March 18, 2008 - 2:37 PM
          Screw eyes are great! They can be used when building the dome. But, I've also seen threaded rod connectors used on the threaded end of the carriage bolts in the dome, and then a short screw eye in the other end of the connector. That allows you to attach the screw eyes *after* the dome is created, wherever you want them.

          My wife and I are a fan of S hooks. We buy them at flea markets. They are about 7 inches long and the loop in each end is about 1.5". They are coated in vinyl (I think) or some kind of rubber. We just hang them over struts and their other end is a handy hook for water packs, cameras, glasses -- whatever we need. We usually get a dozen for maybe $5 or $6.

          We also bring flexible canvas shoe holders (cheap at Ikea) and hang them from struts. They are portable "cubby holes" that we can put all kinds of things in (including shoes). They come in all varieties -- some even have slide-out drawers. And, Ikea also sells colorful cylindrical sectional storage units -- about 1 foot in diameter with maybe six compartments. They only cost a few bucks. They are made of a lightweight netting, so wind and dust blow through them, but they are another good hanging storage solution that works great in strut-based structures.

          We also use flip-top boxes, milk crates and other traditional storage, but we like hanging storage units because they are lightweight, pack tightly, and help us keep things orderly in our dome (laugh!) but we can still see everything. If I can't see it, I often can't find it. I don't like boxes... I tend to go looking through them again and again, each time I can't find something I need. Waste of time... So, we bring stuff up in fliptops and the offload those into the hanging storage units.
      • Re: WHAT ABOUT TETRAHEDRONS ?

        Tue, March 18, 2008 - 12:36 PM
        And I almost forgot... Assuming you want a 1v with equally-sized struts (though I still like hoco's idea of a flatter roof), you can break up a 25-strut dome into 4 individual 6-strut tetras. If your skins are cut into diamond shapes (two triangles each), you could also use them for the dome - piecing them together like a big puzzle (though I guess you would need one extra triangle skin).
  • Re: WHAT ABOUT TETRAHEDRONS ?

    Fri, March 14, 2008 - 2:18 AM
    I agree, tetrahedrons are totally awesome. I've done a bunch of stuff with them, check the pics in my profile. Most recently (no pics yet) I built a merkaba, which is two tetrahedrons interpenetrating eachother. The shape is also a stellated octahedron.

    I lined the inside struts with orgone accumulator material and put an orgone generator in the base. There was a platform to sit on in the middle or a hammock chair to sit in, depending on your preference.

    I just found this very interesting site where the guy is building domes out of different formulas, including tetrahedral ones.
    www.gardendome.com/tetra_dome.html Nose around on this site-- lots of cool stuff.

    And of course, the icosahedral domes that most people build are just one way to use the math. You can also build domes based on tetrahedrons or octahedrons. I've built 2 frequency octahedral domes; i put a post up in this group a while back.

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