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3m Geodesic Dome Greenhouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Step 1: Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Step 2: Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
http://www.instructables.com/id/3m-Geodesic-Dome-Greenhouse/
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Step 1: Design
First some theory and material choices. A geodesic dome is not difficult to make, but a few things need to be understood before making one.
Materials
Lets start with the foundation. The dome needs to be anchored to the ground in a proper way. It is easy to skimp out on this part, since you will not see it later, but a
strong foundation is what makes something last. How you do it depends on how long you want your greenhouse to last. Here in the Netherlands, concrete gravel tiles are
easily obtainable for free. They were popular once, but not any more, and when people get them out of their garden, you can usually pick them up for free. This is a winwin, you get free tiles, and they don't have to take their tiles anywhere (weighing 30kg each).
The frame is the part you will see, so aside from just strength, aesthetics may also be a consideration. The beauty of the dome is its strength, so you will quickly pick
something too strong. Bear in mind that what you pick will need to be: A. easy to work with, and B. cheap. You are going to need a lot of it. My choice was simple pine
wood, 28mm by 44mm. It costs around 1 Euro per meter and is more than strong enough.
The covering for the greenhouse is the last material being discussed here. There are 3 paths you can take here: Glass, polycarbonate and foil. In decreasing order, they
last, centuries, decades and years. I would love to pick glass, but it is also the most expensive. Polycarbonate you pick if you want to make a well insulated greenhouse,
but the cheapest by far is the foil. It is easy to work with and is relatively cheap. When picking foil, do pick greenhouse foil. It is made to withstand UV radiation.
construction
Two compromises need to be made in the construction. The first is the bottom spacer. The radius of the dome is roughly 1,5m. This would also have been the height. I
am 1,95m and I want to be able to stand in the greenhouse. With no other solutions, a 0,6m spaces is needed at the bottom. This raises the start of the dome, but is also
a structural weakness. The dome itself is very rigid, but the spaces, consisting mostly of squares, is kinda wobbly.
The second compromise is the door. In an ideal situation, there are no interruptions in the frame of the dome. The door is a giant gaping hole. Extra wood was added
around this area, but even then, it is still the weakest point.
The corner block are the most varied part of the dome. Everyone has a different system, and all of the different systems have their own drawbacks. My choice as 2 1cm
thick plywood disks, one 15cm and one 8cm. When these are stacked, they give a roughly 17 degree angle. The 2V dome that is being built here needs either 15.86
degrees or 18 degrees, so it is perfect. The struts are attached from the back with screws.
Making a window in a geodesic dome is fairly straight forward. Make a triangular frame that will fit in one the the domes triangles and add hinges.
Calculations
The lengths of all things (tiles, struts, spacer) are dependent on each other. I will provide means of calculating all lengths, but because of the tiles, I cannot provide a
simple formula to calculate everything. It will take some additional calculations based on the materials you will have available. For the stone and wooden ring, go to:
http://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/geometry...
http://www.instructables.com/id/3m-Geodesic-Dome-Greenhouse/
Image Notes
1. Drawing from simplydifferently.org, used with permission
Step 2: Materials
These are roughly all the materials you will need to make a 3m wide geodesic dome. If you want to make a bigger one, you will have to recalculate the material you need.
Materials
Concrete tiles 40x60x5cm (15x)
filling sand (20kg)
28x44 wood (24x3,5m)
10x30 slats (20x2.1m)
plywood
hinges(2x for door, 2x for window)
greenhouse foil (at least 4mx6,5m)
humidity barrier (like roofing material)
screws
Concrete dowels
paint
Staples
Tape
tools
Shovel
Hammer
spirit level
Saw
hammer drill
cordless drill
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Sander
Stapler
(nail gun)
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Corner connectors
The most important part of a geodesic dome is the corner connector. I tried to find something as simple as possible to make a good corner connector. I ended up with 2
plywood (1cm thick) disks, 1 of 15cm and 1 of 8cm. When stacked, these discs give an angle of about 17 degrees, perfect for a 2V dome. The struts will be connected
with screws from the back, 2 per side per strut.
To make the corner connectors, I found a bowl and a cup that gave me a roughly correct diameter. Using a pencil to trace the edges of the discs. Then, using a jigsaw,
cut out all the discs. Finally, use a small screw to connect the small disc to the large disc, roughly in the middle. To make this dome, 25 connectors are needed. (Side
note, a 2V dome actually needs 26 connectors, but the connector at the front door is not used).
Struts
The struts are up next. They need to be cut to length. The 2 rings are actually the long struts, and are 900mm. This will be the reference for the struts. 2 types are
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needed: The short type (type A) and the long type (type B). With a B strut length of 900mm, the A struts need to be 796mm long. This length is from centre to centre. The
connector takes an additional 20mm from each side of the strut. To compensate for this, the A strut needs to be cut to 756mm and the B strut needs to be 860mm long.
You will need 28 A struts and 21 B struts. (this is with the elements from the door left out).
Building it up
I have a schematic of the pattern, and a modified picture showing how this relates to the real greenhouse. Now comes the beauty, if you follow, this pattern, the dome
basically builds itself. Don't worry about millimetres, it doesn't matter. You don't really have to measure while building, just eyeball it to make sure all struts are somewhat
aligned.
The struts for the door (2 A elements and 4 B elements)are left out. The will be filled in later to make the door frame.
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Use staples to temporarily mount the foil to the struts of the dome.
Don't staple down the window foil yet. If it is mounted here, there will be no overlap with the frame and it would leak. In the next step, slats will be mounted make the
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tomatoskins says:
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