Dome Fabrication

September 2006
Started cutting up the 22 sheets of 6mm plywood for the
outer dome skin using a router and a few jigs.

A router, in a slide clamped to the wood was used to cut
the 4'x8' sheets of plywood into narrow strips.

The width of the strips is the *exact* height
of the triangles that will be cut from it.

With all the strips cut to size, they are then carefully marked
out and cut into triangles to sub-millimetre accuracy.

Marking was done with a sharp Stanley knife.
360 triangles were cut out this way.

The 4'x8' sheets of marine ply are first cut up into strips whose width is the *exact* height of the triangles you want to cut out. Each strip will yield 3 or 4 triangles. Next, a master template triangle is measured out to sub-millimetre accuracy using a sharp Stanley knife to score the wood and cut out using a router with a fresh bit. This master template is then used to mark out all the other triangles for that group. Simply place the template down on the plywood strip and align it with a straight edge and then score along the edge with the Stanley knife to mark out your next cut. With care, you can mark and cut your triangles to 0.25mm accuracy without loosing too much hair. After cutting out each triangle, it is compared with the master template again to check for any deviation and can be trimmed using a trimmer bit in the router at the end of each batch. This was only necessary a couple of times!