Dome II construction

And so, the evenings passed. We drilled all 330 holes, countersunk them to remove the burrs, bent the ends slightly, made trips to B&Q and Woodies and back to B&Q to buy bolts and nuts and washers. We tried TOG‘s grinder to smooth the ends, but it sharpened them instead, so we took all the struts home again and wrapped the ends in duct tape.

I was getting nervous. What if we copied down a number wrong, right back at the beginning? What if it’s too tall for the room? What if it doesn’t work?

Eoghan came over to help us build it, and we laid out the first 15 struts in a circle on the floor. Charlie looked worried.

Charlie: "It's bigger than I thought..."

Red, black, yellow, black

Still so many struts left.

Eoghan: "Ok, so it's half past two, I don't care."

How many engineers does it take to change a light bulb?

Charlie: "huuraaaargh!"

It worked! It worked!

After two hours of construction, it’s done, and I’m delighted. It’s just tall enough* to stand up in, wide enough** for a two-person airbed, and strong enough to climb on even with some struts removed for a door.

Now we have three domes. But one’s just a model, so it doesn’t count as a collection. Right?

---

* Disclaimer: may not apply to persons taller than 175cm (that’s 5′ 8, Brits).

** Er, yes, it is actually wider than it is tall. Oops.