Bent out of shape

Hey all,
I actually went our and finished what I started today. I set up a jig and bent all the struts to the right size. Well, close anyway. The instructors say 10 degrees for a and b struts and 12 degrees for the c struts. I an within about 2 degrees of that with all of them. ie, the a and b are between 9 and 11 or so and the c 11 to 13. I decided not to sweat the small stuff. They are very springy and it will be easy enough (I think) to bend a little more or less when setting up.
I posted some more pics. Of course, no order or anything. I will do that later.
I have done a few calculations so far.
supply run: 4 hours
jig set up: 2 hours
Cutting : 5 to 7 hours
Smashing: 5 to 7 hours
Drilling: 3 hours
De-Burring: 1 hour
Bending: 2 hours
Painting: not done yet.
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Total to Date: approx. 24 hours. - or 8 months if you count total project time LOL
Money spent has been around $300.00 I should figure out all those costs. too since this is a prject in cheap shelter.

Done Drilled it

I am done drilling. I notice that the holes didn't all get exactly in the center, but they were all exactly the right distance, so I suppose that it won't matter. None were to close to the edge anyway. Same time to do these. Perhaps a little longer because I had to place hole number one onto the pin to hold it in place.
I added a link on the right bar so that you can see pics. they are not in order etc. I will eventuly have a nice set up there.
Still need to de-bur the second hole. Too late tonight. Will do it next tim eI have some off time from work.
After I de-bur, I will paint. I have to have a nice warm day. Yeaa right. I have several colors to choose from. Red Yellow, white, black, orange, blue, grey. LOL

using snow to cool the bit

No wI know what it is like to drills holes in a blizzard. I work on the porch, but the snow is coming in sideways through the rafters. LOL Anywa, I drilled out all the struts, one side and I then went back and deburred them. Some may not think it is needed because it will be screwed together later, but I am not going to risk a nasty cut, so I spent the hour to deburr them.
I fixed the jig up with a bolt I grinded down to barely fit the hole. Oh, btw, it was 5/16th, not 3/16ths for the drill bit. duh!
I drilled out the first 80. the longest ones. I moved the entire jig rather than drilling a new hole and reset it to drill in the correct spot. (more pictures). I started the short ones, but I got mad cause of the cold and snow, so I stopped. Today I did snow removal. 2 to 4 feet. Took a few hours with a backhoe. Lots of snow. Then I had to work at my job believe it or not, for 6 hours. Now it is bedtime. Maybe the weekend.

How hard can it be....

Well, it is 6:30 in the evening here and I have finished drilling out one side of all the struts. It took about a half hour for each 60 struts. I had already gotten everything set up as I stated earlier. 165 struts (none extra as recomended) equals roughly less than an hour and a half for that portion. The next step is to deburr them to make it easier to place them on the jig for the second hole, which is the critical one. It must be an exact distance from one hole to the other. I made a few pictures of the drilling and will upload it to the directory.

no more smashing

At least I hope. I finished up the last twenty over the week as I had time to do it. I have reset the shop up with the drill press and the jig. Spent like a half hour getting the jig exact so the kid could come and move it! Arg. It was a pretty easy fix after that.
I drilled out 6 to make sure the hole was good and the bolt would fit and the bolt was long enough to put that many together and the smashing had smashed enough of the pipe.
I will take some pics of it. All is a green light. Everything went perfect. I did up the hole from 1/4 or down from 3/8 to 3/16th's that size works well, is large enough to accept the bolts I bought which are the ones that have the square inside that form fit into the holes.

Day is Done

ok, I finished the ten. Had to get Joe to help on the last half of the last 5. I took a nap for a bit. too much for one old fart for one day I guess. So, that leaves 20 to finish this stage of the project. It takes more time than originally thought, but mayb e because of life more than anything and the hand pain coming in a close second. If I do any more, then I must get a press.

Update from am

Well, it is about 4 p.m. as I write this blog. I had some snow removal issues to resolve today, which took most of my time. I am working on them now. 5 at a time. I have 2 bundles to do and one that I have 5 of a third half smashed. Can't get the kid to help. He says he does it wrong. He did wreck two, but one I will use anyway, in the door area, so I only had to cut one new tube so far.
My hands have gotten so sore over the last few days. I am not sure if I can finish today like I had promised myself. I will try to alternate now and do the second end of the first five so as to give my hands some rest. I am very sleepy also. the early am is catching up to me.
I mentioned pictures early in this blog. I have them, just not posted. I have them stored at: www.ozmer.com/pic/Dome Pictures if you want to see them. No order or anything yet. I will put everything together into a web page eventually, but for now, just go look at them. You should be able to tell what they are.

As the World Turns

Good morning friends.
It is 8 am. I have been up since four battling and trying to stay alive. I play a game called Nukezone and we are at war with several clans, two of which appear to have an alliance going. That is for another blog though.
I have managed to turn out another 35 or so of the tubes with 5 more flattened on one side. I wish I was not so old and could do more. I have found that in order to maintain interest and the ability to have any feeling in my hands, I limit what I do. I go out and pound 5 flat on one side, take a few minutes off and do something like watch tv or play my computer game, go out and do the other 5 (I have them in bundles of ten). Repeat the break, go out again and do either 5 or ten on the second side. It is much easier doing the second side because I have made a jig to slide the first flattened side into so that the other side will be on the same plane as the first.
It also helps when my son goes out and does a few, although he has done very few. He has the health and hands, but not the interest and feels like it is a chore, which usually just makes it eaasier for me to just do it myself.
My wife thinks this will be a good first project. It si large enough for a small cabin at 23 feet across, but small enough to tackle. Plus, so far I only have about $300 invested. I am learning tons and will be able to use that whne I build our home. Yes, I have fianlly convinced her (I think) that a dome is the best shape and that she can deal with the curved surfaces and better yet, it will go undergorund. Ahh, no more firewood, or little anyway. I figure we will use about a cord rather than the 5 now.
I am hopeful to get help from the kid today and plow through the last 55 or so tubes.

life gets in the way

Hi.
Been a long while since I posted. Although I am online every day, for hours. The purpose of the blog was and still is, to document my conduit dome. I have not worked on it since the last post. I had everything tucked away and safe. The paperwork, the pipes, the jig (although it suffered some rabbit urine damage), etc.
Anyway, here I am, nearly a year later and I am now ready to pick it up again. Work is really slow and so I have some time over the next couple of months. I will go back to pounding metal. My step-son says he is going to help. We will see.
Mental note: buy a nice press if more will be built! Way too much work to hit them with a hammer or sledge.