Re: V-Plate Hubs

[Charles J Knight <c dot knight at juno dot com>]

> Click here: Sea Treck Geodesic Domes & Kit Homes
>
> P.S. I'm sorry if this information offends anyone in any way - I found it
> relevant to the article on star plates .

No offense at all -- and I wish to personally apologize if

*I* made you uncomfortable at all.  It's just that with the

recent influx of spam messages, even a dome company's

advertisements were "pushing it."

 

A link in your .sig is a far cry from a blatant advertisement.

 

Now...down to business...

 

The star plate design is ingenious -- have you ever considered

a design that didn't require welding?  Your triangular plates

could be edge joined with bolts, and still provide a strong

connection.

 

A "proposed" design that I saw years ago, was for a triangular

plate that overlapped its neighbor slightly, and had "slots" for

bolt holes.  Overlap the plates, bolt them together, and you

have a good connection.

 

Since the hubs don't hold the struts in place, a flexible

connection is also viable -- why weld it in place when

you don't need to?

 

Perhaps a series of plates (5 and 6 are needed) which

could be joined at a central point with something like an

eye bolt, and pinned together with a simple bolt through

the "hole."

 

     -- Chuck Knight