Re: dome models

["J. Michael Rowland" <jmr at marathoncomputer dot com>]

domesteading-request at sculptors dot com  Tue Jul 24 18:52:08 2001 wrote:

> There is an "IKOSA-KIT" that was available from Edmunds
> Scientific. It consisted of clear plastic tube (hose)
> sections and thin bamboo sticks just like the skewers
> you get at the grocery store. And a pointed hole making
> tool so you could make 5 and 6 hole hubs from the tube
> pieces. With similar method any dome or sphere model
> could be made. For strut lengths see the dome calculator
> linked at the domegroup.org site.

I agree. But save your money. I ordered this kit; some of the promised
"tools" were not included, and the "pointed hole-making tool" was actually a
wooden dowel to be used for stretching the holes -- and it arrived without a
point on it. I corrected this using a pencil sharpener, but for what Edmund
charges for this kit, I expected something a little more professional.

There were guidelines for cutting strut lengths; there were no guidelines
for poking holes in the connectors at the correct 5- and 6-hub angles. (I
made my own.)

You can, indeed, make similar models yourself. Get a package of bamboo
skewers and some clear plastic tubing from a pet supplies store.

jmr