Safety notice limits supply

[bill.wi...@gmail.com]

From Hexayurt.com:

"Important safety notice. Please do not build hexayurts out of any
flammable material. In the past, people have built them from non-fire
rated materials including polyisocyanurate insulation (Tuff-R from
Dow, often sold at Home Depot.) I do not regard that as safe if the
building is exposed to sources of ignition like open flame, or mains
electrical devices. Any non-fire rated substance should not be used
for camping, and is generally suitable only for demonstration
purposes."

I haven't found a retailer of Thermax (much less Thermax HD), which I
presume is more flame-retardardant, anywhere. Google Alerts produce
nothing. I haven't found a distributor of Thermax that will let me
order a "package" or less. I can get a dozen or so "packages" of the
stuff (a package has something like 20 panels) minimum order.

Now I'm really stuck. Six months 'til the Playa.

Bill

[Vinay Gupta]

Bill, we're working on it. Tuff-R, as used in previous years, just...
it *burns*. And not in a good way. Thermax and Thermax HD are very
different. Other options - some of these heavy industrial cardboards.
I also have a lead on some really really good materials and should be
picking up prototypes of those materials in a couple of days...

So, yeah, I'm really sorry this stuff isn't as easy to find, but I
really am worried about Tuff-R on the Playa. I don't want anybody to
be the first person to get their Hexayurt burned down around their
ears to dramatic effect, you know?

Maybe a group buy of Thermax HD?

Vinay

--
Vinay Gupta - Designer, Hexayurt Project - an excellent public domain
refugee shelter system
Gizmo Project VOIP: 775-743-1851 (usually
works!) http://hexayurt.com/
Cell: Iceland (+354) 869-4605
Skype/Gizmo/Gtalk: hexayurt
People with courage and character always seem sinister to the
rest Herman Hesse

[bill.wi...@gmail.com]

Vinay,

I'm willing to take the lead on getting a large Thermax buy for San
Francisco Bay Area Delivery (say, San Jose). I'm guessing we'll need
about ten others to make it work.

Bill

On Feb 25, 6:41 pm, Vinay Gupta <hexay...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Bill, we're working on it. Tuff-R, as used in previous years, just...  
> it *burns*. And not in a good way. Thermax and Thermax HD are very  
> different. Other options - some of these heavy industrial cardboards.  
> I also have a lead on some really really good materials and should be  
> picking up prototypes of those materials in a couple of days...
>
> So, yeah, I'm really sorry this stuff isn't as easy to find, but I  
> really am worried about Tuff-R on the Playa. I don't want anybody to  
> be the first person to get their Hexayurt burned down around their  
> ears to dramatic effect, you know?
>
> Maybe a group buy of Thermax HD?
>
> Vinay
>
> --
> Vinay Gupta - Designer, Hexayurt Project - an excellent public domain  
> refugee shelter system
> Gizmo Project VOIP: 775-743-1851 (usually  
> works!)                      http://hexayurt.com/
> Cell: Iceland (+354) 869-4605                                    
> Skype/Gizmo/Gtalk: hexayurt
> People with courage and character always seem sinister to the  
> rest              Herman Hesse
>

> On Feb 26, 2008, at 3:24 AM, b...@wiltschko.org wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > From Hexayurt.com:
>
> > "Important safety notice. Please do not build hexayurts out of any
> > flammable material. In the past, people have built them from non-fire
> > rated materials including polyisocyanurate insulation (Tuff-R from
> > Dow, often sold at Home Depot.) I do not regard that as safe if the
> > building is exposed to sources of ignition like open flame, or mains
> > electrical devices. Any non-fire rated substance should not be used
> > for camping, and is generally suitable only for demonstration
> > purposes."
>
> > I haven't found a retailer of Thermax (much less Thermax HD), which I
> > presume is more flame-retardardant, anywhere.  Google Alerts produce
> > nothing.  I haven't found a distributor of Thermax that will let me
> > order a "package" or less.  I can get a dozen or so "packages" of the
> > stuff (a package has something like 20 panels) minimum order.
>
> > Now I'm really stuck.  Six months 'til the Playa.
>

> > Bill- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Vinay Gupta]

Bill, that's great news. We've got some other materials that may be
becoming available which would have similar, possibly even better
performance, and are a bit easier to get hold of (potentially.) Let's
give it a couple of weeks and see if we can't get something solid
sorted out on that.

I really want this to be a big year for Hexayurts at Burning Man. I
hope a lot of people have been exposed to the idea and want to build!

Vinay

--
Vinay Gupta - Designer, Hexayurt Project - an excellent public domain
refugee shelter system
Gizmo Project VOIP: 775-743-1851 (usually
works!) http://hexayurt.com/
Cell: Iceland (+354) 869-4605
Skype/Gizmo/Gtalk: hexayurt
People with courage and character always seem sinister to the
rest Herman Hesse

[bill.wi...@gmail.com]

Ah, this is not good. I called 8-10 possible sales offices, for Dow
(mgfr of Thermax) and for Weyerhaeuser (distr of Thermax), and finally
found someone who knew the situation. There are no manufacturing
plants for Thermax or Thermax HD West of the Mississippi. This is due
to lack of demand. The way Thermax comes out here is in full truck
loads, which is 30 "units." The number of sheets per unit varies by
the thickness of the sheets. For one inch sheets, there are about
2000 on a truck. So, in order to put together a buy we would need 100
users. That is a lot of Thermax.

Bill

On Feb 25, 6:41 pm, Vinay Gupta <hexay...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Bill, we're working on it. Tuff-R, as used in previous years, just...  
> it *burns*. And not in a good way. Thermax and Thermax HD are very  
> different. Other options - some of these heavy industrial cardboards.  
> I also have a lead on some really really good materials and should be  
> picking up prototypes of those materials in a couple of days...
>
> So, yeah, I'm really sorry this stuff isn't as easy to find, but I  
> really am worried about Tuff-R on the Playa. I don't want anybody to  
> be the first person to get their Hexayurt burned down around their  
> ears to dramatic effect, you know?
>
> Maybe a group buy of Thermax HD?
>
> Vinay
>
> --
> Vinay Gupta - Designer, Hexayurt Project - an excellent public domain  
> refugee shelter system
> Gizmo Project VOIP: 775-743-1851 (usually  
> works!)                      http://hexayurt.com/
> Cell: Iceland (+354) 869-4605                                    
> Skype/Gizmo/Gtalk: hexayurt
> People with courage and character always seem sinister to the  
> rest              Herman Hesse
>

> On Feb 26, 2008, at 3:24 AM, b...@wiltschko.org wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > From Hexayurt.com:
>
> > "Important safety notice. Please do not build hexayurts out of any
> > flammable material. In the past, people have built them from non-fire
> > rated materials including polyisocyanurate insulation (Tuff-R from
> > Dow, often sold at Home Depot.) I do not regard that as safe if the
> > building is exposed to sources of ignition like open flame, or mains
> > electrical devices. Any non-fire rated substance should not be used
> > for camping, and is generally suitable only for demonstration
> > purposes."
>
> > I haven't found a retailer of Thermax (much less Thermax HD), which I
> > presume is more flame-retardardant, anywhere.  Google Alerts produce
> > nothing.  I haven't found a distributor of Thermax that will let me
> > order a "package" or less.  I can get a dozen or so "packages" of the
> > stuff (a package has something like 20 panels) minimum order.
>
> > Now I'm really stuck.  Six months 'til the Playa.
>

[mort]

It would probably be helpful to know where such shipments have been
made recently. Did you get any information on that? Maybe you could
provide us with the contact info for the person at Weyerhaeuser that
you spoke to....

[Das Bus]

My husband does a/c sheet metal and says here is another option called
'duct board'. Unfortunately, one side is fiberglass insulation, so
that would require covering it. He's going to check around at some of
the supply houses and see what he can find.

Lora

[mort]

I've found a really interesting product called Prodex (http://
www.insulation4less.com/prodex_Ffmf.asp)

It would require some sort of framing, but it's fire resistant and has
an r value of 14.

One role for $300 would create a structure bigger than the large sized
hexayurt.

Right now I'm looking into how a frame could be built using bamboo in
a geodesic dome. Then you would just make panels using the Prodex and
tape them together over the frame. However PRodex is light, so many
different frames would probably work.

[Das Bus]

I think that's the same stuff I have on my windows to block out the
sun; if so, it's no thick enough to stand on it's own, but it is a
really good insulator.

Since my husband works in sheet metal, he of course, wants to frame a
hexayurt out of metal. But that defeats the purpose of having a
lightweight structure.

Lora