Hexadome

[Paul Kranz]

Has anyone been exposed to Gene Hopster's hexadome?

Paul sends...

[nuconz]

there is someone near me that has built 2 of them. check the posts.

think his name is tom.

On 02/21/2014 09:11 PM, Paul Kranz wrote:
> Has anyone been exposed to Gene Hopster's hexadome?
>
> Paul sends...
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[Gerry Toomey]

Maybe Tom Prahl?

http://www.floridadomes.com/aboutus.html

The Hexadome is based on the 3v octahedral geodesic sphere. My shop (winter pic) doesn't much look like a Hexadome, but it uses the same overall geometry.

- Gerry in Quebec

[nuconz]

yes.

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[Paul Kranz]

Gerry:

Very cool, thanks.

Paul sends...

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Very high regards,

 

Paul sends...

ReviveTheFlame.com

[Nimblebee]

I built one of these designs l a few years ago as a greenhouse dome.

A set of guide blocks for setting up the saws and cutting will be your friend. using these you can make a complete model Dome to get a bit of building experience and seeing how the pieces fit together.

One big advantage to this design is that all 29 triangular sections are identical and can be built as time and money affords. If you can build one section you can build the whole house which is very helpful. There are also 3 trapezoidal sections per dome for which you cannot purchase a model block set and must interpret the information from plans and physically connecting the triangular sections together. This is difficult time consuming and very confusing.

Downside is that the plans contains some mistakes and omissions requiring to interpret some of the information to get the figures that you need for correct construction; you won't even find out that the sections don't fit together until you're actually bolting triangular sections together and that's when you find out about the mistakes and have the information to make the necessary corrections.

Guide blocks for setting up the saws for cutting have correct angles and dimensions but you still need the plans for figuring out the blocking and placement of plywood sheathing which is not at all clear on the plans.

Worse still is that the way of building in the plans is different than the way of building using the guide blocks as a model. You have to use the building plans for the permits department and hope they don't look too closely at how you actually built the dome sections to see that you didn't actually follow the method in the plans.

I will be putting together one of these domes coming up in the next few months. There are quite a few of these dome designs scattered around Kansas City area where you can find examples to look at and there are plenty pictures to view online as well.

[Paul Kranz]

NimbleBee:

Do you have images to share?

Paul sends...

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[Nimblebee]

Paul,

I took quite a few pictures, figures and notes when I was constructing dome greenhouse years ago, but I don't have any information I can easily get ahold of.

I can take some more pictures of upcoming dome construction.

Gene Hopsters dome books are available via online booksellers and through interlibrary loan: they're chock full of pictures and also construction information.

Sent from my Samsung smartphone on AT&T

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[Gerry in Quebec]

Paul,

A few pix from Darwin, Australia....

https://www.flickr.com/photos/peculiarhand/tags/hexadome/

- Gerry in Quebec

[Rsalmon007]

Paul

I built one as a two car garage.

Held a Ford Expedition and a Chrysler PT Cruiser with plenty of extra room.

[AzaFran]

I found in the WayBackMachine the Index to Hexadome America's Picture CD

please think support the Internet Archive to keep free and free of ads

I hope the links it's useful,

blessings,

Taji.

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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

D.A.L.E.!

~   "Despertando a la Ecosofía"   ~

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[AzaFran]

...and other site about it: http://www.dtbcomputers.com/

here you can find Building a half scale model of the house to solve several issues. http://www.dtbcomputers.com/SHEDPROJECT2.htm

blessings,

Taji.

[William Fisher]

I just came across a 1981 edition of the original book on a used book website. Being it was a third of what amazon has it listed for, I decided to buy it. Interesting ideas here. May be more up the aisle for amateurs.

[William Fisher]

I am trying to work out the math to mix this idea with that of http://easydomes.com

Bering the very top is a hexagon and your sides are either another hex or a trapezoid that leads to a vertical section, there would only be 3 bevels needed coming off off each roof edge. I was thinking 30° per bevel on the traps and hexes. Going around the bases level from side to side there are the 3 hexes and 3 vertical panels below the traps. Between each hex and flat panel is a triangle. Total 12 parts. The plans in Hopster's book has the angle connecting the hexes and the triangles at 40° and the triangles and the vertical panels at 20°. I figured the hexes to be all edges 30° traps all edges 30° the bottom of the triangles and top and bottom of the vertical panels are flat but the side edges of each would be 10°.

Riser walls would all be flat topped.

[Nimblebee]

Hello group I built a dome greenhouse following Gene Hopsters original books and plans using his block set purchased along with his books and plans.

the devil is in the details that you only begin to understand as you construct one of these domes. it's not until you're actually bolting the triangles together into a hexagon that you realize for all to go together and fit the two by fours actually twist and bend on the edges to fit together so the angles are not the same straight angles all the way up the edges, but gradually changes along the length of the edge.

There are a lot of other surprises of this sort in store for the first time dome home builder and the only way you're going to find out about it is to actually build one and learn as you go.

Bits and pieces from architectural House blueprints, plans, info in his books, & in Gene's block model, all contribute to this learning process, but everything is not all together in one easy to understand "no fail process" and not all of the information agrees with each other adding to the confusion.

architectural blueprints and the block models are no longer available meaning the only thing that's left to work with are the various books and his books in the plans in them do not agree with his 2x4 block models using a different process in obtaining the necessary angles it's quite confusing and convoluted.

I too would like to understand the mathematics involved in coming up with these dimensions Court building hexagons into a dome home. a solid understanding of this would make for a lot less confusion and ease in construction.

[Gerry in Quebec]

The Hexadome, a structure based on the 3-frequency octahedron, seems to have generated some controversy in years gone by. For the record, here are a couple of feisty commentaries on the subject:

 

http://www.dtbcomputers.com/oldweb/crime_criminals.htm

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/DomeTimes/conversations/topics/2524

 

The writer of the first is Janet ""JJ" Johnson, Manager of Hexadome America back in 2005. (She doesn't mention the date of her publication/comments.) Boy, is she ticked off about the behaviour of a company on Kangaroo Island, Australia.

 

The second text, from a decade ago, is a little critique/rant about the quality of Hexadome documentation. The comments were posted by DIY builder David Barca, on Yahoo's Dome Times discussion group.

 

Apparently, Johnson didn't like Barca's comments either:

 

http://www.dtbcomputers.com/oldweb/SlanderLettersm.pdf

 

- Gerry in Québec, still enjoying my 3v octa dome

[William Fisher]

Gerry,

Over 35 years and 3 issues really doesn't constitute controversy. One was a business relationship with an Australian company that appears cheated on the deal, the second is about how many were actually built, seams to be a very exaggerated number and the third was a guy complaining that Hopster's didn't return his emails about bevel angels to convert to the pease method, if you look at the dates of that it was right around the time of Hopster's death.

Too many get butt hurt too easily, thought dome folks were better grounded.

Bill

[Gerry in Quebec]

Yeah, maybe "controversy" is too strong a term here. How about "tempests in teapots"?

- Gerry

[William Fisher]

"Tempest in teapots" almost spit out my coffee....

[William Fisher]

I do not think this is a 3v octahedron, the top is a hexagon not a square.

[Gerry in Quebec]

Try tilting your head 54.7 degrees  :-)

[William Fisher]

In the Hexadome the squares are trapezoids that have a 97° angle out.

[Gerry in Quebec]

Exactly.... And it's sometimes disguised as 0.955 radians.

On Wednesday, December 16, 2015 at 9:13:31 PM UTC-5, Robert Clark wrote:

54.7 degrees?  Oh...you mean the inverse tangent of the square-root of 2.  :)

[William Fisher]

Anybody care to look over my math above. Seeing if flat panel hexes would work on these.

[Gerry in Quebec]

Here's the result of a few manipulations of a 3v octahedral geosphere, class I. I arrived at the attached polyhedron as follows:

•  Rotate the geosphere so that the centre point of an "umbrella" hex is at the apex.
•  Eliminate 12 triangles to create 3 flat squares distributed around the apex.
•  Re-locate vertices to create a clean truncation at 90 degrees (exactly half the geosphere, as in the pre-rotation 3v octa version), without losing the overall pattern of triangles and quadrilaterals. This deforms the 3 squares into trapezoids.
• Under each of the 3 new trapezoids, convert each cluster of 3 triangles into a flat trapezoid, resulting in three new larger trapezoids. This gives a total of 6 trapezoidal faces of two types, plus 24 isosceles triangles.

Bill, the angle of the "shoulders" of the trapezoids that were formerly squares is 97.18 degrees.

 

Does this look like the basic form of the Hopster Hexadome -- that is, before extensions and dormers are added?

- Gerry in Québec

[William Fisher]

Hopster had triangles to square off the hexes at the base. https://web.archive.org/web/20010910015856/http://jinet.com/Hexadome/CD/pics/s10.jpg

[Nimblebee]

Hopster's guide blocks allowed you to set up your saw angles to make the cuts on 2 X 4's forming the outer edges of triangles.

Using these triangles you could put together a basic model of hexadome, which was a great learning experience, but it only got you part of the way to completing the model.

They didn't sell guide blocks for building the trapezoids, these had to be inferred by measuring the angles off of the hexagons bolted together in the model, measuring the spaces between the hexagons were the trapezoids were to fit.

Having the angles for the outside of these trapezoids was only part of the solution: you still have to infer further information for saw cuts to create these outer angles and dimensions for the trapezoid.

That's why I say you can take all of the information that's available and you still have some work to do with trial and error & figuring it all out as you go along: a true learning experience!

Still and all it's not that difficult as many people have built dome homes of this design.

To me the main advantages of the design is that triangles can be built and left outside in the weather as time and money permits, and if you can build one triangle you can build the home, because all triangles are built the same.

still and all

[William Fisher]

Bumblebee,

I picked up the original book and the illustrated guide that came out much later. Between the two, you get all the trapezoid angles. I am confident I could build the dome as in the books.

I am trying to merge these plans with this style ( www.easydomes.com ) and make all the triangles into 4 simple flat panel hexagons (or 8 trapezoids that can be connected later) my issue is the bevels on doing so.

If you look at it from bottom edge to top that would be 2 seams from flat to 90° one seam on the either the ground/Riser wall or on the flat wall where doors and windows go. That would have a single bevel cut on the bottom of the trap or hex. The other seam would be ast the top where the side hex or trap meets the roof hex. That would have 2 bevel cuts. Total 3 bevel cuts = 90° or 30° each.

Going around the dome at the base gets tricky. Hopster has the angles off of the hex bases at 40° and the others all at 20°. The hexes are all ready at 30° if my first math is correct. We need to make the connecting triangles 10° at the hex seam for a total of 40°. The other bevels should all be 10° so when seamed together make a 20° seam.

This is the math I need verified.


Bill

[William Fisher]

Last post was for nimblebee, damn autocorrect

[Gerry in Quebec]

The model now has 6 triangles and 3 rectangles along the base. These are all vertical. Here's the result from 4 different angles. I used Antiprism to generate the images.

 

- Gerry in Québec

[Nimblebee]

Anyone that wants to build one of these domes would do well to study all the books, plans and written material available, to learn from others in forums on dome building like this one, and build a model of adult for beginning full size construction.

Costs associated with learning is much cheaper this way, since there seems to be nothing intuitive when it comes to all these compound angles and shapes coming together into a dome.

[Nimblebee]

That should have been "a dome" not adult.

##@%* auto correct! :-D

[Gerry in Quebec]

I should have said , "The model now has 6 extra triangles and 3 new rectangles, all vertical, along the base." Can't blame that on the spell checker!

 

So that makes a total of 30 triangles of two types, plus 3 rectangles and 3 trapezoids.

 

Here's another version, this time with the 3 trapezoids reverting back to squares, as in the original 3v, class I octahedral geosphere. I believe this dome, which is taller than a hemisphere, would be a little easier to build than a Hopster Hexadome. Also, the footprint is closer to a circle. Four Antiprism images attached.

 

I think Bill's idea of making 3 flat hexes (if I have understood this correctly) is feasible. However, the panels, even if two trapezoids are used to form one hex, will be very large and heavy to lift if the dome is a full-sized house.

 

- Gerry

[Gerry in Quebec]

Here are images of two versions of the hexadome with flat hexes. In one instance, three of the six quadrilaterals are trapezoids and the dome is a "hemisphere"; in the other, three quads are squares and the dome is significantly taller than a hemisphere.

[Ashok Mathur]

Dear Gerry,

Would it be possible to build two of these models so that they abut each other.

To be clearer, say if I took two of the second model, can I lay them out so that they have one common wall near the wide bottom trapezium?

Regards

Ashok

[Gerry in Quebec]

Hi Ashok,
The two triangles adjoining the ground-level rectangle don't lie in the same plane as the rectangle. So the three polygons don't actually form a trapezium. If you made the rectangle a common wall between two domes, you would end up with wedge-like gaps between each pair of triangles.

 

Another option would be to separate the two domes by some distance and build a connecting corridor between the two. The only problem I see with this arrangement is that the roof of the corridor would be flat -- no so good for shedding rain or melting snow.

- Gerry in Québec, where we've just had a centimetre of snow

[William Fisher]

I worked out plans for what Gerry mentioned about an adjoining hallway type structure. This is touched on in Hopster's books. My plan called for 2 28ish foot Hexadome connected by a 10' by 16' kitchen and half bath module. I would put a simple pitched roof that would connect up into the trapezoid units above the rectangular areas. One dfome would house a living/dining room great room the other 2 bedrooms, full bath and laundry room.

Bill

[Gerry in Quebec]

Bill & Ashok,

Here are three Antiprism images of a pair of Hexadomes connected by a corridor. I don't have a copy of Hopster's book, so I'm not certain all dimensions are exact. But the quads above the rectangles are trapezoids, as in photos of Hexadomes. Since each dome in this model is a "hemisphere" relative to its circumsphere, the edges of the rectangular and triangular panels along each base would sit flush on the ground (i.e., no tilting of the edges).

- Gerry in Québec

[Ashok Mathur]

Dear Gerry
Thanks
Ashok

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[Lynn Beck]

I became interested in the Hexadome back in the early 70's. The plan was to build parts at home and take to, and build a cabin on property aprox 5 hrs from home. Problem was how to build those pesky triangles correctly. Long story short, using Autocad , a Bridgeport milling machine and some alum. I constructed a fixture to build triangles of different sizes 2  4  6  and 8 ft, depending on the project, Since then the property was sold, I have retired and live in a square house. Now I am thinking garden shed.  

On Friday, February 21, 2014 at 9:11:20 PM UTC-5, Paul Kranz wrote:

Has anyone been exposed to Gene Hopster's hexadome?

Paul sends...

 became

[TaffGoch]

Real nice jig, Lynn! 

I envy your supply of aluminum stock. My jigs have always been of wood.

I particularly like the way the end-cut guide plates are provided. A lot of "angle-assurance" details can be gleaned from the photo. I encourage readers to download and study the photograph.

-Taff 

[remco defouw]

Hello Lynn

 A nice piece of engineering alright , I love seeing the ingenious way people solve these practical problems.

 Thanks for putting up the photo

Remco

remco defouw

www.remcodefouw.net

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[Lynn]

The triangle in the fixture {above} is made from 2x4 instead of Hopster's split 4x4. The fixture can use 3/4 plywood to 2x4 or 2x6 depending on desired wall thickness. The 6' dome was used to cover a water collection unit.The trapizoid is an access door. The 2' 3/4 plywood triangles can be seen thru this door. The saw angle guide can also be used to make models.The rendered drawing is my idea of an out building. Also more pix of how the fixture works.

[William Fisher]

Lyn,

I take it you beveled the "2 inch" ends of the 2 by stock? Basically using the pease method?

Bill in Pa

[Lynn]

Edges of 2 bys are ripped on table saw. Triangle base is cut at 75 deg and legs are cut at 82 deg 36 min. All of my drawings are reverse engineered from Hopster's first book. All of the math and drawings come from Autocad. Using 2x4, the wall thickness is 3" using 2x6, the wall thickness is 5". If you must have 3.5" walls, cut more off a 2x6 or use Hopster's split 4x4.    

[Lynn]

Bill,I had to look up the Pease method. It seems that is just what it is.

[Lynn]

Robert Clark,

Most time is in set up. After that it takes .5 to 1.5 hrs per triangle.

Lynn

[William Fisher]

Really nice work. I like what you have done. I have both Hopster's books on the Hexadome. His 4x4 method requires the use of a 4x8 for the bottom of the trapezoids. Never saw a 4x8.

[Blair Wolfram]

William said, "Never saw a 4x8."
How are you suppose to cut it?

On Feb 22, 2016 7:04 AM, "William Fisher" <fisher...@gmail.com> wrote:

Really nice work. I like what you have done. I have both Hopster's books on the Hexadome. His 4x4 method requires the use of a 4x8 for the bottom of the trapezoids. Never saw a 4x8.

[William Fisher]

Thanks for picking up on that Blair. Seriously do they still make 4x8's