accordion-folding stretch hexayurt

[Brian]

Hi folks-

I'm new to the list, so apologies if this question has been answered elsewhere (a quick search didn't turn up anything).  

I'm thinking of building my first Hexayurt for Burning Man this year.  Both my camp and my apartment are a little tight on space, so I'm aiming for something that will

1. Comfortably accommodate me and my wife on the playa, while

2. Having a relatively small assembled footprint and

3. Folding up into a relatively small package for storage and transport.

The stretch hexayurt, as it is usually built, accomplishes 1 and 2, but not really 3.  My proposed solution is to take the standard stretch hexayurt design, built with Camp Danger hinges, but add an additional "tight" hinge by cutting each of the long boards vertically in  half (both the roof and the walls).  Then the yurt can be disassembled into four accordion-folded pieces that fold up into a roughly 4'x4'x2' package. 

I've built a model of this and can send some photos if it's not clear what I'm talking about, once I have time to disassemble it to show the folding. 

My question is this: will the vertical cuts on the long sides of the yurt cause me structural problems on the playa?  Has anyone done this before?  It seems that if I tape them back together in the same way that roof triangles are taped together, this should be reasonably strong.  My model seems fairly sturdy, and since the stretch design leaves beind a few pieces of scrap insulation, I figure I could use those to reinforce the cuts if need be.  But before I blow a bunch of money and time on a doomed design, I wanted to see what the expert yurters out there think.

I also have a quick question on safety.  I see the warnings about Tuff-R and filament tape and flammability, and yet I also see lots of people continuing to use those materials for hexayurts.  Is it reasonable to assume that these materials, though not necessarily "safe" are at least as safe as a nylon tent?  Are there standard suggestions for mitigating fire risk?  Sorry again if this is answered elsewhere; there's a somewhat overwhelming amount of information out there to sift through.

Thanks!

Brian

[Phil Dirt]

I built a hexayurt for last year's burn and it worked quite well. Plenty of room for two people to sleep and hold gear. Important to have a low and high vent for circulation. I hinged the cutouts on the inside so I could close them at night and put furnace filters on the outside to keep out dust.

I made beveled cuts on all the panels and feel that the bevels make the yurt much stronger. The Camp Danger method puts a lot more stress on the tape and doesn't transfer wind load efficiently to the ground. Better to take the time to cut the bevels and do it right. A collapsed yurt would be a major buzz kill. Cutting the side and roof panels would compromise the structural integrity even more. 

As for fire hazard, I don't think the tape is any more dangerous than a nylon tent. Besides, why would anyone want to build a fire inside their yurt?

Bill

[Chita Jing]

   What sort of bevel? 

[Phil Dirt]

A bevel is an angle cut into the edges of the insulation panels. When you buy them, all of the edges are cut at right angles, i.e. 90º. In geometry, all the angles of any 3-dimensional object must add up to 360º. So if you add up the four 90º angles of an insulation panel (two on each edge because a panel is basically a long, thin rectangle) you get 360º.

When you build a hexayurt, the wall panels stand straight up so their angle with the ground is 90º. Then you have the two angles on each side where the walls meet the roof and the angle at the top ridge of the roof, which are all 60º. Add them together and you get (90 + 90 + 60 + 60 = 60 = 360º) But wait, those 60º angles on the junction of the walls and roof and peak of the roof are where two panels meet, so each panel needs a bevel of 30º, which will equal 60º when the panels are taped together.

You can cut the bevels with a box cutter and just guesstimate the angles, or more accurately cut them by setting the blade of a Skilsaw to 30º. My point in my previous comment is that beveling the edges before taping makes a much stronger yurt because any load (usually wind, but maybe somebody stumbling and falling against the yurt) will be transferred to the ground. Without bevel cuts on the edges of the walls and roof increases the risk of your yurt collapsing or becoming a kite.

This project may be a bit difficult for you if you don't understand bevels and 3-dimensional geometry.

On Monday, June 18, 2012 12:36:32 PM UTC-7, Jane wrote:

   What sort of bevel? 

[Joshua Keroes]

On Tue, Jun 19, 2012 at 10:17 AM, Phil Dirt <sen...@goldrush.com> wrote:

You can cut the bevels with a box cutter and just guesstimate the angles, or more accurately cut them by setting the blade of a Skilsaw to 30º. 

I used a circular saw. It dusted everything; super totally not recommended.

A saber saw would be cleaner.

Philip and Boyd of the Pigmalions used the least moopy and one of the simplest methods I've seen: they ripped a 10' 2x4 at 30° and then used it as a fence for the box cutter. Just make sure to buy a very straight ten footer - a standard 8' 2x4 won't be long enough for that diagonal cut.

-Joshua

[wanda]

Hi Brian -

A friend & I built nearly matching stretch hexayurts a couple of years ago with the same modifications you are talking about.  (We both built them 6' tall, though, so our transport packages are 4' x 6')

I was worried about the structural stability of my split walls, so I got a few lengths of wood & bolted them across the top/bottom of the long sides. This also ended up being a great place for hooks to hang things.  My friend was not worried at all, so he didn't do anything to reinforce his walls.  I believe we both put some sort of heavy furniture item (a couple of bins?) against the long wall that faced the wind.

I've been out to bman twice with mine, no problems & he also was fine that year (he stayed home last year). The only minor concern was that my bolt holes let in a bit of rain water. (oops)

This is all a long way of saying - from my experience at least, I think your design should be fine.

Good luck!

Wanda

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