Free Load of Wood

I happened by a new house being built here on the island and asked the site boss if he had any scap wood that I could have. This is what I ended up with and he said I could come back for more. I'll have to remove the nails from it but whats a little work for free building materials.

Recording Studio

I thought I'd show the old recording studio so it can be compared to the new one when it is done.

On the left is the computer in a cool rackmount server case. I use Fruityloops for programming the drum patterns and synth lines. For audio recording I use Cubase SX.

On the right I have my NEW pocket POD from Line 6. What a huge improvement over the old effects unit. The sounds are totally amazing. Next to it is my NEW recording interface by Tascam, the FireOne. It only has 2 mic preamps and one instrument input, but they are crystal clear for recording. Next to that is my OLD Behringer mixer. Right now I don't have a use for it because I plug straight into the FireOne.

On top of the bridge I have JBL monitors. I was very fortunate to find these at an estate sale for very cheap. They sound so much better than the old KLH's. You can hear all the details in the music.

Garage sale finds

Over the weekend My wife and I enjoy going to all the garage sales here on Camano Island. We scan the local newspaper for listing and decide to where to head first. We usually leave the house around 7:30 or 8:00 and don't return home until noon or so.

This weekend I picked up a 3 way light fixture($3.00), a single light fixture(free) and a small half round window($3.00), which might end up in the door.

Total cost so far $6.00

Free Doors,window and PVC

Last night I picked 3 free doors and a free window frame without glass. My wife saw them posted on Free-cycle. I'll use one of the doors for the dome and Have offered one of the others to a friend for a door for his treehouse. I'll post some pics of them this weekend.
Last week I picked up a 30 inch length of 3 inch I.D. PVC pipe at a construction site. This is the size I am using for the "hubs" of the triangles. I should get another 8 to 10 of these out of this piece.

Also I picked up a light fixture at a garage sale today. A whopping 3 dollars. So far, other than gas this is the most I have spent on the whole project. Tomorrow my wife and I will hit a few more garage and yard sales to see what else I can find for cheap or free.

Total cost so far $0.00

Free wood to build my dome

This is the B-C-C triangle from the previous entry. It's now "covered" from the top pieces of the pallet. I used 1 1/2 inch screws to anchor them in place. Since the wood will split when adding screws that close to the edge I had to pre-drill holes. Luckly I had 2 drills. One setup with the drill bit and the other with the phillips bit for driving in the screw.

This will be the last triangle I make until the foundation is done and the riser walls are complete. Since this is a small dome I'll be using concrete footings instead of a full foundation.

Here is a good site that has a lot of good info and pictures
http://www.one-eleven.net/~domekits/index.html#SITEMAP

Bill

Construction begins

So I was compelled to build something and the dome hit me. After sitting on the idea for about 5 years I finally have started! It will be a 3V dome that is 14 feet in diameter.

For those of you that don't know what a 3V is check out the Desert Domes site I have a link for at the right hand side of the page.
I'm using (or re-using) wood from pallets. As I have access to a good supply of them from work and local warehouses. Many of these are made from oak.

The hub is a 3 1/2 dia PVC conduit pipe cut to 3 inches in length. This particular triangle is for the 6 sided portion of the dome. Each hub has 2 holes drilled into it every 60 degrees. The 2x4 is cut at a 12 degree angle at each end.

The 5 sided portions of the dome will have the ends cut at a 10 degree angle and the center hub will have the holes drilled at 72 degrees.

The PVC pipe was left over from a potato canon we built a couple of years ago. Total cost $0.00

Building a model of the dome

So about 5 years ago I had an idea to build a geodessic dome as a music recording studio. I was inspired after taking a tour through a newly built dome here on Camano Island. What struck me about the structure was the accoustics. Totally amazing. About a year later I built a model out of foam core board just to see what it would be like. It measured 36 inches in diameter. My daughter JJ is pictured next to it.