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Monday, May 02, 2005 #

Tools

So now I have to flatten both ends of each pipe, making a total of 500 ends-to-squash! I figured it would make sense to invest some time into developing the right tool for the job: a pipe squasher. After a false start (involving a big iron hinge that failed to squash pipes but instead bent around them), I bought a vise and tried squashing the pipe with it. It worked but it took a lot of effort and time.

Instead I cooked up this contraption: the pipe fits in the middle and over the vise, which is used as an anvil. With the hammer (a nice little 1.5 kg model), flattening the pipes is easy! Well, ask me again when I finish pounding 500 pipe ends...

posted @ 6:20 PM | Feedback (23)

Yipes, the pipes!

I found a supplier for aluminium pipes, decided to take the plunge and ordered 262 16 mm pipes, for a 4v dome with a 6 m diameter. And here they are! From top to bottom, there's the pipes for the A (yellow), B/C (red/blue), D (green), E (purple), F (orange) struts and some various lengths for the doorway and ventilation hole struts. I ordered them cut to the rights lengths, but I'm going to do the rest of the work myself (squashing the ends, drilling holes, bending).