Custom Connections

Today we focused on fabricating connecting mechanisms while continuing to fabricate polycarbonate pieces. Many of us used our drill bits to create holes in each of our triangle’s corners making sure not to drill too close to the edges to avoid the breakage we had in our scale model. After drilling, we cleaned up each of these apertures with an olfa so that we could line each of them with a length of vinyl tubing. Additionally, Vicky and Saeed worked to construct the connections between the footing and the structure. They cut rectangles from the .125” sheet metal and then used another drill bit to create openings in each of the four corners. We then filed each of the openings down until they were clean. We also experimented with bending these metal connections at different angles so that they could more easily connect floor to wall with an "L" shaped form. Finally, David and Peter worked to construct the foundation with the 2x4s and the plywood. They plotted each of their pieces and attached them to their plywood pieces and used the band saw and the table saw to cut these pieces. We still have a few details to work out such as how each of the metal units will attach to the polycarbonate and then to the wooden base. But our one to six scale model is nearly completely, so we can begin experimenting with it to see approximately how the structure will fit in the site especially the end that cantilevers off the ground.