In reality, is there any fundamental reason the boards need to be taped together? I can envision a harness that has six diagonal downward straps terminating in anchors. With those anchored firmly down, and a belt to go around the wall tops (plus maybe one for the bottom), what else would you need? [Pragmatically speaking, you'd probably want to patch-tape the panels together while you fiddle with the belts, but once it was all cinched up it would be self-sustaining--especially if you've bevelled your panels.]
On Sep 14, 2010, at 2:26 PM, Spiral Syzygy wrote: > Velcro isn't an awful idea. I've seen Husky Hang-alls that use velcro > and can support many hundreds of pounds. Perhaps a thin wood frame > around the foam board would allow for bolting some heavy duty nylon > webbing with Velcro to it. It would go up fast, come down fast, be > reusable with out dropping $70 on tape everytime you want to put it > up. It's a thought for anyone who would be willing to engineer > something like this. > > Spiral > > On Tue, Sep 14, 2010 at 12:57 PM, Vinay Gupta (Hexayurt Shelter > Project) <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> <grin> >> >> I couldn't get a hexayurt of that size to work with 2" tape - I'm just not >> that precise a builder! >> >> Nice work, and I agree that the tape is becoming a weak link. We've >> specified "hexayurt tape" before - six inches wide, different glues, foil >> surface and when there was a company that was working with us to do a >> commercial edition I thought we would be able to get a run produced. >> >> That was a few years back, and there's no ongoing commercial development of >> tape right now that I'm aware of. >> >> But, yes, it's clearly an issue. I don't know what the smart answer is. >> Velcro? >> >> Vinay >> >> On Mon, Sep 13, 2010 at 2:00 AM, Zippy <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> Hi Y'all, >>> >>> We had an amazingly successful 2010 on the Playa with our first >>> Hexayurt. It really made a difference to our experience. Thanks to >>> everyone for sharing all of their great ideas, tips and tricks. >>> >>> One lesson among many that I came away with and want to share was >>> related to tape. I was lucky enough to bump into a veteran hexa- >>> yurter this past summer at a local Burn, and he warned me about the >>> disadvantages of the 6" bi-filament tape. The fact that it is hard to >>> handle, breaks down quickly due to heat, dryness and UV and is very >>> expensive, not to mention ugly in terms of its appearance and carbon >>> footprint. This drove me to find an alternative. >>> >>> I began by purchasing a 2" metallic tape, intending only to do my >>> panel edges with it, rather than using the bi-filament, which is too >>> wide for this purpose anyway. The product was: >>> >>> Nashua Tape Products - FlexFix Metallic Tape >>> 1.89 In. x 120.3 Yd. (48 mm x 110 m) >>> ~$11.00/Roll >>> >>> (Trust me, I don't work for or have affiliations with Nashua!!! I am >>> an anti-corporate leftist Burner freak) >>> >>> It is a very thin, strong, shiny, metallic coated plastic tape that is >>> more akin to regular packing tape than duct tape. It has a bit of >>> stretch and is very sticky, thus adheres well to a variety of >>> surfaces. To give an example of just how durable it is, today I was >>> stripping some off my post-Playa yurt, and finished the day with an >>> hour long soak in a very hot bath. After my bath, my wife spotted a >>> small scrap of tape (1 cm2) that was still adhered to my elbow! >>> >>> As I became more familiar with the product, I debated whether it could >>> be used for the structural joints. I did some test fitting beforehand >>> and the joints felt strong so I decided to take the chance, but took >>> the 6" bi-filament along as backup, just in case. I did use the 6" bi- >>> filament tape for the main final roof joint only, due to the ease at >>> which it can be strung over the structure with two people. >>> >>> We had early arrival, and set up the yurt only moments before the rain >>> storm hit at noon on Saturday. I put a guy-line at each of the 6 >>> corners, and had only taped the exterior seams. We were at 5:30 and C >>> and the wind was very strong. I watched the poor yurt from a distance >>> while I helped rescue our neighbors who had been caught mid-stride >>> erecting their carport, not knowing whether it would hold up to the >>> blast or not. Well, it did hold up, and after about a 45 minutes of >>> pretty intense winds and rain, I realized one vertical wall joint >>> hadn't even been taped. My wife had been inside the entire time and >>> she said it was pretty scary, as the walls and roof panels had been >>> flexing considerably under the wind load (1" R-MAX). >>> >>> After that I decided to tape all of the seams on the interior as well, >>> and once done, I never looked back. The yurt was solid as a rock with >>> two inch tape! No messy degraded 6" tape to deal with, and super easy >>> to cut apart at the end of the week with a blade. The only difficult >>> joint on the whole structure was the center roof joint that we taped >>> with bi-filament tape, which was peeling and bubbling due to the heat >>> and dryness. >>> >>> I am motivated to share the experience and encourage more people to >>> consider going this route. Now, obviously there is risk, as the shear >>> strength and strength of adhesion (due to smaller surface area) is >>> unlikely to be as high as the 6" bi-filament tape. However, although >>> there is no reasonable way to analyze such things on paper, and one >>> success story does not mean anything, I was very impressed with this >>> material. And, another thing I confirmed is that this material can >>> stand up to rain with no trouble. >>> >>> In the past 8 years on the Playa, I have experienced larger storms, >>> but Saturday's storm was formidable, and I feel confident my yurt >>> could have handled much, much more than it did once I taped both >>> sides. I'm a civil engineer in the default world, and I'll be >>> returning to the Playa with this 2" tape (yeah okay ... I'll bring the >>> 6", just in case ;)) >>> >>> CAVEAT! >>> >>> I beveled all of my joints and created a very tight, well-fitting, >>> structure. This takes time and diligence and using 2" tape absolutely >>> depends on this kind of accurate construction. If you have squared >>> panel edges and rough construction skills, I'd stick with 6" Tape! >>> >>> Advantages: >>> >>> Much cheaper >>> Much thinner, thus less buildup on yurt and long term maintenance >>> Much prettier >>> Much easier to cut during installation and teardown >>> Much easier to handle, to avoid wrinkles and folds >>> Much less material expended, therefore more environmentally friendly >>> Holds up much better under UV, heat and the dryness of the Playa >>> >>> Disadvantages: >>> >>> Can not be used to span errors in construction >>> Probably has lower strength of adhesion due to smaller surface area >>> VERY probably has lower shear strength than bi-filament tape. >>> >>> Hope this helps someone! >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>> "hexayurt" group. >>> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>> [email protected]. >>> For more options, visit this group at >>> http://groups.google.com/group/hexayurt?hl=en. >>> >> >> >> >> -- >> Vinay Gupta >> Free Science and Engineering in the Global Public Interest >> >> http://hexayurt.com - free/open next generation human sheltering >> http://hexayurt.com/plan - the whole systems, big picture vision >> >> "In the midst of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an >> invincible summer" - Albert Camus >> >> Twitter/Skype/Gizmo/Gtalk/AIM: hexayurt >> UK Cell : +44 (0) 7500 895568 / USA VOIP (+1) 775-743-1851 >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "hexayurt" group. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected]. >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/hexayurt?hl=en. >> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "hexayurt" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/hexayurt?hl=en. > -- There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact. -- Mark Twain -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "hexayurt" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/hexayurt?hl=en.
