I worked 13 hours solid on this project. It was the longest I've ever worked one a single project in a while. I was very afraid I was going to lose feeling in my right hand and stay swollen. It's happened before, where I worked too hard without stopping. I had lost function in my hand for the entire week! It was insane!! I couldn't even work on a computer, wield a pencil, or anything.
Anyway, I started this project by researching online about "Cardboard Spheres" and "Paper Spheres." I eventually found a website about Geodomes. I thought "Hey, I can do that for my project," but then I thought that it was too similar to the tutorial. So, I changed it up. Instead of gluing it together to make into a sphere, I was going to use the Slot-structure we where looking at in class.
So, on to the drafting table I went. In the tutorial, there is a section on how to do the math for a dome. I needed mine to be the size of a basketball. So, I researched the diameter of a basket ball (10in) and converted that into millimeters. I even covered the math in the tutorial to millimeters.
I did the math then drafted my pattern onto a piece of Cardstock. Then I proceeded to trace it onto my cardboard (keeping in mind the "grain" movement of the middle).
I made up my own drafting piece for the connectors (the substitute for glue) by tracing out a 10" circle, then a 9.5" circle inside and a 10.5" circle outside. Then I traced out a few rays and added the slots (.25", about the thickness of the cardboard) for the pieces to slide together smoothly. Last, I cut it out.
The reason why, I wanted the connectors to make the piece turn into a sphere. If the connectors weren't round, then the piece would end up trying to be flat. Of course, I didn't want that. :(
I ended up cutting 80 little triangles and about 250 little connectors. In the end, I ended up with this:
The end.
