Geodesic Dome: Build a Lamp or a Space Ship

Here are two scalabe joints for making your own bucky balls. You can download the stl files, chop up bamboo skewers, and build it to the size you want...

"There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly." - Buckminster Fuller

As is,the .stl files are meant for bamboo skewers or 1/8" rods but the joint can be scaled for different rod thicknesses and also for the lengths of your rods. You can do either one or both with these .stl files...

I have included a grasshopper script for playing with the size and resolution of your dome. It has a lot of great information for facets, a frame and other goodies. You can bake the facets and then find their intersections to get a wireframe like the one in the diagram.

In my version, rod A is 4" and rod B is 3.54" or 3 9/16". As shown in the diagram...This will make a dome with about 15" diameter. For those who use the grasshopper script, you will have a different number of joints and different length rods but the ratio should be the same for the rod lengths.

Color code the different sized sticks! it will be easier to deal with them. I painted one stick size black

I found this order of operations by watching my friends struggle with the pieces without proper instructions. Thanks for the help friends:) First, assemble the pentagons for "penta-pods" by attaching the B sticks to the five sided joints. Now you are ready to build! Then, fill in the other A sticks to build around these pods as you go. Your hexagonal cells will appear within these pods. The drawings are good to refer to and the video below should clarify any other questions

Enjoy!