10 ft aircrete dome with captions

[@uzomarose]

It took me awhile to find you again even with searching aircrete geodesic dome, but my persistance paid off. I was in canada when you started this builda ndnow I am in USA(arizona), my heart took be backa round to this idea.......I am gonna do...aircrete will prevail in extreme weather HOT or COLD. Thank You for persisting

[@kodeshian1]

OMG YASS... I woke up in the middle of the night thinking of making an aircrete geodesic dome with traingular molds. Ofc someone already has done it, god bless the interwebs lol. Already have the land going to build my first dome this spring :)

[@juanconhambre]

Hi, I am going on a trip for a couple of months but you should email me about your project if you want to bounce ideas, my email is [e-mail]

[@utubeape]

me too, I wasnt going to use triangles but hexagons, making wood moulds with sloping sides to make it lean in naturally, and have rebates on the sides so they hold together better. also about 30 or 40 feet wide so I can live in it

[@utubeape]

@P. Chretien you don't need to worry about windows and doors, you just saw out the required size hole later and build flanges to enable regular shaped windows and doors to be fitted, for example look at dormer windows on sloped roofs, the door can be inset a little bit, or have a jutting out bit like on an igloo

[@JamesK91]

@@utubeape have you gotten your design figured out? I was thinking of sloping sides on a triangle, but I cant figure out what slope I need to accomplish that. Is there a formula for figuring it?

[@utubeape]

@@JamesK91 Hi, Yes I have a design and measurements. Based on plans supplied by this guy: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aYWVY3Zqi7GkedU There is a calculation to apply to the measurements that can enlarge or reduce to any diameter, and all your individual pieces are changed by this measurement too. He stretched poly onto the wood to make a greenhouse, but I would add OSB to the inside for walls, and then rigid foam insulation inside each triangle, then I am going to build up a mold wall layer on each triangle and pour aircrete, with a sheet of poly carb to act as the lid of the mold until the aircrete sets up. Its a bit difficult to explain. I have put the project on hold, I did all the costing for all the materials and spent a lot of time learning about Rocket Mass Heaters for the heating system. The slope angle is something like 6 degrees, this will set on the rip saw, so that the triangles of the wood all slope in. I changed the design of my dome because I worked out that each triangle would need some extra mechanical lifting as each would weigh 55kg. I can use the wood structure as the scaffolding to climb on, my costs so far including a slab with underfloor heating is about £15,000 The thing that has put me back at the moment is work commitments and the new situation due to the virus, but I have realised the virus is to bring about a new way of life, Agenda 2021 and Agenda 2030, so might not be allowed to live in the countryside self sufficient, not burning wood anyway. The wood burning for the rocket stove is critical to the plan, hot water and heat

[@MrChris20912]

Very darned cool! Enjoyed seeing how your dome came together, and didn't. Hell, as a first project, just the fact it came together at all is a fantastic achievement and you are to be commended! Hearing about your process is helping me learn as well. Thank you!

[@juanconhambre]

Thanks for the comments, after 2 winters of me finishing it, it still is holding "together" even with a considerable snow load so that is promising. I am glad to hear it has been informative to you. Thanks for watching

[@MrChris20912]

@@juanconhambre You are very welcome. One day I'll make a dome of my own as well. One of the KZbinrs I've been watching the last couple of years is HoneyDoCarpenter he does a LOT of aircrete builds on his channel and you might find some useful ideas there, if you haven't seen his stuff already.

[@juanconhambre]

@@MrChris20912 I have watched a few of his videos, another one to watch is aircrete harry if you are interested in domes and aircrete.

[@GaryReiber]

Liked your project. For so many pieces a small error is compounded as you go around. I have the following suggestions for your next dome: (My disclaimer is that I worked in a precast plant. I have not worked with aircrete.) 1. Use steel forms, more stable and you can be more precise. 2. Bricks are usually separated by mortar joints to account for the lack of precision; use wedge spaces to adjust the bricks for prwcise placement. 3. Precast panels are held in place with dowels that are mortared into aligning holes in the panels. (Dayton Superior makes coil inserts that would make it adjustable.) 4. With a string and marker you can make a good circle to layout your first row. 5. Fiber reinforcement as well as the longer curing time will help to hold the sharp corners together. (Faster curing can be achieve by covering the form and curing it with steam; you can cast brick all winter even in the Northwest Territories.) Good luck on your next project.

[@juanconhambre]

Hi Gary, yes, dowels will be a part of my next project, better curing time was an expensive learning curve but now that I now it so that is good. I know also to make a starting circle to follow the first row layout. The mortar does add errors that compound so I am trying to figure out a way to bind the triangles together without it, I will look the Dayton Superior coil inserts for sure, they might be what I am looking for, as long as the price isnt prohibitively expensive and also they have to be accesible to any DIY person. I dont use steel for the molds because I want this final product (once I achive my vision) to be able to be done by anyone without having to have specialized tools or any knowledge about building. It is a long way from being done but I am thankfull for everybody that has commented and added some ideas, even if I dont use them they all make me think and add something to this collective project. Thanks for watching

[@pauldean9671]

juanconhambre great first attempt. It’s a bit rough but that’s how we learn and get better. I wondered if you have included the thickness of the mortar in your calculations? I agree it would be better to build without mortar and just use flush joints if you can. Some kind of notch / peg system (like Lego) might be helpful to hold the bricks together whilst assembling. Would you use some glue or weatherproof sealant between the joints?

[@juanconhambre]

@@pauldean9671 No I did not calculate the mortar I was hoping it would be so minimal that it wouldnt affect the overall assembly I think it did although it might have not been the biggest factor on my errors. Would try to go without it next time with the hopes of building the whole dome in one day so there are not risks of it falling over middway if the weather changes. Still trying to figure out how to dry fit it so it works on an easy way that can be cast on the molds and wont break while fitting them. I am going to use Dome Gaia recomendation and cover the whole dome with a roofing fabric and waterproofing concrete to seal all the joints and also to bind the whole dome together. Thanks for watching

[@J.ArturoMartinez]

Gary u r a good willing guy 👍

[@JohnGuest45]

@@juanconhambre Not a bad result considering ;) I would cast some holes in slotted recesses (maybe 4" long x 1.5" wide x 3" deep) at right angles to the edge of the triangles. If you leave a couple of inches of concrete between the end of the recessed slot and the outside of the triangle it should be sturdy enough to allow you to bolt the panels together. I`d recommend using a much thicker, solid timber for the panel molds to ensure they are as accurate as possible. A flat base 3v 5/9 needs 4 types of triangle, i think i would just make an extra triangle mold vs messing around with the base timbers ;)

[@ccattisano]

I've built a geodesic dome with Buckminster proportions,you'll need 7 different sizes of triangles,and the angles between ,diadredal,is 6* so each edge has a bevel of 3*,maybe with that angle it'll work better.I'll build one with aircrete some day,it's in my bucket list.

[@juanconhambre]

You must have done a higher frequency dome, a 3V dome which is the one I built only requires 2 size triangles, and the angles change based on the face and size of triangles. What did you use for construction material? Thanks for watching

[@zachthompson1494]

Please keep us updated on this dome. People say aircrete does not work well in cold climates. So your dome will be a valuable experiment to test that theory. Thanks for uploading and congrats on the build.

[@HEMIdouglas]

Nit easy to work in the wintertime concrete must be kept warm and moist , utill first cure in one week and final in about 1 month. Put a tarp and hay over with a set of lights inside to warm. Don't forget rebar 1 foot apart, two directions 90 degrees.

[@christopherpardell4418]

1- geodesic domes work thru compression AND tension. Brick and mortar structures can only do compression - so I don’t know if a geodesic structure is appropriate for masonry- and certainly is far more difficult to center. A herringbone brick layout like in the duomo in Florence is a more self supporting masonry dome Contruction technique. 2- next time, model your ideal dome bricks on a computer, and model in place both holes for pins, and slots into which you can inject mortar or foam sealant. Verify they fit with some tolerance- and then simply send to 3D printer or CNC mill a Single hexagon section and single pentagon section. Take silicone or urethanes molds from these masters to do the production run with much greater consistency and precision. Two holes in molded into each edge surface allows for rebar or fiberglass pins to align and hold section stable during assembly... but you might also want a molded in separate support point in the interior center of each triangle so that you can build a simple centering to support them in assembly. 3 mortaring as you go means you will crack the joints as you jostle new sections in place- better to mold in channels between brick faces, that also feed the pin holes so that mortar or construction adhesive can be injected from inside the structure when all bricks are in place. 4 make your patterns MUCH thinner and much lighter to make assembly easier- molded in ribbing can add stiffness- and consider glass infused concrete. once the structure is up, spray or trowel concrete on the exterior to add thickness and impermeability. Eliminating any cracks on the exterior.

[@enriquepatriciofernandezpa5943]

"geodesic domes work thru compression AND tension. Brick and mortar structures can only do compression - so I don’t know if a geodesic structure is appropriate for masonry". Exactly. The mortar will not take the tensile stresses, unless you make external buttresses, or add traction elements as rings in the 1st third of the height, or excessively increase the thickness of the pieces thus, global buckling will cause the structure to collapse.

[@codykameron3428]

Sorry to be offtopic but does anyone know of a way to log back into an instagram account..? I was stupid forgot the login password. I appreciate any help you can offer me!

[@mateocyrus4999]

@Cody Kameron instablaster ;)

[@codykameron3428]

@Mateo Cyrus thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site through google and I'm trying it out now. Seems to take quite some time so I will get back to you later with my results.

[@codykameron3428]

@Mateo Cyrus it worked and I now got access to my account again. I am so happy! Thanks so much you really help me out :D

[@brianmi40]

They use a pole, mounted on a rotating, hinged mount in the center of the domes circle in order to get a perfect layout of the blocks... it lets you make sure everything is equadistant from the center, even as you build up and in, since the pole defines a perfect radius as it rotates to any position that you are placing a brick. If you were using a knee wall (straight up and down wall perimeter, before starting the dome, then you would set the hinge point of the pole at the same level as the knee wall rises to, so that the dome starts the radius around (and upward) perfectly in sync with the knee wall.

[@juanconhambre]

I have seen the hinged system in use before and it is a great system, but my goal is to take all that extra work away by building the perfect bricks, like I said in the video I am working on a tool to make sure the angles are set to the right degrees on the moulds, if I can do that then the angles of the bricks will keep everything equidistant to the center, and if you build a knee wall (which I plan to do) you dont have to be messing with extra poles to work the hinges at the right height. I am not saying that using that system wouldnt help, in hindsight it would have been a good idea on this first dome to avoid a lot of mistakes before placing bricks, but again my main goal is to make it super simple to build a dome that is insulated for anybody regardless of their background. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, it is nice to get input for sure

[@brianmi40]

@@juanconhambre I rather expect you'll find you need to use something like that even with well made bricks: there's just enough inaccuracy you can get from how they're mortared together that over time (several bricks high), you'll be out enough as you were here, creating a gap... The good news is that even a string from a center point can give you accuracy, so it doesn't have to be complex. Here in Florida, we have a dome home builder (AI Dome Homes) which puts up an internal support frame first, then lays in each premade section, similar to your method. Something like that would let you lay up all the blocks to a predefined shape guaranteeing symmetry. Since the Air Crete blocks are so light, an inexpensive support frame like that could easily be made to support their weight, and disassembled from the inside afterwards. Lastly, I know that Domegaia uses a form to pour their window openings, so wondering when someone will just build a reusable form for an entire reasonably sized dome, that way you just pour a foot of height into it each day so that it can set up before the next pour, and in a few days you'd have a perfectly shaped, "continuous" pour (no noticeable seams) dome. How do you plan to seal it, something like liquid glass???

[@juanconhambre]

@@brianmi40 , I thought about building a frame but that again makes more work that I want, like you said a string from a center point can verify my accuracy easy enough. And what you said about Domegaia mould was pursued by Aircreteharry, dont know if he ever got around building anydome but he bought the forms and was trying to do it that way, my problem with that is that it would only be viable to build many domes not for a person that wants to get one dome build and you will also be stuck to one size. My hopes is that with accurate moulds and a still to be developed system of dowels anybody should be able to build an aircrete dome. To seal it my plan is to use domegaias approach and cover the exterior with some fabric soaked in concrete with an latex bonding agent, the fabric would keep the structure togheter and at the same time can make the dome waterproof, they are using a roofing fabric that is waterproof already and using additives in their concrete to also make it waterproof.

[@mountainviews5025]

Wow how many have you built

[@jamesmills9240]

I built a 44 foot dome 40 years ago. It was made of polystyrene panels 6 inches thick. The triangles were then clamped into pentagons and hexagons with threaded rod. I used a steel wire bolted to the exact center of the dome floor then measured the points of the triangles from there. The styrene dome was then covered with rebar and 10-10 / 6-6 galvanized wire. The concrete was placed by hand over the reinforcing wire. I'm still living in it. It was designed by the late Peter Vanderklaauw.

[@juanconhambre]

Hi James, I have the same idea just testing the aircrete idea to combine the polystyrene and concrete in one step basically. How did you join the triangles with treaded rods? did you put nuts in them or how. I would love to see some pictures of your dome is you have them. Reach out to me at [e-mail]. Thanks for watching

[@mowerdog]

Very nice video. I see there are so many variables that even the best planning will result in tweaks here and there. You overcame them all. Great job!

[@juanconhambre]

Thanks for watching, I dont think I overcame all of them but I sure will keep on trying :)

[@MariaMorton]

Thank you for sharing your experiment with us!

[@juanconhambre]

Thank you for watching

[@TheKayaker71]

Your blocks are like giant Tri-Ominoes game pieces!

[@juanconhambre]

Ha ha ha, I should have try to do a domino effect with them, Thanks for watching

[@822516bigbear]

Hey good work man practice makes perfect, I im a bit of a concrete nut myself but started with concrete countertops and am slowly moving into modular furniture such as desks with concrete legs and beams that interlock its deffinatly as much as an artform as it is a technical building process keep up the good work they only get better the more you mess with it.

[@juanconhambre]

Thanks David, I do believe that as well, the more I mess with it the easier it gets. have you work or design any interlocking system that I could use for the moulds, that would reduce the errors on the shape for sure.... I am thinking either that or some dowel system havent decided yet

[@Psychentist]

Planning almost this exact shell, but a 20'. Thanks for sharing!

[@juanconhambre]

Hope this helps, I would love to see yours when you are done :). Thanks for watching

[@RedandAprilOff-Grid]

Yes, it's tricky! That's quite the build! 👍

[@juanconhambre]

thanks for watching

[@joao_br986]

Hey friend, thanks for share your "learning curve" with this model dome construction, it gave me lots of ideas on how to construct my own dome, I really do appreciate your work. Greetings from southern Brazil!

[@juanconhambre]

Obrigado Joao, eu sou de Uruguai mais no falo muito portugues. I hope it does help you if you make any improvements let me know. Thanks for watching

[@juanconhambre]

Hola Joan, espanol si puedo hablar jijijiji. Este domo es solo de prueba probablemente no lo vaya a usar para mucho porque no es muy grande y tampoco quedo muy prolijo pero lo voy a dejar para investigar como lo afecta el movimiento de la tierra a ver si se rompe o se termina cayendo con los anos. la idea eventualmente es hacer uno el doble de grande para poder vivir en el pero para eso falta bastante investigacion todavia

[@TheScorpiobiker]

Good Job! Never know until you do it and learn from it. It helps as a viewer to learn more and read comments to apply.

[@juanconhambre]

those were my thoughts exactly, thanks for watching and hopefully it helps you

[@gyorgyangelkottbocz9766]

fun to see your project and how generous you are with both your experieces and your mistakes! that just shows you are a real nice person... i myself have learnt more from these latter (first pair of winows installed become 100mm ca4'' different in height as the laser level's stand moved 1mm!1 ;-) than aything else! Helping others to gain out-of-textbook invaluable knowledge is the best way of teaching! well done! thanks!

[@juanconhambre]

That is the reason I posted this video, I have learned lots from other ppl taking their time to share their knowledge so I thought the least I could do was to share my experience. thanks for watching

[@gyorgyangelkottbocz9766]

@@juanconhambre I think this is what globalisation should be about ;-) FREE flow of information and knowledge!!! Thanks again from Sweden ;-)

[@phillipgaley4416]

Impressive ! Your first course being exactly placed~with a string anchored at the center and then swung around for an exact circle~will get the building started out right !

[@juanconhambre]

Thanks for watching, I will use a compass for placement next time :)

[@pandiyanp5816]

I appreciate your intelligence and attitude..good luck !

[@juanconhambre]

It is mostly attitude LOL, thanks for watching

[@JohnboyCollins]

I would cast or screw small bolts into back side of each triangle so upper levels can be easily secured in place with small cables running along the outside. Also, there's no "solution" to a perfect dome composed of regular flat triangles so there's gonna have to plan for some slop.

[@SpaceCrete]

Very cool! Thank you for going over your learning process on this. B Fuller himself would be impressed.

[@juanconhambre]

Thanks for watching, i dont know if I would impress Bucky but hopefully he would be happy his domes are still going...

[@juanconhambre]

I have consider that option, but no sure how to implement it to help me with the alignment of the blocks, I think I would have to drill a hole on the side of the mold to make sure the pipes are consistently aligned, it is a good idea I just need to fine tune its application. Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts

[@mellowfelon]

How did you calculate the beveled angles and lengths for each form? Excellent persistence trying to prove a very cool building idea. Thanks for sharing.

[@juanconhambre]

There are several calculators online, I really like zipties.com website, easy to use and pretty much all the info you could think you need is there. Thanks for watching and know that I havent stopped working on this I dont have much to report at the moment but I am hoping I will have more videos coming next year

[@guloguloguy]

PERHAPS, FIND A FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT DESIGNED, "USONIAN" HOME, AND CUSTOMISE YOUR OWN BLOCKS, THEN BUILD USING PRECAST, "RECTANGULAR" AIRCRETE BLOCKS!

[@Chenoa332]

Great job on your experiment, Juan. I’m also in 🇨🇦 (Northern ON) so I’m really curious about thickness and R value. Do you have any ideas or calculations that would provide some answers as far a minimum code requirements for our chilly climates? (I’m a Carpenter just starting out on my Air Crete journey so any links you could direct me to would be greatly appreciated) 😊

[@juanconhambre]

I have not tested anything on the R value of the aircrete, I would say the best channels I found where Honey Do Carpenter and Aircrete Harry, not very scientific but they did run some tests on aircrete. I didnt do much since my dome wasnt airtight enough to see the Aircrete was good insulation. I just found another guy that has been doing some aircrete videos, his name is "the happy heresiarch" I watch a couple of his video and he seems worth checking out if you are starting. If you have any specific questions on aircrete shoot them my way I will help you as much as I can for sure, you can reach me at [e-mail]

[@brett328]

Like the basic idea. I was thinking of trying to pour an aircrete dome after creating a pvc and plywood frame. I noticed the top of your dome is flattened a bit due to the trimming and fitting. I would be very concerned about the the top caving in. Be careful. Aircrete blocks falling on your head are no joke.

[@utubeape]

I agree, I would have the top part covered with a sheet of twin walled polycarbonate to let light in and reduce weight, or even make a curved lens by pouring clear expoxy on a sheet stretched over a big wood frame

[@stashu5242]

That was a very good effort Juan. Once the molds are perfected it will be easier. How about molding the whole hexagon with grooves to hold splines for easy alignment, then pour the triangle spaces in place.

[@juanconhambre]

The idea of making the triangles mold corner is that I can scale it up or down for different size domes, I will probably have to design some groove system to place them together and make the aligment easy, making the whole hexagon to put the tirangle inside will give me cold spots in the dome that I am trying to prevent by having 100 % aircrete on the walls. Thanks for watching

[@jongmedellin4890]

nice. whats your additional additives

[@juanconhambre]

No additives, just portland cement and water with foam. I played with some additives but didnt really improved the aircrete. Hope this helps. Thanks for watching

[@davidlott7436]

So a v3 does not have a flat base. If you put it on a flat base, it will cause the shape to deform. That is what appears to have happened in this build and causes gaps in the triangles. Consider a v4 dome as it DOES have a flat base. Having said that, I am now encouraged to try this for my own build! Nice video.

[@juanconhambre]

You are correct on your estatement but I did build the small bases to compensate the fact that a 3V dome is not flat at the bottom, the 4V dome is flat but it requires more triangles to be build so it is a win some lose some kind of situation. I am still convinced that my problem with my gap was created by my molds not being super accurate, I am working on some corner pieces to be 3D printed to have better angles but I cant seem to find the time to get that done. If you do try to build a 4V dome I would love to see your progress and experience if you want to share it. Thanks for watching

[@dave-in-nj9393]

very impressive. great idea to make a model. if aircrete is able to be modified after it is cut, then you could make the parts oversized, and then cut them to be perfect. I cannot wait to see many of these types of building being up and running and getting data about cost of heating and cooling. super insulated in the future of humanity.

[@juanconhambre]

Ideally I dont want to be cutting the bricks, but it is a good thing that they can be, the people at Dome Gaia do it that way, they make square bricks and using a pole system they shave the blocks to fit in place as they go up they adapt the angles. My plan is to avoid that step to save on man power and time to build. The data main idea of using airecrete for the domes comes from them, but since they usually build in warmer climates their aproach is different. I know the domes to good for hot climates and to be strong structures against strong winds and even earthquakes, but people are stubborn and when you talk about living in a Dome only a selected few think is a good idea.... lets see if after many years with enough data a few more join the group

[@mcollin18]

How did the aircrete fair through the freeze thaw cycle? I am also a Canuck and would love to do a project like this. Thanks for the Video!

[@juanconhambre]

Hi Matthew, last year the dome was exposed all winter and held the snow load no problems, the aircrete was cured for a few months inside or at above freezing temperature before the winter so there wasnt much water inside, I have not done any real test to see if the integrity of it is lessen but I can tell you that this summer I walked around the dome and didnt notice any cracks or stress failures due to freeze thaw cycle. I did cover the whole dome with burlap soaked in cement to bind the bricks togehter and I plan to paint it with some acrylic paint to make it a more water proof. I probably added about 500 pounds of cement and burlap to the whole dome and it feels really strong, again I dont have any real evidence to support this statement other than it looks good to me. I build this to see who the canadian winter affects the bricks, this is the second winter and it seems to be just fine. I had hopes to heat up the dome with biogas but that has been delayed as my biogas system failed due to the Ph being to low but that is another story. to sum it up, I think aircrete has no problem with the freeze thaw cycle and I hope I can try the thermal ability of it this winter as I want to see how expensive or cheap is to heat up a dome build entirely of aircrete. Have you done anything with aircrete yet??

[@mcollin18]

@@juanconhambre Very encouraging, thanks for the reply! I have not done anything with aircrete yet, just started learning about the stuff. Look forward to watching any video updates you may have on your project. Very cool! Thanks again!

[@juanconhambre]

@@mcollin18 kzbin.info/www/bejne/rnbQhYx8epx-fMU that is the link for my update from this summer. I am not a youtuber so my videos come far apart but I will keep on posting on my progress and learning on the matter, if you have any questions or comments feel free to reach out to [e-mail]. Thanks for watching

[@alarikgreenland]

Hi. How did you get the bevel /taper/mitre angle for the tiles to slot together? I can see the inside face of the tiles is slightly smaller than the outside face. Thank you!

[@juanconhambre]

I built some custom triangular molds to make the bricks, the compounded angles I calculated by building the bricks on sketch up and measuring from there the angles needed. I did not get my molds accurate enough so i am looking at alternative ideas as I think it will be hard to achieve the angles using a simple mitre saw, to much deflection of the blade that then compounds through all the bricks and makes it really hard for the last triangles.

[@alarikgreenland]

@@juanconhambre OK thanks for the info. It's hard 😊

[@juanconhambre]

@@alarikgreenland you are welcome, hopefully it helps

[@EmpoweredPercussion]

Fun! Curious if there is any coefficiency of expansion with your aircrew molds?

[@juanconhambre]

if I understand your questions the coefficiency of expansion will be determined by the size of the dome, there are many calculators online to figure out the lenght of the struts that are the lenght of the sides of each triangle. Hope this helps. Thanks for watching.

[@EmpoweredPercussion]

@@juanconhambre Thanks for sharing

[@AndrewHelgeCox]

Maybe starting the mould pours with a GFRC face coat would avoid the chips and voids and give really precise faces to butt up against each other.

[@AndrewHelgeCox]

But the faces are scratched anyway so maybe that makes no sense.

[@juanconhambre]

@@AndrewHelgeCox I dont know what GFRC stands for I imagine a type of release agent, I dont think the chipping happen due to the bricks sticking to the mold, most of the breakage happen due to my inexperience and rushing the dismoulding. Another issue was the moulds not being perfectly built which then compounded the errors at the top. If GFRC stands for something else, please clarify so I can learn more about it of course. thanks for watching

[@AndrewHelgeCox]

juanconhambre GFRC is Glass Fibre Reinforced Concrete, a technology which allows thin form like interior furniture to be created out of concrete. There are lots of videos on using it to make kitchen countertops on here but that is just the start. I guess I was thinking of a solid concrete face then a layer of GFRC and then aircrete to fill the centres of the forms. But that is just an idea. Maybe one day I will try it. Thanks for answering me and I look forward to,your future videos.

[@xiloeteknowledgiesllc1973]

Can you eliminate your cracked blocks by using helix micro-rebar?

[@juanconhambre]

After I built it I bought some Helix rebar but I have not experimented with it, I am not sure if it will help because the micro rebar might break to many bubbles making the aircrete less insulating and heavier. I have seen some people using basalt fibers to make aircrete stronger. I personally think my cracked bricks are due to my poor aircrete skills, I did notice towards the end of my brick making I was getting stronger and more consistent bricks, the key was to not rush the unmoulding to make sure it had time to cure with enough mositure, I could have also unmoulded them and water them but because I was working inside on a shop I didnt want to deal with the mess so longer curing time was the answer for me. When I do some helix rebar experimetnation I will post a video about it Thanks for watching

[@zzyzxroad9948]

Congratulations!!! Good job!

[@juanconhambre]

thanks for watching

[@jameshouse2909]

Is there an open source project for this kind of dome building? Awesome job on this one!

[@juanconhambre]

Hi James, I dont know if there is an oficial open source project, I have made my information available but I am run out of money and time to further pursue more on this, I am trying to save some more money to continue but it is a tricky to do it all by myself. That is why I posted all my findings in the hopes someone else can also take on this project and improve uppon it. So far I have had a few really good ideas come out of comments, I am hoping to put some of those into play next time I have time and money to build another dome :) thanks for watching

[@jameshouse2909]

@@juanconhambre I love your idea presented in this video. how can I help? what is the next thing that you are wanting to experiment with? Maybe I can help, or maybe the next person can. Do you have a website?

[@juanconhambre]

@@jameshouse2909 I dont have a website or even a forum, my next step is to work out a better way to make the molds so they produce more stable geometry. The best idea from my point of view is some sort of locking mechanism to make sure the triangles align, I was leaning towards dowels but recently somebody recommended a tongue and groove system, from that I though maybe a 2" x 4" going across in sides of the triangles with some on top and some on the bottom, the tricky part is to come up with an array that works. At this point I cant remember if I stated in the video by my end goal is to make a dome with aircrete where anybody can do it with very basic tools and knowledge on building. there will be a trial and error for the aircrete but the tools have to be your every day tools you can get anywhere. So no fancy and costly machines are to be used. What is your expertise or background, what do you think you can contribute on this project? I believe in the wisdom of crowds so I honestly believe that everybdy has something to add to this project. Thanks for offering to help Juan

[@jameshouse2909]

@@juanconhambre a groove system does sound a good idea if it works. Have you thought about CNC moulds? I have CAD skill in solidworks and the new kid on the block Onshape (check this out for a free online cad software. it’s great) I do a bit of 3D printing in my spare time also, so no stranger to creating models. I also know the basics of getting projects onto GitHub. Traditional used only for code but people are putting all sorts of project files on there now days for people to collaborate and fork if they want, and it’s free. I also have the passion to make a system that anybody, no matter what their skill level, could buy a couple of moulds, some concrete and an aircrete machine and be able to build one of these domes. Because that is what I want! That is why I was so pleased to see someone doing it. But I don’t have a good understanding of the geometry of these domes. That I still struggle with. Do you have any suggestions where I can read up? Have you seen what the geoship team is doing? They are doing some amazing work. You should check them out if you are not already aware of them. James

[@juanconhambre]

@@jameshouse2909 Good morning, thanks for sharing that with me. I also have dabbled with CAD software, I did build my first dome on sketch up but it was a bit hard to learn and it then become burdensome due to my lack of skills with it so I stopped using it. I have a friend that is going to show me how to use FREE CAD to learn that software I am pretty sure once I understand better a CAD software I can migrate that knowledge to another one if needed. I have done a lot of 3D printing and I got a friend to design a corner for the molds, they take about 70 hours each to print as I have to use really high infill to make them durable but ideally they could be re designed to be more printer friendly, this was my first attempt and I didnt have as much 3D printing experience then. I dont really understand GitHub but I have heard about it for a while so it would be nice if you can summ it up to explain you did mention that is used for code and sharing files but I dont really understand it. If you want reach out to me at [e-mail] and I can send you a really good book I found about domes, it was written in the 70's on the dome home golden era but the math and geometry is all there and is the best source I have found for domes and how to build them with many shapes and materials. We can be in touch over email if you are interested in helping me expand on this idea.... Thanks

[@mortgagefreeman576]

Have you designed the corner pieces you spoke of for the mould? I'm working on a similar project and was curious if you had sketched up the pieces in CAD.

[@juanconhambre]

I have a first design yes, just waiting on my friend to have a look and see if they print. I made it in Tinkercad because when I build them in Scketch up I couldnt save them in the right format. Also Tinkercas is a lot easier to use for basic stuff. I am hoping a couple of weeks before I can have the printed pieces. I will post on youtube when I get them to see how they fit on my moulds

[@shahbazfawbush]

The Inuit people must have these techniques down pat. Can we learn from them.?

[@juanconhambre]

They dont build geodesic domes :), they use snow knifes to carve the blocks to fit the previous one, it is really cool and easy if you know what you are doing. I think they had it right on the shape as dome shape homes are more eficient to be built and to heat up. thanks for watching

[@richarddarcy6945]

Juan, You did a great job documenting Prototype 1 with comments and suggestions. Can tell it is a good video by the feedback and comments. Good stuff. I would try a Prototype 2 same dimensions. Just increase form bevel and miter angle slightly inward to allow more mortar on inside joints, accommodate wedge shaped alignment spacers and a "T" shaped alignment clip. Many of the same construction techniques as building a brick oven, no?

[@juanconhambre]

thanks I am trying to share my progress but it is very slow, I will add the flooring and a cover this summer and see how it performs, prototype number 2 might take a while but I hope to try it for sure within a year or so. what do you mean by a "T" shaped aligment clip I didnt understand that part on your comment and it sounds promising. thanks for watching

[@richarddarcy6945]

@@juanconhambre Listening to your comment regarding some brick key or alignment pin I pictured a metal lath type material strip bent in a T shaped loop. It might be inserted between wet mortar joints while setting to aide inside surface and shape alignment. Might even integrate into a dome center radius scribe rod and help set inner surface distance to center, dome support and reinforcement. Such a device might need it's own Prototype. Your work is still the bar. 1. Cheap 2. Available materials 3. Unit integrity 4. DIY

[@juanconhambre]

@@richarddarcy6945 yes I have been thinking on how to integrate something like that for a while but I can decide on how to do it. If you have any further ideas dont hesitate to contact me at [e-mail] I am always open to suggestions specially if you understand my main goals to achive the end result.

[@camperspecial9666]

Wow. Thanks so much. You saved me alot of brain power!

[@juanconhambre]

thanks that means a lot to me. Thanks for watching

[@camperspecial9666]

And when I get a chance I'm going to check out more of your content, I'm very interested in aircrete but don't have a clue how to make it! Thanks again

[@HEMIdouglas]

IDEA :Many years ago the dome builders used "slip form construction, making the form to suspend new mix only until partial set. f you calculate the radius and make your slip form attach to a central pivot point, you may be able to build your dome less labour intensive. The form would be moved in one circular direction continuously placed on top of set aircrete. Each end of the slip form would be attached with wire to maintain constant distance with the central pivot point for the dome. I have worked as a drafting technologist imagining easier ways to do things Just suggesting a slip form two feet high, and maybe 4 feet long. I am sold on aircrete, even living in Canada. Thank you for your work. Hope this works. Going to need rebar. God Bless

[@juanconhambre]

I dont know think aircrete will do more than 6 inches high without collapsing the bubbles to much. I saw someone doing a slip form construction dome but the was working with normal concrete, also there was aircrete harry doing a monolithic pour idea which is close to a slip form but wihouth the slip part :). I think rebar is going to help for sure but I am trying to incorportate it to the dome to work like dowels, the good thing of domes is that the geometry keeps them stable and doesnt need inside supports once is fully build, Also the rebar could be added on the shell covering to prevent it from cracking. Thanks for the ideas it is always nice to hear other ideas

[@therealfirstone]

It would be nice to have a software that would do the calculations. Thanks for sharing.

[@juanconhambre]

There is, I used Sketchup, it is a free cad software and I hear Fusion 360 is even better. They have a steep learning curve but are very powerful softwares that allow you to do the math and show you the finish product. My struggle is to bring the very precise meassurements from the software to reality with my lack of technical skills

[@utubeape]

This is great, thanks for showing us. I was thinking maybe plastic piping such as for water can be bent to make a temporary internal support, it can be filled with sand to make it stronger. Then you can use a bent ohm shaped metal strap to screw the aircrete block in place while the mortar sets. Do you know about mixing fibre glass into the aircrete mix for more strength so that you do not get chipped corners do you plan to do a bigger version?

[@juanconhambre]

I like the OHM shaped metal strap for temporary support thanks for that idea. I dont know about mixing fibre glass into the aircrete, lots of things react negatively with the aircrete structure so I think I will learn to be patient and let the bricks cure for longer before handling them like I did on this one. Eventually I will go bigger but I want to work the issues first because materials up north are very expensive. I am paying CA$35 for 20 kg of portland cement when the rest of canada pays CA$9. I dont complain but I have to be carefully with my builds or I will go broke :)

[@utubeape]

@@juanconhambre The fibre glass fibre will not react with the cement, I am experimenting with Polypropylene fibres, these are sold specifically as concrete add mixture reinforcement. I think it also a good idea to let the concrete cure for longer, wrap each block in something such as landscape fabric will be good for holding moisture in but not airtight, it will be economical too. when I make my moulds I will incorporate a rebate edge so that the block edges nest together more accurately, I also plan to drill holes and use Basalt Fibre Rebar rods to hold them together like dowel in furniture, it's not good enough to rely on mortar only because it can crack

[@spudgn]

I’m going to build in the Philippines. I want to do this house. I wanted a bag dome but we had a flood. The bag house would have been trashed and the bag idea is finished. I need a way to build in the jungle

[@juanconhambre]

This should work anywhere, in the world, but you can also visit domegaia they have a similar build that requires less precision on the built of the molds and allows you to have a great aircrete dome too :) Thanks for watching

[@whirls007]

Domerama.com has a dome calculator That gives all of the lengths and angles for the triangles of almost any dome you would what to make. It's a great site for dome info. I've thought about doing a aircrete dome. Took a 3 day class at Natural Spaces Domes in Minnesota in august. The site shows how to make a flat bottom dome. For the flat bottom dome, you will have 5 different struts.

[@juanconhambre]

Calculatin the angles and lenghts of struts isnt the problem, building a proper mold is (at least for me it is), I use ziptiedome calculator but they all have the same formulas imbibed, they all come from Buckminster Fuller. The flat dome can be done by doing longer base triangles or just by building the small bases I did, for my next project I am building those out of aircrete. If you havent checked Domegaia.com you should, they are the ones that got me started with domes and aircrete, they have lots of information on both dome building and aircrete. Thanks for watching. If you do build a dome I would love to see it if you want to share it

[@janshuster1426]

Cast two pipes into each edge that are about 3 - 6 inches long. When you put the dome together you can slip a piece of rebar into the pipe to hold the panels in place. Have a half inch recess inside and out to cement and/or grout. Dry fit the panels together and then grout the recesses. Uses surface bonding cement ( used to dry lay concrete block ) with fiberglass fibers over the whole dome inside and out to surface bond and waterproof.

[@guyguy1614]

Great job. Thanks for showing everything. I want to do the same thing. Air crete has awesome R value. Slap a wood stove in there and you got a house. Please do a update when your done

[@juanconhambre]

Will do, thanks

[@scottandildi]

very ambitious!

[@juanconhambre]

thanks for watching

[@quehueveo]

Bonito proyecto Juan. En el sur te saldría espectacular. Buena cueva😂

[@juanconhambre]

Gracias, si en el sur seria mas facil pero siempre es mas facil en el sur jajajajja. Gracias por el comentario

[@christopherstube9473]

Impressive project

[@juanconhambre]

thanks for watching

[@islandmonusvi]

Consider using a single truncated Triacontrahedron LCD Triangle form reflected 30+30=60=half dome. Then , form a vertex plug. Also using a 1” OD bolted pipe frame skeleton makes installation both easy and accurate.

[@juanconhambre]

Using the triacondahedron for the bricks would work but I would have to re do the math and also the rhombic bricks would get to big to fast for even 2 people to handle. I am not saying it isnt a good idea just that I considered before I set my eyes on the 3V model as the most efficient and I think most of the dome homes are 3V for the same reasons. Building a 1" od bolted pipe frame skeleton has crossed my mind but it does come pricey for me up north. That is why I am still trying to find an cheap alternative for the frame inside. Thanks for watching

[@islandmonusvi]

@@juanconhambre : There 60+ & 60- similar triangles in the Class II 2F triacon sphere. cactusbush.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/wclassesg.jpg Use of a galv.pipe skeleton allows for easy assembly and force distribution throughout.

[@keesanka1]

I was thinking a 2 x 6" wood framing. Apply wire/screen between the triangles, then apply Aircrete. It may not be quite as thick but I think it may be stronger too.

[@juanconhambre]

Aircrete does not behave like concrete so that would not work. And I would not get the insulation that I want to get from this project. There are ppl doing what you propose already and it is a viable idea, just not a arctic shelter LOL. Thanks for watching

[@juanconhambre]

@The Hopper I dont think 3V 5/8 Rhombicuboctahedron will be less triangles and strut lenghts, I was looking at the calculator you posted the link for and it seem that is has a lot more variable strut lenghts and a lot more triangle sizes. My hope is once I have a decent construction method with no gaps I am going to follow Domegaia's path and use arches for the windows, that wont sacrifice the overall integrity and give me lots of light, I know using square windows would make it easiery but a couple custom built windows I think will end up being cheaper that a more complicated process of building. If you do make your dome please at least send me some pictures I would love to see it. thanks for watching

[@mitchanthony8355]

That is a sweet dome thanks for showing how too won’t take much to heat that

[@juanconhambre]

I sure hope so, my biogas system still isnt running but it is just a matter of time. I will post updates as things happen

[@matthewstiffler1939]

Curious to know what you used to reinforce your aircrete ? Ever heard of aircrete Larry? He talks about the EPIC BRICK

[@juanconhambre]

I did not reinforce the aircrete, the cool thing about domes is that because of its shape the bricks are both in tension and compresion so they are not having the same forces applied as a normal square house, I will reinforce it as per dome gaia recommendations with some fabric and concrete to bond all the triangles together, I will post another video on that when I finish that. I have no heard about aircrete larry, but I will check him out. if you meant aircrete harry then I have followed him for a while but I dont think I need to add reinforcement for the bricks if I just build domes and bind them together with fabric like i mentioned. thanks for watching

[@RedefineLiving]

Cool project man.

[@juanconhambre]

thanks :)

[@RedefineLiving]

juanconhambre you’re welcome

[@sk8nbarrow591]

Why is this structure beign built on flimsy pallets? That is a lot of weight bearing down. Foundation is everything.

[@juanconhambre]

The flimsy pallets like I have explain in many comments before, is because the price of wood is really expensive where I live and I could not afford to build the whole project if I built traditional wood structure. Also the flimsy pallets you talk about are all hard wood pallets, way better than pine if you ask me. I build a solid foundation of 2" x 12" under the pallets, the pallets are there for me to walk not so much to support the weight of the dome, that is done by the joists underneath. The foundation has lasted 3 full winter with a full snow load and is not even tilted 1 inch despite the many thawing and freezing cycles. Next time if you dont have anything positive to contribute you should save everybody some time and keep it to yourself. I dont mind the questions on why I used pallets I do mind the way you ask it. Thanks for watching and remember that there are people that at least try to add to the world more than just negativity :)

[@tombouie]

Amazing but wouldn't closed foam triangles work better than aircrete triangles?????

[@stuartpatterson1617]

I'd been thinking along those lines too Tom. They would need some extra weather protection though. I guess you could paint it afterwards.

[@juanconhambre]

I dont think the foam alone would be strong enough to withstand snow and wind. Also cutting the compounded angles on the foam would be tricky. I guess if you figure out a way to cut the tirangles out of foam you can build the dome and then do it like a monolithic dome. The limitation I see is that once you go for big domes the triangles wont fit on the foam sheets, and you would have to cut them in pieces making it a bit more complicated. Also coast wise I think they are about the same as foam isnt cheap and aircrete is fairly inexpensive. Thanks for watching

[@tombouie]

@@juanconhambre Juan thks for the reply but I was thinking spraying close-cell foam into your triangle molds. Close-cell might be just as strong as aircrete. For example; How strong is closed cell spray foam insulation kzbin.info/www/bejne/aaOqmI2tqMh0prM Pls let me know whhat you think because I might give it a try. BTW this summer I'll make a geodesic dome but will only use flat hexagons & pentagons. I thinks bumping'm out with triangles is just too much trouble.

[@etylexus_4711]

Why didn't you make an air-crete base? A pad could have been poured and leveled on its top and would make a lot more sense than wood.

[@juanconhambre]

Aircrete is a wonderfull product and very versatile but one of the things it isnt good for is to hold weight, I will make a floor inside the dome with Aircrete but I dont think a whole aircrete pad to hold the structure will be a good idea, the wooden platform is the way we build in the north, can be different for down south but it is needed here, concrete pads are more problems than anything else here because of heat escaping during the summer and melting the ground under the building creating sink problems when you make concrete. thanks for watching

[@etylexus_4711]

@@juanconhambre i know zip about air-crete but i do know a lot about structures. What you are saying is this: you are going to put all of the weight on top and support it with wood. If air-crete cannot hold weight then those bottom bricks will also not hold the weight. make sense? Maybe you can mix it with something ( like ground glass ) or support it we re-bar or something. The point is this... i don't really know how long you want your structure to stand, but that wood, especially untreated, is just going to rot eventually. Also, wood and concrete do not get along chemically when they touch, and that's why spacer is used on a normal concrete foundation. I don't know about Air-crete though. In any case, the main idea is to have the strongest strength material structure as the bottom mainly because it must support the most weight. Also, i don;t really know how heavy those blocks are, but it might make more sense to build the pentagon first to make sure it's the correct "dome" shape. In other words, the reason you have a gap there is more to do with how vertical your pentagon is on top than it is about how you spread it around in diameter. Make sense? So if it's light enough, you could build the "dome cap" first then when it came time to put it on top of the dome, put it up there in one final piece. If you could support it up there while you work, then you could also use it to form your circumference to fit its bottom. Hope that helps.

[@juanconhambre]

@@etylexus_4711 I dont know much about aircrete either LOL, I am in the process of learing, also I dont know much about building but I do know that the pallets I use would last a long time as there are not toucing the ground and they are not touching the aircrete either, the bricks are about 40 pounds each so it is to heavy to make the top pentagon and drop it fully assembled specially if I want to build a bigger dome one day. The cool thing about domes is that the forces are applied differently than in a normal home, so the bricks bottom bricks are not supporting a lot of weight so they can take the load but if I were to build a pad, even reinforced with anything you can think it will crack, maybe not because of the weight of the structure but the forces that the ground applies with the frost hive during spring and fall. I dont think this dome will be standing long, I am hoping to get 5 years out of this and then I will probably tear it down I want it to see who things work out with time and learn from having a real size dome build with my idea. Lots to improve yet.... thanks for all yoru comments I appreciate you taking the time to analize my idea and provide another approach and point of view, if you have any more comments let me know, but remember that my ultimate goal is to make something light, durable, insulated, cheap and above all easy to replicate by anybody without special knowledge or tools.

[@etylexus_4711]

@@juanconhambre Ok, i get the picture better, thanks for that. But think about what you are saying.... it's as credible as the "pancake theory" of the 9/11 attack. in essence, regardless of how much weight there is on top, ALL of that weight MUST be supported by the bricks on the bottom. It doesn't matter what shape they are. And so then, all of that weight must be supported by wood. As far as making it light and durable, try thinner bricks, seriously. Find out how thin you can make a brick without it breaking. Also, on top they can be thinner since they do not support as much weight. Are you trying to keep it warm inside? Just curious. Can you make a hollow brick? :) Can you make more and smaller? I've seen brick layers using typical 4 x 8 inch fired clay bricks make complete domes and arches without even a pole to measure. Sure, these guys are pro's, they do it every day, you can tell the way the break a brick in half simply by smacking it with the blade of their trowel. The advantage they have though is the smaller sized bricks. The load is less for each brick and the wall is already supporting them as they are laid. Hope that helps.

[@juanconhambre]

@@etylexus_4711 I guess I should make a disclaimer, I am a baker by trade so pancake theory sounds right up my alley ha ha ha. But seriously, I am a baker so my construction background is pretty much building sand castles in the beach when I was a kid I will not claim to fully understand everything I am doing or saying. With that said, I know the weight is supported by the bottom bricks but the beautiful thing about domes is that they tension and compression forces are different than in a square building, so the the compression forces on the bottom layer is not the same way that it would be on a square building, yes the weight doesnt change but it gets distributed differently so it affects the bricks diferently. I dont know it makes sense they way I am saying it but there is a lot of information on youtube and the internets about this topic. The problem with using smaller bricks is that it gets more intense and you would have to know what you are doing like the pros on the videos you mention. I am trying to do a geodesic dome, following Buckmeinster Fullers design, this domes are classified in frequencies the one I am building is a 3V dome (frequency 3) the beauty for me of this frequency is that it only requires 2 size triangles one to make the pentagons and one to make the hexagons, that way i have to only make 2 molds for the bricks. I could go to a higher frequency (they go up to 16 I believe and possibly more) but that means more sizes and more molds and more technicalities, I dont think I can build a huge dome as the triangles are going to get to big but I can probably build up to a 20 ft dome and be able to move the bricks by hand with 2 people. I can go thiner on the bricks I imagine up to 4 inches ( mine are about 6") but that takes away insulation, building hollow molds would make them more prone to cracking as they dont do well with compression forces so if something hits them on the hollow part I imagine they would crack and might compromise the integrity of the dome, I have considered making thiner bricks and doing a double wall for better insulation but I dont know if I will ever do that.... I know you are struggling with the wood and I do agree with you the pallets probably not the best option, but you have to understand that this is me pain for everything up norht and everything is crazy expensive here, I pay CA$36 for a 44 pound bag of cement, a 3/4" plywood (standard) is CA$90 so I thought saving CA$500 on the platform by using pallets was worth it for this first trial run. There are a handfull of cement pad buildings in town and they all have problems with sinking foundations and that is with them having some super expensive heat exchange systems in place. But we do have 3 story buildings in town on wood that are just fine, I know they are wooden structures on top of wood and I did not not that cement and wood dont get along I will look into that for my next build, but I am trying to say is that I will always have to build a wooden platform or a metal one or a wooden platform with a metal separtation for the contact point but there will always going to be a platform here because of the permafrost formation we build on. Thank you for all your input I am loving this and I am learning lots, hopefully I am making sense on my explanations I do lack the know how to properly explain all this properly I do think I understand what I am trying to do based on all my research online but I have lots to learn still.

[@christianlibertarian5488]

Very ambitious, and very impressive. I'm guessing the initial row measurements have to be very exact, and may have been the cause of the gap. Still above my pay grade.

[@juanconhambre]

I am still waiting on the 3D printer tools to check my angles, my guess is that some of the molds were a bit more off than others and when they were adjacent to each other the errors compounded to make bigger gaps, also as the row grew higher it was harder to keep them aligned while the mortar set, still thinking on working with dowels or some straps to support the bricks while the mortar sets. Thanks for watching

[@scottpreston5074]

How about someone designing concrete plus aircrete homes that would be hurricane proof for reconstruction in places like Puerto Rico and Florida?

[@andyjohnson4641]

Love the work, like many I’ve wondered about doing something just like this. You didn’t go into detail on the pallet base, but it seems to me that would be pretty rough to set perfectly flat. Might be why you end up with a little gap?? If your base isn’t perfectly flat, then measuring to the nearest 1/16th of an inch is kinda pointless. Looking forward to more!!

[@juanconhambre]

The pallet base is needed in the north as we build on permafrost, usually ppl build it with square timber but I was trying to save money because the whole project was costing me to much already ha ha ha. I did use square timber for the base just the top is made out of pallets. I do realize that a uneven platform could have affected the dome but that is part of my learning curve I guess. I am still working on my 3D printer corner pieces I think that will give me better bricks and then I will use a better platform. Thanks for watching

[@sum2automation]

Good work!

[@juanconhambre]

thanks for watching

[@mt.sinairefuge5360]

how much do the blocks weigh?

[@juanconhambre]

I never weighted them specifically but they weight around 20 to 30 kilos or 40 to 60 pounds I would guess I was able to move them around by myself. it is more about the awkward size, obviously as you make a bigger dome the size will increase therefore the size will increase but my guess is to make a 25 foot dome 2 people should be able to still handle each block. thanks for watching

[@juanconhambre]

Hi, have you tried the aircrete?? you can reach out to me at [e-mail] if you want to ask questions I dont know much but if I can help you or point you on the right direction I would love to.

[@jamesblanco2464]

Liked your project, but why not build a braced form, with plywood, then spray aircrete on outside surface, allowing to dry, then remove inner form, place a center brace to add support further strength to entire structure like a tent? That way you could build as many domed structures of aircrete as you needed? Don't forget to leave openings for door and conduit for power and water/sewage. Cut out a window later, and any doorways for additions to your structure. Keep working on it and you might have a business making instant homes for people someday. Combine reliable, safe, strong structures, that can be built in a couple of days with really good insulation and sturdy, off the ground, at least two feet, foundations, with plenty of underneath ventilation. Keeps floors warmer in winters and cooler in summers.

[@juanconhambre]

Building the dome with Plywood to spray the aircrete on, would be a lot of work and quiet expensive up north, I am paying CA$80 for 1 sheet of 3/4" plywood and I would need a few of those, also Spraying Aircrete doesnt work like concrete, I have tought about doing something like you said but doing concrete with rebar and then laying my bricks on top of that shell, but that is almost like doing a airform dome and that is not what I am trying to do, I would like by the end of this to have a product that anybody can recreate so I can have a business building domes but also anybody else can have access to cheap and reliable housing. Thanks for watching and for your comments

[@MeesterVegas]

Awesome!

[@juanconhambre]

Thanks :)

[@aggabus]

I attended a monolithic dome institute work shop...there got your idea.. Infinity domes do concrete panels precast socall

[@hybridamerica]

Build a frame-work first. Make the framework the actual mold. Pour the aircrete directly into the framework and it will fill all the gaps automatically.

[@juanconhambre]

hybridamerica, what is a frame-work? I dont understand what you mean. Is this to fill the gaps I have or to build the whole dome?

[@hybridamerica]

@@juanconhambre - Build the entire dome out of framing material - tack on backing and temporary covers for the outside. Have fill-holes for the front covers to pour through. Once the concrete dries, you can retain the front and back covers for future builds. Record the dimensions of the framework so it can also be repeated so you can use the same backings and outside covers as well. Remove the mould-covers (both inside and out) and store them. Label each cover respective to it's placement (1,2,3,4,5...) Also label the framing pieces and though you are not going to remove them when the concrete cures, you will need to know their placement and cut-value for future builds using the exact same patterns and dimensions, so 1a would be, say - the triangular section just above the entry doorway... noting that, you would correspond the inside and outside section panels that will fit that exact area perfectly - i.e., 1,2,3IP (Inside panel) and 1,2,3OP (Outside panel)... the number "1" on the outside panel, for example - would correspond with the #1 on the outside frame. Then #2 nd #3, creating the triangle. By doing this, you can adjust the framing much easier than pre-poured blocks, should they not fit properly. This will give you an ultimate working framework that is repeatable. And should you NOT want wood framing for some reason, you could use some of the newer decking materials they have that are poly-bonded plastic/wood composites. In addition, with panel moulds that are going to be later removed after the concrete cures, you have the option of investing textures into the surface of the concrete - you can create artistic patterns or reliefs. I would use a 2x6 cedar or pressure-treated framing - which will be permanent. Seal the outside with a micro-polymer sealer like OKON or Sparks Concrete Sealer. When you build the framing, build into it locking-keys to stabilize the concrete. This can be rebar or wire mesh - or simple furring strips tacked onto the centers of the framing boards - so long as you have some obstacle to keep the cured concrete panels from slipping out of their framing sections. The benefit of this is that the concrete will contour precisely to the framework. There will be no seams to fill or gaps to adjust and best of all, no sawing of concrete! Also, before pouring into your frame pockets, you can run wire through the framing for electrical or pipe for plumbing - you can even build a few forms for sky-lights made from the same 2x6 framing, only cover the frame sections there with plexiglass, sealed with lexel and secured with 1-1/4 (pre-drilled) neoprene roofing screws.

[@juanconhambre]

@@hybridamerica thanks for the very detailed explanation. Now I can say I understand what you mean LOL. I am not saying your idea wouldnt work, but it will not be what I want to achive. Your idea would be almost like building a monolithic dome (if you havent seen them you should check www.monolithicdome.com I think that is their website), also there is one guy AircreHarry that is trying to do a monolithic aircrete dome, he even bought the air forms. You see what I hope to achive and I might never get to but I will try for a while longer, is to make a very simple mold system that can be build by anybody, wihouth having to spend a lot of money, having any building experience, having access to many tools and most of all I want my system to be able to produce different size domes without much work. Yes I might be trying something impossible but if I ever get there it will be nice to say I did it. Your idea will for sure make a easier to build dome and it will be structurally solid and it doesn need much experience or many tools. but can not be change in size afterwards without building a whole new framework, and still will require serious amounts of calculations and cutting, not to mention storage for all the panels after the build and for me in particular would be a very expensive build. Here Plywood or melamine sheets of 4'x8' cost CA$70 for the 3/4" and CA$100 for the 7/8". So that frame would cost me a fortune to build and that doesnt even include the cost of the concrete which would be around the CA$4000 for a 20' dome according to my calcuations. But I would love to see someone build a dome with your idea and see how much material was needed. Thanks for sharing

[@uzomarose]

that exactly what I am thinking to do!

[@ursulahair2241]

place a pin in bottom level (of aircrete) exact center of build,, attach a chain or pole the radius of inside diameter...there's your guide to set your bricks to for you dome....""ole bricks here"

[@juanconhambre]

I might do that for my next one, thanks for watching

[@mittysharksman2784]

Stick a piece of plastic up there, bada-bing bada-boom, now it's a skylight. And it's a design feature, not a flaw ;)

[@juanconhambre]

Love the positive thinking, thanks for watching

[@DAEM2025]

Hi, You can do a 3d model and get perfect molds. Good look.

[@juanconhambre]

I have started the process of making corner pieces for my molds for accuracy, but my CAD design capabilities are limited, it will be a work in progress for a while but it is I believe the best option. Thanks for watching

[@hadleybee9710]

Would silicone mold work?

[@juanconhambre]

I dont know, my guess is that it would have to much flexibility and not hold the shape properly. It would be something but again my guess that once you go a bit big (15 to 20 ft dome) it would not work to keep the angles. thanks for watching

[@utubeape]

@@juanconhambre to support a silicone mould you cover your object with plastic wrap then a thick cloth or blanket (which will act as the spacer where the silicone will go, then you cover it all with plaster in a box, when it sets remove all then use the plaster as the box to pour in the silicone and add your plastic wrapped object. the set plaster shape will naturally support the flexible silicone mould

[@juanconhambre]

@@utubeape That is not a bad idea, but how do you get the original mould to cover with plastic? Because if you are going to make it out of wood then might as well use the mould system that I already have. Also on a bigger triangle the plaster base would be extremely heavy I think.

[@utubeape]

@@juanconhambre sarap wrap / cling film will protect the object and stick to it, and you only use as much plaster as you need to make it rigid, also need to have some kind of netting mixed in to prevent cracking. you could use fibre glass if you really want to keep the weight down, but the thing to remember is that the mould must sit level when upside down for the poured aircrete to stay in

[@juanconhambre]

@@utubeape but how do you make the original mould to cast?? It all comes down to that as not having the proper angles it wont work

[@davidclark5975]

Very nice build, smart to have built a scale model first. To hide the imperfections of the joints, you could apply a stucco finish on the inside. The cast aircrete blocks would be the structural support of the whole thing, who cares if they don't line up perfectly. It works, just thinking of the aesthetic aspect of it with the application of a stucco finish. My shop has a stucco finish and I power washed it last spring, very durable finish... and easy to apply.

[@juanconhambre]

Yes, that is the idea. Stucco inside and outside to reinforce it, my biggest concern about the bricks not being aligned is that it makes it harder to work while you build as you have to cut an shave the bricks and also that it makes it more prone to have leaks over time, so the closer I get to 0 gaps the better. Thanks for watching

[@romantheempire2254]

I believe there are 3 different triangles not 2 in a 3v come. That is your problem perhaps. Any brilliant idea to make with triangles than cubes. That is how it should be.

[@juanconhambre]

There would be 3 triangles if you are doing the flat base with the triangles, I got away with only having 2 sizes because I had the wooden platforms. In hindsight I would build some forms for the base with the built in angle for future domes. I am quiet confident that my problem are from compounded error on the molds and not having a super flat and even platform as base (using pallets was cheap but not great). I did double check on the triangles just in case :), thanks for watching.

[@ursulahair2241]

Use the pin and chain(pole) as a pivot point to set all stones.

[@cliveapps7105]

Instead of dowels make the blocks with a tongue and groove type of indexing system.

[@juanconhambre]

I have thought about that but I havent been able to come up with an idea that incorporates the tongue and groove into the molds where they are not fragile and break when dismounting. Any thoughts on that? My closest approach was to do a top and bottom registry like a french cleat system, but I couldnt really make it work for the corners. Thanks for watching.

[@cliveapps7105]

What about index notches on the edges of the blocks or key notches and protrusions something like a sawtooth edge but with larger squared off teeth. You would only need 1 or 2 teeth per side. You could also lap mound the edges of the blocks so they interlock instead of just relying on the weight and taper to hold them in place.

[@cliveapps7105]

That was lap joint, the autocorrect keeps making mistakes for me.

[@juanconhambre]

@@cliveapps7105 That might work I would just have to play with the location of the teeth so they line up through the dome, I imagine it shouldnt be to hard to come up with a configuration that works. I like the sawtooth idea, 1 or 2 should work and I can make them with 2" x 6" screw to the sides of the mold, that should be easy enough to dismount from the mold and would be shallow enough to not be to fragile.

[@cliveapps7105]

The other thing I thought of is to buy a cheap dome frame with plastic or tarp wrap kit and use it for the mould frame. Coat it in some sort of release agent like animal fat or wax and pour the air create on top in layers slowly building up to the desired thickness. When you are done remove the dome frame kit and use it to make another dome. Should be able to use the frame quite a number of times until it is too rough to reuse. Cheap 20ft frames are around $3k, if you can use it 30 times before it gets to trashed to reuse that is only 100$ per dome and would save a lot of time. If you are careful with the frame you could probably get 100 uses out of it before you needed to replace it. That would be 30$ per dome and would save about 3/4 of the building time.

[@eddielane9569]

You could have made a bag and filled it with the liquid mortar and squeezed it into the cracks from both sides and filled it in without using foam. That way you're using the same materials that you started out with.

[@juanconhambre]

Hi Eddie, the aircrete is pretty runny so I think it would leak out if I using a pipping bag to fill the voids, I wanted something light and flexible to fill the gaps that is why I used foam. if my gaps werent so big or in the inside I would do as you suggested. Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts.

[@eddielane9569]

@@juanconhambre I didn't realize it was so runny. Was that your first build?

[@juanconhambre]

@@eddielane9569 kind of, I did a 4 foot dome, before this one, it is somewhere on youtube too. but my aircrete was not as good and it did not last long. I have to explore further into it but the cost of concrete is high for me, due to the weight to get it up here where I live and I also dont have a lot of time to devote to it right now, I plan to keep exploring this idea just not sure when... but in the 2 years since i post it I have received a lot of comments and idea which have been really helpfull...

[@brainclerk4431]

thats a great dome but i don't get the ply wood foundation , it will rot in no time and the dome will crack and become unstable , as will the pallets , they only have about a 5 year lifespan . i would have built it on a hardwood platform for longevity .

[@juanconhambre]

The plywood and pallets is because we cant build on the ground in the north it shifts to much, I know it isnt the best materials but since it was a prototype I didnt want to spend the cash to build a better foundation. Eventually I will build one for housing and I will build it on a better platform. Living up north is a bit more expensive and adds other challenges but it is also a great place to try this things. Thanks for watching

[@micheleoswald9194]

@@juanconhambre Those WalMart pallets are pretty tough and since they will be protected under the dome, should last a decent amount of time.

[@juanconhambre]

@@micheleoswald9194 that is what I hope, I have seen those last over 10 years if they are covered so fingers crossed I will have a foundation for a while...

[@henryrollins9177]

Really nice project...! Could you please explain me why the "hambre"?? I guess is not your last name...!

[@juanconhambre]

Hi Henry, hambre in spanish means hunger, and that was my email in 2001 when I was a young guy, it makes more sense in spanish trust me LOL. Thanks for watching

[@henryrollins9177]

@@juanconhambre I'm from Argentina....spanish speaker of course...😀

[@juanconhambre]

@@henryrollins9177 mi juanconhambre es desde antes de el reclame de Trix jajaja

[@amtb70x7anunkwn9]

Most Incredable Sir! I am curious as to the weight of the Blocks. They look massive but I assumed were light enough to handle. Also were you able to calculate for any shrinkage after curing? That might have accounted for your large gap. And I agree the idea of small rods placed into sides of each block would hold them at straighter angles- either pvc pipe or wood should work. Ok 1 question: Why no windows?

[@juanconhambre]

Thanks, the weight I dont know for sure but out of 70 pounds of water and concrete I got 2 of the larger trianlges and 2 1/2 of the smaller ones, that before curing so I would say under 30 pounds each for this size. I did not see any side shrinkage after curing as I left the cure in the molds and I saw that they were a tight fit previous to dismounting them. I think the molds might be a bit off and my floor isnt perfectly even either those problems 2 combined are probably the main cause of the gaps. Dowels for sure for the next one. No windows for 2 reasons, didnt want to deal with placing window holes and also my ultimate goal is to have an aeroponic garden there and I want to control the lights inside so no windows no problems with natural ligh messing my cycles of growth. Here we have 24 hours daylight in summer and no daylight in the winter so I want to control that. Also no windows less likely to loose heat on cheap windows because I dont think I would have use triple pane windows on this build LOL. Thanks for watching

[@jasonsedy]

Pallets?

[@juanconhambre]

I know it isnt the best base material, but I am trying to not go broke on this project :) . Thanks for watching

[@archie764]

Wow must be really warm in there

[@juanconhambre]

I have not heated it but I do hope it does stay warm

[@jthomas196]

Why not make hexagon blocks?

[@juanconhambre]

They would get to big and heavy to handle, also it would be a very tricky mold to build to get all the angles right. I thought about it for a while but had to desist from the idea because of those reason. Thanks for watching

[@jthomas196]

@@juanconhambre To big?? Lol you control the size? So don't make them 3ft hexagons. 🙄🙄 As far as shape... You are using triangles to make hexagons. I just didn't know if it would work for "dome" building. Not to many dome beehives. 😂😂

[@juanconhambre]

@@jthomas196 The size of the hexagons (that are made of isoceles triangles) is determined by the diameter of the dome, you can just make any size hexagon to build domes, there is a lot of math involved into making a 3V dome (which was all done by Buckmeinster Fuller). If you do know the math to calculate the hexagons needed (and the pentagons) for a 20ft dome and would like to share it with me I would love to have a look at it and try to design bricks based on it. Thanks for watching

[@B3DFire]

Very cool! Did u create the 3d printed mould?

[@juanconhambre]

Not yet, I have no access to a 3d printer and the ppl that are helping me with that are busy, I will post a video of the tool when it is ready. I dont have a timeline for it but it should be done in a couple of months or less.

[@dalemurray4083]

did you ever concider making a PVC and burlap dome and then layering on the aircrete with a trowel?

[@juanconhambre]

Aircrete does not behave like concrete, it is really runny and wont stick to the burlap. That only would work if I make two layers and then fill the gap with aircrete but that would be really hard. Also PVC is really expensive where I live so I am trying to only use material that are affordable in my area. Thanks for watching

[@blade152]

👍👍👍👍👍👍from Russia!!!!!

[@juanconhambre]

Thanks for watching this one too

[@LaramieCrocker]

Ken Kern died in a concrete structure of his own invention because he slept in in in a windstorm and it collapsed. You will need a layer of ferrocement at the very least, and I'd like to see more rebar. Cool building, but stay away from it during earthquakes and violent weather.

[@juanconhambre]

I expect to put rebar inside and outside, just couldnt finish the dome in time before the cold weather got here, this summer's project is to reinforce the structure, I am happy to say it hold the snow load this winter so that was good. There are not earthquakes here so I should be good, also the weather is mostly cold not much extreme wind here either. But just in case there will be some reinforcement done. Thanks for watching

[@Lilmiket1000]

Aircrete tiny house on wheels?

[@juanconhambre]

I think my project is ways away from being on wheels but I do believe down the road can be done, I just need to work on the structure first, once I have a stable dome you can put it and build it anywhere any size, or so I hope. thanks for watching

[@markpinther9296]

I enjoyed the video but I am having difficulty understanding why you built the dome. Was it a proof of concept thing?

[@juanconhambre]

I buit the dome because I wanted to see how my idea worked in real life, so I guess it is sort of proof of concept, I do plan to use it as a aeroponic greenhouse garden due to its small size to live on it, but if things work well with the tools I hope to build a bigger one and maybe live in it. If anything it has been fun to build so that alone is enough for me. Thanks for watching

[@christinewerner4214]

Love your project! There are youtube videos by a guy called "Honey Do Carpenter" who might have great advice for the air crete mixes that you are doing for cold climates. Good luck!

[@juanconhambre]

I have seen some of his videos yes, thank you for the tip and thanks for watching

[@jerrywhidby.]

Have you looked at the *Honey do carpenter* channel? They have some interesting videos on aircrete. I think a dome is one of their future projects.

[@juanconhambre]

I have seen some of his videos yes, not following him so not sure if I saw everything, I saw his precast steel frame idea. I migh have another look at his channel in case he has posted something new about it. Thanks for watching

[@scottmcintosh2988]

The gap is where the flue pipe for chimney will go there .It takes 180 years for concrete to totally cure

[@juanconhambre]

Love the positive outlook at things. Thanks for watching

[@guloguloguy]

HEY?!... WHAT KIND OF TREES ARE GROWING UP THERE?!....THEY LOOK LIKE "CHOKE CHERRY" TREES (Prunus virginiana),....INTERESTING!!!

[@GriffenNaif]

Lovely but very inefficient shape to build with. So much time vs square. I hope you enjoy it

[@juanconhambre]

Thanks for your comment, but I dont see how a square building is more efficient?? Granted my first attempt wasnt the most efficient as such, the potential for this type of building to be 10 times faster than your traditional square building is there. I fail to see your point. Care to elaborate on where you see the differences??

[@GriffenNaif]

@@juanconhambre Build time... Square building is less efficient. Your time more efficient with square building. a tenth of all that hard work. Extra time working off site = $ for 3-4 more solar panel to heat and cool. your still better off. But you have something of beauty. Time has so much value as you get old.

[@XsxLife]

I think if you made sure each level was level you may not have run into problems.

[@juanconhambre]

And how do you propose I check that? Geodesic domes dont have straight lines to make level, if you look at the structure the lines of the triangles dont lay parallel to the ground. That is why the angels are so important, they should give the curvature and the "level". Thanks for watching.

[@robbieroche6779]

great job very impressive

[@rodrigoaraya3992]

Good work. Congratulations and suscribe.

[@juanconhambre]

Thanks

[@budz.e4730]

Be easier using pre cast concrete triangle dome panels from base to the top inter locking panels , they look like giant wood fire pizza ovens

[@freedomamrican128]

You said it was a 3V dome. If you made it a 4,6, or 8V the bricks would be smaller and many cure faster. There would be more pieces to work with and the molds would have to be accurate .

[@juanconhambre]

The higher frequency domes require more trianlges that is why I decide for the 3V bigger triangles yes but only to sizes which I hope will help me work the problems faster on how to make the molds more accurate. Thanks for Watching