With this post on Building a Geodesic Dome Greenhouse I will be demonstrating that power tools are not required so long as you have time and patience. This will be a somewhat new experience for me too, I have only seen what I am about to do done in video’s. As I have mentioned before, I am not a life long woodworker or carpenter but I can work with my hands (I am also not much of a writer). The tools that I will be using for this demonstration are a vice to hold the work piece, crosscut handsaw, a wood chisel to par away the last bits of unwanted wood and a sanding block to finish the surface to your liking. I will note here that I should have been using a larger chisel for this job. The wider faced chisel would have helped maintain a flatter plane over a larger area, I think.

I set the piece in my vice in such a way as to have one reference angle appear vertical to make cutting a little easier without the use of a blade brace. Take care with these cuts to not cut past the line from either the top angle where the teeth of the saw will be following nor the vertical line which you are following. The closer you can be to the line the less material you will have to par and sand away later. With a sturdy workbench to push against you can par with the chisel while the piece is in the vice. I tend to use a lighter workbench and will sit on my work piece as I par away material with the chisel. Check the working face for flatness and correct angle as you work and only remove small amounts of material as you go to prevent over cutting. The lines are a good reference point to work with to keep from cutting any of your overall length away as you remove any high points in the middle of the face but always check for the proper angles as you work. The only working length measurement we have to check against is the overall length from point to point. When the face appears smooth under the protractor for the 2 angles and the point angle is correct then I stop.

Using hand tools will take some time but is the least expensive means to accomplish the task at hand. Many of the tools used are probably already on hand and only one or two new tools will need to be purchased. By the time you finish all of the cuts on each end of every piece you will be very proficient with both the hand saw and wood chisel with increased speed and accuracy. You will also have the satisfaction of a job well done when finished and bragging rights for many long informative conversations for those who are interested in your new Geodesic Dome Greenhouse.

My next post will be using a 10″ table saw to demonstrate how to make these cuts a little faster. You can get the instructions for constructing a Geodesic Dome Greenhouse by following the link for The Eden Biodome Revolution here.

1. Introduction
2. Layout the cut
3. Handsaw and Chisel
4. Table Saw

I am building a Geodesic Dome Greenhouse using plans that I purchased from The Eden Biodome Revolution. I am not following the directions directly as I write these blog posts. I am simply showing alternative ways to accomplish the same end result to help other “Do It Yourself” folks like me can know that this project is very doable with simple tools. I am not a big woodworker and have never been a construction worker, I am a mechanic and computer repair technician if anything. I would rather weld a Geodesic Dome together than cut one from wood but if I can do it then anyone can. Continue reading →