Dymaxion Globe - Optimized for Glowforge!

I have been trying to make a Dymaxian Globe for a week now - used someone else’s off of thingverse but for some reason it didn’t work very well. I downloaded and printed yours, but am wondering if my machine’s kerf is different or something, because it is an exercise in hand strength to get those little tab pieces into the holes! Is that normal? I am needing to use a pliers and push extremely hard to get them into the slots. I used medium draft board as well. I think that if I had use hardwood I won’t be able to wrestle the wood into place, which is what I eventually would like to do (I may have to edit the file). Has this been your experience?

I had the same problem. I haven’t gotten mine to go together yet. I used the proofgrade draftboard and wonder if it is a little thicker than the original posters draftboard. I couldn’t even get mine to go together without a mallet and then I wound up smashing a number of the pieces. So all the pieces just sit there mocking me now. :frowning:

I had to use the back of a screwdriver to apply pressure when I was fitting the small circle which locks in the tabs for each of the vertices. I was able to attach the larger panels by hand using a reasonable amount of pressure.

Try bumping the entire model size by a couple of percent. It will make the whole thing a bit larger - but most critically the slots so it’s a bit easier to put together.

Typically you have to mess with every slot & tab, but for this purpose you’re just nudging the size so you can resize the whole thing at once. (In Corel I would select all using Ctrl-A and then change the size to 102% for instance.)

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If you’ve already cut the pieces and don’t want to mess with the file dimensions, this works well on the tabs to get them to fit the slots…

Squadron Products Value Pack Sanding Stick

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I use a pack of cheap drugstore Emory boards more than anything else for quick cleanup or roughing up a surface before gluing.

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@Jules I bite my nails so I have never had the need for emery boards…that said your solution makes way more sense economically than mine! :wink:

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Thanks for the optimized design. Just want to share my mistake. I did not double check the GUI before starting and the latitude/ longitude were interpreted as cuts rather than score/ engrave. Made a lot of smoke and wood chips. Everything else was fine. Valuable lesson.

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Careful hammering can get some really tight pieces to mate… I use mine almost every time I make a friction fit.

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Is there a reason that there are only 10 sets of connectors, while the design calls for 12? Mostly curious, cutting extras isn’t a big deal.

Also, gonna repeat what everyone else is saying: the fits for the connectors is wayy too tight. Needed to use a bar clamp to force most of them in.

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So I decided to make this project last night. I used the same files and also used the same proofgrade draftboard. Just curious if you had some of the same issues I had while making this. First off, about halfway through I started to notice the amount of smoke from all the engraving was getting to a point where it was too much for my exhaust and it started to fill my apartment! Then towards about 3/4 of the way through, the GF had to keep taking breaks in order to cool down before it continued. Just curious if this is normal or if I might have some exhaust issues?
Also, are you able to show how the connectors are supposed to connect with the smaller circle connector?

Thank you for the post. I really love the design.

I made this as well using :proofgrade: draftboard and it was very smoky, more so than my usual laser projects. I find that draftboard in general emits a lot of smoke when lazed. What was the temperature inside of your dwelling as you made this piece? Also, check to see if you have any extreme bends in your exhaust hose on its way to the window.

Thank you for the reply. My home was around 70 degrees which definitely could have been a factor but I assume most people keep their space at a comfortable 65-70 as well. The draftboard definitely does produce a lot more smoke. I’ll see about getting the straightest line possible in my hose. Thank you.

I used baltic birch, and had no smoke issues. If you choose to do it as an engrave, be warned, it’s a really large area to engrave, you’ll probably want to clean your machine afterward. It’ll be a disaster area :slight_smile:

It is a disaster! :slight_smile:

I cut this yesterday and while assembling it noticed the same thing: there are not enough connectors to fully assemble it. I need two more.

You should be able to assemble it with the pieces provided so that every triangle is attached on at least two corners. It’s not as stable as you might like, but doable.

Overall, I did find that a bit odd when I cut this out. The OP said the original model he used didn’t have enough connectors and his remix fixed that, but as you’ve noticed it isn’t quite true.

An icosahedron (20-sided polyhedron) has 12 vertices, with 5 triangles meeting at each vertex. The model on thingiverse has connectors each made of two slotted pentagons (one big, one small) and 5 little hooks. So you’d expect 12 big pentagons, 12 small pentagons, and 60 hooks. Instead you get 10 big pentagons, 9 small pentagons, and 50 hooks. Enough for 9 stable connectors, and 1 unstable connector.

Now if it did have that many connectors I might cry… My hands still hurt from forcing all of those pieces together.

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I just went ahead and cut out two more connector sets and installed them and it seems pretty solid. I had to use part of another sheet of draft board but I think it’s worth it.

I used a file to remove a bit of material from the tabs and a pliers to work the tabs into the pentagon shaped pieces and it didn’t kill my fingers.

Try using a hammer next time. Super effective.

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Need help in assembling this globe. Have been trying and can’t get this together. How do I get started? I printed two on these on Medium Draftboard and sat for an hour with 4 adults and made little to no progress. Any advice on how to position the pieces to snap together and how the polyon pieces with with the circular pieces and the map slabs.