Cindy Sergent's Design Page home| art| bubble| travel| thoughts ...........Cindy's Design Page

Visit Innotia Jewelry to see Cindy's handcrafted beadwork.
Click here to contact Cindy.

tubing connector concept #1, 2, square shape
Four different design/prototype of the tubing connectors. They were rejected because they were too complicated. I want to find a simple, elegant solution.
tubing connector concept #3, 4, round shape


drawing of the final tubing connector
Alas! I got the answer!
the final tubing connector, circle&+ shape
A simple circle&+ shape with a slot. 2 of this pieces form a 3D connector. The extruding "+" ends are inserted into the tubes to connect them together.
octahedra drawing
 

Now we can construct an octahedron. Here is the material specification:

  1. 6 5/8 diameter, 8" length copper tubings. One end is cut equally-spaced 8 slots each 1/8" deep, 1/32" wide.
  2. 2 pieces of center connectors.
  3. 12 12" long wires
  4. 24 1/8" diameter, 1/2" long aluminum tubings
  5. 3 white rubber caps
The drawing shows how the wires are tied to the tubing. The wires are twist-tied to 2 tubings, one on each end. Tying the wire requires careful, balanced-pull in order to keep the tubes in proper alignment. Once the octahedron is complete, the tension on the wire can be fine tuned by adding more twist to it. Item #4 on the material list is used to cover the twisted part of the wire, and #5 is to cover the open end of the tubing -- purely for aesthetic purpose.

drawing of the tubing end where the wires are tied

Here is a finished octahedron!

a finished octahedron


Now we need to solve the problem of connecting the 4 octahedra together to complete the design. In order to form the structure, each octahedron has to connect to the other 3 octahedra in about 175 degree angle both horizontally and vertically. Actually, I don't know exactly what degree it is, but, I need the connector to hold the structure in whatever natural angle/shape it is. It has to be metal, and it better be in the local hardware store.



home| design| bubble| travel| thoughts ...........Cindy's Design Page

Visit Innotia Jewelry to see Cindy's handcrafted beadwork.
Click here to contact Cindy.
copyright© 1997, Cindy Sergent, All Rights Reserved