From Illuminiki

The Eye is to be a rotating, metal sculpture, held in a bamboo triangle. This page is to aid those building it (Rich & Jez) and those helping (Kelly).

Contents 1 Structure and Support: 2 The Eye Itself 3 Lighting: 4 Setup Requirements: 5 Power Requirements: 6 Bill of Materials 7 TODO

Structure and Support:

A bamboo tripod, held down with a tensioned strap. The metal Eye will rotate around or on the strap.

Jez built three 4-5 m high tripods last year and learnt:

• Ratchet straps are great for holding the tripods down. The legs must remain in compression at all times, otherwise the tripod falls over.
• Screw-in ground anchors work great in the paddock soil. Jez can supply one or three.
• The top strap must be tight and stiff.
• Putting tripods up needs at least two people. More if there's weight to go on the strap.

For holding the Eye and allowing it to rotate, one suggestion is to have the Eye as part of the tension-bearing strap. Two swivels could be used top and bottom (much as Andrea did for her spinning piece at Speed of Sound). This would allow the Eye to be free to rotate in the wind. The height could be adjusted by ratchetting the straps. This would need two swivels, two carabiners, and two straps. We have all but the swivels.

Another suggestion is a PVC pipe over the strap, with a bearing at the bottom to support the weight. A motor could be supplied to rotate the Eye directly.

The Eye Itself

A piece of shiny metal sheet, cut in arcs, with mounting holes top and bottom.

The centre spine of the Eye will be under torsion as the rings of the Eye rotate. It will also be in tension, from supporting the weight of the Eye itself plus whatever external loads come from the mounting. The width of the centre spine determines how floppy the Eye is, so should be determined by cutting it too wide (and thus too stiff) and gradually cutting more metal away until it does what we want.

Material for the Eye is currently suggested as aluminium sheet, for shininess and availability. Aluminium suppliers stock a range of thicknesses in suitable alloys in sheets 0.9 m by 2.4 m. Half a sheet would give 0.9 m by 1.2 m, which seems in the right ballpark.

Jez has purchased a piece of 1.8 m x 1.2 m, 2 mm thick aluminium.

Cutting the arcs in the Eye could be done with a jigsaw, mounted on a radial arm. If the radius of the arm was the mounting holes, then life would be much easier. The design has been mocked up and looks good.

Lighting:

Three floodlights to be mounted on the legs of the triangle. The mounting should be adjustable in height, so that the reflected light is visible from a distance.

These lights could be coloured.

Setup Requirements:

• At least two people
• A sledge hammer is useful for making indents in the ground where the bamboo sits. This stops the bottom of the poles from sliding.
• A ladder for adjusting the heights of the spotlights

Power Requirements:

Only the lights need power, so one extension cable to the gennie, a three-way plug board at the Eye, and three short extension cords. Using 150 W spots gives a load on the gennie of half a kiloWatt.

Bill of Materials

(Assuming that the preferred design is aluminium sheet we cut ourselves and the mounting is swivels in the ratchet straps)

1. Three bamboo poles - we don't have but can be cut at the work weekend
2. Top strap and carabiner - Jez to provide
3. Two ratchet straps (and spare nylon straps if needed) - Jez to provide
4. Two swivels and carabiners - Jez to investigate
5. Screw-in ground anchor - Jez can provide
6. Great big metal Eye - Jez to investigate sourcing
7. Three spotlights - Rich to consider
8. One long extension cable - Jez can provide, with GFI
9. Three way plug board - Jez can provide
10. Three short extension cables - Anyone?
11. Waterproof box for the plug board - Any ideas?

TODO

• Jez to provide Wendy with The World's Most Awesome Bamboo Saw before the work weekend.

- Saw arrived via Heidi, Dave used the saw to cut sharp topped bamboo stumps and then fell on a stump. This is not recommended.

• Wendy/Work weekend - cut and reserve three 6+ metre lengths of bamboo. Preferably straight and stout.

- Bamboo cut and at site.

• Jez to find out prices for aluminium sheet and if Ullrich/Mico will sell half sheets

- Both stock 5005 alloy (medium strength), 2 mm thick, sheets 2.4 m by 0.9 m, Ullrich quoted $149+GST, Mico quoted $86+GST. Mico quoted $142+GST for 5251 alloy, which is 60% stronger. Mico don't sell half-sheets. Ullrich will cut to size if you go in the week, when the factory next door is open.

• Jez to find a suitable top strap for the tripod and provide hardware and ground anchor

- Got.

• Jez to find out prices for two non-rated swivels from Howards Materials Handling

- The chandlers sell 500 lb fishing swivels. Jez has bought two, along with biners, for $35.

• Kelly to consider sizes and proportions of the Eye, to match other Illuminati Temple designs

- Proportions tested with Jez's horrible spreadsheet.

• Rich to consider how to cut the Eye shapes
• Rich to think about how to attach a jigsaw to a radius arm
• Rich to specify spotlights - brightness, beam angle, colour, waterproofness, how to mount onto bamboo pole