First layer almost done.

I started a few days ago, and except for some staple issues on day one, its been pretty smooth.

As I started on the interior I hit the composite staples as I had done on the exterior first layers of the hemispheres. Initial strips were fine, but as the compound curve started working against me, I started to hear the familiar crunch of staples crushing wood. The 6mm plywood was having a hard time staying down, so I started hitting it with two staples side-by-side. Bad idea. I started to crack the strips right at the staples.

I switched to lathe screws and so far its been much better. Looking back it is easy to see that I was perforating and crushing the fibers of the plywood in a terrible way. The screw works with better pull and less crush. Great.

Tomorrow I’ll cut and fit all of the keystone pieces as well as the tops.

The very top semicircle I will leave rough. I’m thinking vents there, but not sure I want to poke more holes in my survival craft.