Do You Need a Special Type of Dome?

We are the only company that can fabricate Geodesic Hubs to build Octahedron Domes and other shapes.

The Octahedron requires unique dome connectors, such as the 4-way connector at the top of the dome. For a 2v Octahedron, these connectors require a 22.5 degree departure angle from the radial plane of the hub. (A 4-way plumbing joint won't work!).

A standard Icosahedron Dome requires only 5-way and 6-way connectors, with an 18 degree departure angle for the 2v, and a 10-12 degree angle for the 3v. Most dome connectors either do not control the radial plane departure angles, or just make every dome connector suitable for a 3v dome only, and hope that you don't notice they don't really fit very well for a 2v dome.

This is why you do not see Octahedron Geodesic Domes for sale. The 22.5 degree departure angle is too much for any Icosahedron dome connector to handle.

With our hub design, we drill the hole in the outer collar slightly larger to lock the struts at the correct 22.5 degree departure angle.

The 2v Octahedron Dome has 8 struts in a circle for the bottom foundation. Each of the 8 hubs on the bottom has to provide a 45 degree joint to make a 360 degree circle (45 x 8 = 360).

So, each strut needs to make 1/2 of 45 degrees, or 22.5 degrees, as the departure angle from the radial plane of the hub to make an octahedron dome work correctly.

No other company is manufacturing geodesic dome hubs for the octahedron for this reason, as it would be a custom hub order.

The outer ring in the hub is drilled to allow a 22.5 degree departure angle for the struts on the sides and top, while the bottom struts that hold up the foundation are held with a smaller opening that provides a 5 degree departure angle. This unique type of connector is made by changing the bit sizes when drilling the outer collar so that it will lock at the correct angles.