Chaodependant Reconstruction

Submitted by dave on Mon, 01/02/2010 - 02:13

The last times Chaodependant go shown, it worked great, but the carpet base it was on looked awful. So, for taking it down to [1] we decided to put it on a more professional platform. Apart from aesthetics, we also wanted to address the problem that the pendulum gets further away from the pods towards the end of it's swing, and hence they have less effect on the movement. Finally, by putting all the electronics inside the base, it becomes more reliable (shorter cables, less unplugging) and easier to set up - there's just a power and audio output.

So, we made a base with a spherical profile on the top, and here's how we did it.

1 Base
2 Ribs
3 Top
4 Electronics
5 Underlayer
6 Top surface
7 Finishing

Base [edit]

Chaodep routing Chaodep base First, we started with two sheets of plywood, held together with a base. Then we routed the edge, using a jig to get a perfect circle.

Ribs [edit]

Chaodependant base with ribs Chaodependant Rib Jig Next, we used a 5m long piece of wood to draw a circular profile, and make a jig, which we used to route out the ribs and attached all the ribs to the base, at precise angles.

Top [edit]

Chaodep base done Chaodependant putting on top Finally, we added a top surface of hardboard, cut into circular sections and nailed to the ribs to create a nice smooth curve all the way round, and the base was done.

Electronics [edit]

Chaodependant electronics test Fill it with electronics and make sure it works...

Underlayer [edit]

Chaodependant underlayer done Chaodependant adding underlayer To make a nice soft surface to put things on, we used a layer of cotton towelling.

Top surface [edit]

Chaodep base covered Chaodep base seamNow, it's a layer of synthetic leather to give a nice clean look. Since we can only get 1.5m sheets and the base is 2m wide, we need to make an invisible seam in the middle.