Selected component
Select a shell panel, frame member, or portal pieceCalculated output
Programmatic alternatives
Alternatives preserve the selected size-driving value and height. They compare shell geometry without the portal; Apply remains unavailable if the current portal snap would not exist in that topology.
Choose a range and compare configurations.
Test the 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 5 → 4 → half 3 sequence with 10 and 12 panels around in a separate, unsaved geometry experiment.
Traceable assembly
Build instructions
Build instructions
Each calculated panel is flattened and placed in its true staggered circular assembly row. Course 1 is nearest the apex; the base course is the outer row.
Dynamic cut drawings
Every outline and dimension is derived from the current solved geometry. The inner panels are calculated at the inner face of the shared struts, so they are smaller than the outer panels. Portal 2× drawings show the installed wide face and cut length.
The on-screen and printed packet are dimensioned reference drawings. The downloaded SVG uses millimetres at true size; print it at 100% and verify the 100 mm calibration bar before using it as a template.
Conservative sheet planning
Cut pieces get first use of the blank space below their same-course full panels. Highlighted pieces stay inside the existing ripped strips with saw-kerf clearance; full-panel positions do not change. Pieces that do not fit stay on mixed sheets.
Matching base half-panels are paired along their long cut edges, with a ⅛″ (3.175 mm) gap at the default saw kerf. Blue dashed lines separate the two finished halves; six pairs can form a 12-half-panel sheet when the actual geometry and allowances fit. Unpaired halves and door-cut remnants remain separate pieces.
Repeated strips: three identical rhombuses along each strip, with the number of strips across calculated from the panel width and kerf. The standard course 1 panels use a 4 × 3 pattern (12 panels); wider panels use fewer strips. Complete identical-panel sheets come first; remaining panels and fractional pieces go onto mixed sheets. Solid outlines are finished edges; dashed orange lines are saw centerlines. Cut matched edges in one pass, allowing for the entered blade kerf. This does not mean stacking panels. Isolate strips before angled cuts. Mixed-piece envelopes are conservative, not optimal nesting.
Compare an experimental layout for the selected stock product. Your design and procurement totals stay unchanged.
Cut planning
| Course | Shape | Qty | Edge lengths | Outer blank | Inner blank | Max span | Area each | Limit |
|---|
Frame planning
| Profile | Connection | Qty | Long point to long point | Stock section | Lengthwise milling | Cut amount | End cuts · A / B | Checks |
|---|
Joinery assumption
Every strut is behind the panels, on the inside of the shell. The ridge follows the geometric panel edge. The wider lumber face is split at its centerline, and each half is milled by half the change in panel-plane angle. Both panels are then independently screwed into the same strut.
At the base: without a riser, the floor-mounted strut receives the panel-facing bevel. With a raised base, the panel-mounted 2×2 stays square, the upright riser receives the top bevel, and an inside flat 2×4 forms the L-shaped floor connection.
At a junction: adjoining panel-edge centerlines establish the intersection reference. End cuts bisect their meeting angles in each shared panel plane. Four-panel junctions have two opposing-side cuts per strut. Length is measured along the stock from its furthest point at end A to its furthest point at end B, not between reference centers. The struts attach to the panels only, with no direct strut-to-strut fastening. Layout angles are not compound-saw settings.
Area-based estimate