Designs

[TYG]

Has anyone here made a tower with a 20x5cm base that did relatively well?

We did build a 20 cm x 8 cm Division C tower, weighing 6.9 grams, that held the entire load. The team is working on reducing the weight further.

Would it be worth it for some one new to the event to make an attempt at a 20x8cm base for a tower, or would it not be recommended? Also, with everything above 30cm (or 15cm for division C, I think) needing to be less than (approximately) 5.6cm^2, wouldn't the tower need to be tapered?

[SLM]

Has anyone here made a tower with a 20x5cm base that did relatively well?

We did build a 20 cm x 8 cm Division C tower, weighing 6.9 grams, that held the entire load. The team is working on reducing the weight further.

Would it be worth it for some one new to the event to make an attempt at a 20x8cm base for a tower, or would it not be recommended? Also, with everything above 30cm (or 15cm for division C, I think) needing to be less than (approximately) 5.6cm^2, wouldn't the tower need to be tapered?

From the construction perspective, I think, it is much easier to build a 20cm x 5cm or 8cm tower than a 15cm x 15cm one. Since the tower is rectangular, we build two identical flat sides, like this (bracings not shown):

Then, we have them stand on the legs about 7 to 8 cm apart at the base, and tilt them inward until the two sides are about 1 cm apart at the top, like this (bracings not shown):

Then, we place the bracings to hold the two sides together. This is a fairly straight forward process.

If you are not competing in Virginia, I would be happy to show you a picture of the tower via PM.

[TYG]

I always had trouble with tapering both sides evenly. Thank you for your explanation, diagrams, and advice. And yeah, may I see a picture of the tower? I am 99.99% sure that I won't be competing anywhere near Virginia. Thanks again

[lllazar]

Does the 20x8 base cut down a lot of weight in terms of bracing? Because your going to have to add more weight for the legs, since they're longer and taking more force, right?

[hogger]

Does the 20x8 base cut down a lot of weight in terms of bracing? Because your going to have to add more weight for the legs, since they're longer and taking more force, right?

I did a rough calculation using div B spec, a simple geometry exercise assuming the top tower box dimension at the waist is 5.6cm x 5.6cm and the rectangular base of 20x5.6 vs minimum square base. The result of rectangular vs square: leg length of 30.85cm vs 30.60cm, and angle from horizontal of 76.5 degree vs 78.6 degree. This seems to suggest not a whole lot difference in force or leg length for rectangular tower.

[SLM]

I always had trouble with tapering both sides evenly....

Here is a simple jig for tapering and aligning the two sides of a 21cm x 8cm tower before putting the side bracings on.

[TYG]

Oh wow, I don't think I would have ever thought of using double sided scotch tape
Thank you again for all your help

[waawamellon]

its complicated to explain but, it turns out the best way to make our tower is while its standing up, does anyone have tips for building a tower while its standing up? i need somthing more than just 'use clamps' ...
ps im so happy, this is my 42nd post!!
you know, because 42 is the answer to life, the universe, and everything

[jander14indoor]

<SNIP> does anyone have tips for building a tower while its standing up? <SNIP>

Read back through the posts in this towers forum. Many hints/tips/examples on how to build and use jigs to assemble towers, including standing up. Jig might be a good search term to speed things up. I think there was much discussion under building techniques.

Thanks,

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

[_HenryHscioly_]

the bottom of the top part of my tower's 5.6cm
I was planning on making it taper to 5.0cm, but is it necessary to taper it more, like, 3.0cm, to prevent tipping over?
won't that make it weaker?
If i do make it 5.0, should i still make it a bit smaller, ~4.9cm just in case the testing block at competition is not perfect?
thanks