Cube slide show. — Drawings of the cube.
I cut the edge lengths out of 4x4 fir beams and with the help of many small temporary supports I began to tie the beams together. The structure was very unstable until the final diagonal beam was installed, at which point everything became solid and strong. After replacing the temporary supports with the final gussets, I was left with a beautiful piece.
The next step was to design metal brackets that could be attached prior to assembly, brackets that would minimize the time of instability during assembly and provide attachment points for hammocks.
In 1979, Sunset Magazine published an article about the cube. That article may be seen here.
I believe that a designer in Russia saw the Sunset article and used the idea to design a covered outdoor picnic area at the VDNKh in Moscow. While touring the VDNKh in 1983 I caught sight of two cubes just like my sauna in Sequel and jumped off the tour bus, causing great concern to the tour guide. It was a tremendous thrill for me to see this Russian cube (see Cube Photos).
In the 1970s I used clear kiln-dried fir or clear redwood to make the beams. In 2010 I returned to working with the cube structure and settled on 2"x2" square steel tubing as the best material to use. A 10' cube in steel weighs about 800 lbs. and easily holds three Yucatan family-size hammocks filled with people plus others climbing on the beams. By hanging an "aerial silk" from the center peak of a 10' cube, one has a beginner's aerial support at a height of 11'.
The cube structure may be used for many purposes, as seen in the photos below. Here are some variations on the cube.
Photos of the cube.
Drawings of the cube.
Purchase of the cube.
To create a model of the cube in paper, print out the image below and follow the directions.
