Form parts These three items make up my form. The form material, sailcloth with battens in sleeves, is in the back. You can see the edges, with the rope sewn in, near the top of the image. Below that is the clamp, made from a U-section piece, a flat piece and bolts with wingnuts to pull them together. In the foreground is the ring that, by pressing outward, holds the form erect by tension. You can see the turnbuckles that provide the outward pressure at the top of the ring.

Form on the base The form has been set up and placed on the prepared base. It needs to be centered so it's over the solidest part of the base.

Clamp detail The long vertical aluminum piece is channel stock, 1 inch by 0.5 inch, backed up on the inside by a bar 0.25 inch thick and 1.25 inches wide. Connecting them are stainless steel bolts in tapped holes in the inside bar, passing through the channel, with stainless fender washers to spread the load.

Inside the form At the bottom is the clamp assembly, holding the beaded edges of the form. The ring presses outward, with pressure provided by the turnbuckles whose ends spread as the center is turned. When the form is about half-full, I remove the ring by relaxing the turnbuckles. I made the clamp and ring; a sailmaker made the form to my design. The whole outfit weighs around 12 pounds.

	Ready for filling This will be my world for the next two hours or so. The bucket filled with sand is a stepstool, to give me more leverage on the tamping stick. The form's appearance of being wider at top than bottom is due to perspective exaggerated by the 35mm camera's wide-angle (38mm) lens setting.
Go on to "How I Do It" text: Fill the Form. Return to "How I Do It" text: Erect the Form.

formerec.htm 1999 January 17