Originally Posted by
Steve Demuth
I didn't find it a nightmare. There is after all only one shape to make, and you only need twelve of them, with a total of 60 final cuts. Your list correctly identifies the primary issue: you have to be able to set up the cuts accurately and precisely, and precisely replicate the 60 cuts and 12 pieces, because there is cumulative error potential at every mating surface. So you need tooling that takes advantage of the simplicity of the shape, and assures replicability. You're absolutely right about the tape instead of clamps (the dodecahedron is un-clampable by traditional clamps, period). As for the miter saw: if you are trying to make this with a miter saw, I agree it will be a nightmare. This is a job for a table saw, with a jig that guarantees that you establish each of three critical measurements (the dihedral half angle, the included angle of the pentagon, and the radius of the inscribed circle of the pentagon) exactly once, and then repeat using the same setup.