I have been actively been looking to construct something like this but I have found it would cost me a great deal and unfortunately I don't have access to the right equipment. So I am wondering what industry sector would I have to contact to get this constructed? It is a fiberglass structure with some steel used for the lifting system. I'll include pictures. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

http://www.csi-composites.com/index.htm What you are looking for is someone with a large enough cnc router to mill a female mold and then make the part. It would be quite expensive for a one off part though. Good Luck eric

Thanks for the reply! So i should be looking for someone who has a cnc router and who works on a varity of comosite materials? I'll definetly check out the site you linked me. I'm situated in Serbia at the moment so I might try my luck and see if any neighboring countries could do it. I have found someone supplying the entire thing but it would cost me around $15,000 euro. Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction.

I'd contact a boat builder to make it out of fiberglass/epoxy. And I agree that a large CNC router could help by making a male or female mold out of foam.

That would be easy for a boat guy, or any company that makes pools, tanks, etc from fiberglass.

Im sure there has to be someone on yoru side of the pond like this:
http://afetexas.com/domes-and-spheres/


It wouldn't be too bad to do by hand, (no cnc required) since it looks like a sphere.

Posted By howtobuild on 11 Aug 2014 10:01 AM
Thanks for the reply! So i should be looking for someone who has a cnc router and who works on a varity of comosite materials? I'll definetly check out the site you linked me. I'm situated in Serbia at the moment so I might try my luck and see if any neighboring countries could do it. I have found someone supplying the entire thing but it would cost me around $15,000 euro. Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction.

My first thought yesterday when I saw this post was "polyester" (like others suggested). But I didn't post because it's not that simple because you need a sphere to stick that polyester on.
A huge styrofoam ball but I fear polyester instantly eats that away.

You need to the sphere in half. Polyester is quite expensive. Add to that the paint etc. It will add up. likely not 15k but still...

The size may be a problem but what about a dome shaped polycarbonate skylight?


http://www.aiaindustries.com/circularskylightform.html
They sell at least up to 94 inch diameter http://www.aiaindustries.com/circularfullskylightform.html
They sell impact proof versions: http://www.aiaindustries.com/impactresistantskylights.html
Not sure they are strong enough but sure would be a good start to put polyester on.

Seems to me this could be produced very cheaply out of rotomold or blow molded polyethylene.  Initial mold cost will be biggest expense but then they can be mass produced very quickly and cheaply.  Similar to blow molded Kayaks.  Apart form that, I agree, boat builder would be second stop.  Also might try a commercial sign company.

Another option would be foam core/epoxy. This would be similar to how surfboards are built.  If you are planning to use it as a cooler this would kill two birds with one stone.

A form large enough for you to try yourself or to provide someone with would be a weather balloon and some cardboard for the bottom to build fiberglass on.
Blow it up to the size you like.