Yes, I made a Ger (Yurt) using plywood. Why, you ask? Because it hasn't been done yet (according to anyone I can find, anyway), that's why!

Kids' Ger

I figured it might be best to do a small-scale experiment before I go full size with this concept. My goal was to make a 6' diameter Ger with 3' walls.

Materials used:

• 2 sheet 3/8" sanded plywood: $15.00 each (I had 1/2 sheet to make the roof ring already from another project)
• 100' 3/16" braided nylon rope: $10.00
• 3 8'x1"x4" pine: 13.56
• 9 8'x1"x2" pine: 22.77
• 9x12 painter's dropcloth $20
• 2 4x15 painter's dropcloth $28
• Gromet kit $10

Total cost so far: $118

Equipment needed:

• Table saw (unless you're REALLY good with a skill saw) with a sharp, narrow kerf (width) blade so the saw eats less wood.
• Hand held drill
• Drill press - NOTE: A hand drill can be used if a drill press is unavailable.
• Jigsaw
• Lighter (to melt the ends of the rope after cutting it)
• Heavy scissors or knife
• Assorted clamps
• Combination square. 12" is fine.
• Carpenter's wood glue - don't skimp here.

The final dimensions of the ger are:
Diameter: 6'4"
khana height: 42"
Height to bottom of roof ring: 54"


Below you will find instructions on how to reproduce the Ger that I made as well as my own experiences with it.

Khana (wall)

Materials used:

• 1 sheet 3/8" sanded exterior grade plywood: $15.00
• 100' 3/16" braided nylon rope: $10.00

===Instructions===

Start by ripping the sheet of plywood in half so that you end up with 2 4'x4' sheets. Measure carefully so that the finished dimensions of the 2 pieces are as close as possible - Remember to account for the blade width.

Next, set the fence on the table saw to 1.75". Rip both pieces of plywood into strips until you run out of plywood. Be sure to rip with the grain, which runs along the 8' edge. If you rip the other direction (across the grain), the strips will be significantly weaker. You should end up with about 54 usable pieces. Take the narrow scraps that are left from each sheet and set them aside. You will need them later.

Now, take the strips and pile them up as high as your drill bit, drill press, or your skill level allows. If you do not have a drill press, a hand drill can be used. Just be sure to drill as vertical as possible or you will curse yourself later. Line up one edge of each pile as closely as you can and clamp as necessary to make sure the pile can't shift while drilling. If the other end is a touch off, that is OK. They should be within 1/8" length if you made that first cut properly.

Measure 3" from the even end of the pile and use the square to make a line across the top piece. Repeat this every 10.5" (3",13.5", 24", 34.5", 45"). You will end up with 5 lines for 5 holes. If you did it right, your 5th line will be very close to 3" from the other end.

Measure 7/8" from the edge and make a mark in the middle of each line. The cross hairs will be your drill location. Use a 1/4" drill bit and drill all 5 holes. Remove the clamps and repeat until all slats (except the narrow ones) are drilled.

Lacing the khana:

Take the rope and carefully unwind it so as not to tangle it all up. Take 2 slats and line up the end holes on top of each other. Thread the rope through both. Grab another slat and line up the 2nd hole with he 2nd hole on one of the slats and continue threading. Repeat for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th holes.

When you reach the 5th hole in the first slat, tie a knot in the end of the rope. Pull the slack back through to the first hole. Cut the rope leaving about 6"extra rope and melt the ends so they don't fray. Pull the rope as tight as you can and tie a knot to maintain the tension. A simple overhand knot is sufficient.

Add more slats until you have added approx. 38 slats. You should end up with a big baby gate if you did it right. See the photos for what it should look like.

Experiences

We ripped the plywood into 4'x1 3/4" strips. 1/4" holes were drilled starting at 2" from one end and spaced every 11" (5 holes per piece). I then laced the Khana together rather than using bolts or small pieces of leather or rope because there were far fewer knots to tie.

Ply is too thin for rafters without laminating it to be thicker. My main reasons for ply for the Khana are:

-It bends more easily without breaking.
-It can twist without breaking.
-Ever try and rip lumber to 1/4" without it warping like mad? Depending on the grain it can seriously warp right after being ripped. Since ply has opposing grain, the chances of it warping are very slim.
-It is far easier to rip at 1 3/4" wide than it is at 1/4" wide.
-The Khana is guaranteed to be uniform thickness.

Here's Garth setting up to rip the plywood.

Me drilling the holes 5 boards at a time.


Garth marking the holes to drill.


The partially assembled Khana.


Garth helping assemble the Khana.


Here is the assembled Khana. (Note, the ropes still needed to be tightened up more.)


The first strip of plywood we ripped was 1 3/8" wide. I immediately gave it a flex test and promptly snapped it in the middle. Now, I bent this thing way further than it would ever be bent during use, at least 4x further. I deflected the middle of the 4' piece well over a foot before it snapped. I wasn't satisfied with this, so we ripped the next one at 1 3/4" wide and I again bent it to the same point with no hint of snapping (I bent it both ways too, just to be sure). We proceeded to make 50 more just like it.

Next, we drilled 5 holes in each piece to use for assembly. I used nylon rope and laced it together. I have to say that this not only made for fast assembly, it also worked very well. Once we got the Khana assembled (36 pieces), I decided to stop. I'm glad I did. There is enough Khana to make a 9' Ger with 3 1/2 foot walls. This is more than I initially wanted, and I will likely remove one or two to get it to 8' or less diameter.The Khana can easily handle the stress of being bent into a circle.

The big advantage of lacing over tying is I had to tie together 36 pieces (18 each direction). That translated into 18 cuts and 36 knots. If I tied each one individually, it would have been 90 cuts and 180 knots (5:1 ratio on the khana). I assembled the khana in about 1/2 hour vs 2-3 hours the other way. Also, once I had it laced I pulled all the slack out one end, making the whole thing much tighter than I could have if I had tied each individually.

Based on my initial testing, I am very confident that this will work full scale as well. Once I have this Ger fully assembled, I plan to do a load test on the structure. I figure if it can hold 200lb or more We'll be good to go. At this stage, I will most likely be building my full size Gers using plywood.

One of the lessons I learned is to leave at least 2x the width of the slats at the ends or you end up with no peak to put the roof band on. I should have gone with about 10 1/2" on center so I would have had 3" at the ends instead of 2". This is why the small scale experiment is so important. This is my first Ger and I am bound to make a few mistakes like that.

Door frame

3 8'x1"x4" pine: 13.56

Instructions

Take 4 slats from the ones leftover form the khana. You will be making a tab in both ends of all 4 pieces. Make sure the tabs in both ends are facing the same direction (see photos). In the end, measure in 1" and make a line. Measure another 3/4" (the width of the 1x4 on edge) and make another. Male the slot 1/4" deep. Cut out the slot.

Measure 42" from the inner edge of the slot and mirror it on the other end. The measurement between slots should be 42". Cut the slat off 1" from the far side of the 2nd slot. Make 3 more just like this.

Set the slats aside and grab one of the 1x4's. Cut 4 pieces of 1x4 42" long. now, stack 2 of the slotted slats on top of a 1x4 and put another on top of it (see photos for detail). Glue all mated surfaces and clamp overnight.

Take the remaining 1x4 and cut 2 pieces 36" long. Make a 3/4" x 1.75" slot in both ends. The slot should be approx. 2.25" from the end and centered in the 1x4. When the sides of the frame lock into the slots, the edges of the frame should line up. See photos for detail.

Experience

First I used some extra khana slats and cut tabs in the ends.

Next, I sandwiched 2 plywood pieces with tabs between pieces of 1x4, glued and clamped them overnight.

Here they are the next day after taking the clamps off. These are the vertical portions of the door frame.


Next I took 2 pieces of 1x4 and cut slots to match the tabs.


Here are the sides locked into the top and bottom pieces.

Here is the khana mated to the door frame.

My door frame was a little too wide. Originally I planned for 36" between the posts. I reduced that to 28" and the assembled wall is right around 6' in diameter and 36" tall.


I made the door frame too wide. Once I narrowed it to 28", things fit much better. The ends of the khana need some tweaking yet, but it works pretty well.

Roof Ring

1/2 sheet of 3/8" plywood required in addition to the khana.

The roof ring was made from 3/8" plywood and the scraps from the roof rafters. I glued it all together.

Here's my protractor to trace the circles.


Here are the top and bottom of the ring.


I marked the position of each of the spacers.


Here is the bottom half glued.


Getting ready to seat the top of the ring.


Now I have to wait for the ring to dry.

Rafters

9 8'x1"x2" pine: 22.77

Here are the 1x2's before I  cut them down.


The roof ring is self supporting!


The rafters are in place.


Inside view of the roof.


Here is a view of the door frame rafters.


And, yes it holds a 140 lb weight (me) suspended from the roof ring.

Canvas roof & walls

I took some painter's drop cloth and made the roof and walls. I'm not worried about this being totally waterproof since it is for the kids to play in really. I used grommets & rope to hang the walls.

Here are some pictures from the inside.

Here's the outside.

I used rope to hang the walls on the roof band. It's just a knot on one side and a loop on the other.

Results

NOTE: There is not a single piece of metal in the entire Ger. The door frame and roof ring were glued. Everything else is tied with rope where necessary. I did have to add ties to the ends of the khana to prevent the ends from slipping out of the door frame while things are being set up and tensioned. I am thoroughly impressed with the way this went together and am seriously considering plywood for the khana of the 16' Gers that I will be building.

I still have some trimming and tweaking to do with the ends of the khana to get it to seat better in the door frame. I also need to trim the rafters by about 4". I originally calculated them to be 37.5" from ring to rope, but it actually should have been 33.5". I ended up with final dimensions of 6'4" diameter, 42" wall height, and 54" to the bottom of the roof ring. This is the perfect kids' play tent for Pennsic and other events. I'll cover it with painter's drop cloth since I'm not too worried about how water proof the thing is.

For all the doubting thomases out there, it can be done! No screws or bolts anywhere. It is all assembled with wood, glue, and rope. On top of that, the khana is plywood.

The roof on this Ger can successfully hold the weight of a 190lb person hanging from the ring. I know this was pushing the roof band to the limit, but it did hold. Most importantly, the khana held beautifully.

Total building cost was about $118.