Leaping Arch Calculator

[michaelc]

I found this on line and thought it was nifty. I was designing my future arches and wanted specific dimensions. For my purposes I am using an oval shape. The basic formula is:

AB = Width of the longest long axis,
CD = Length of the longest short axis

The formula is PI * SquareRoot of 2 * ((1/2 long axis)squared + (1/2 short axis)squared).

Since the arch is only 1/2 the circumference, you would take the answer and divide by two.

For my purposes I am planning on inserting arches into my fence posts which are 6' apart. I want the legs to be 6' apart and the height to be 4' So for my purposes the length of my pvc arch needs to be 8'. If I want 1' tails on both ends that gives me a 10' length of pole with 8 one foot channels.

http://www.csgnetwork.com/circumellipse.html

[budude]

Your math sounds right - - that's exactly what I have for my arches - 6' apart using a 10' section of 3/4" grey PVC. I have nine channels because they are only 70-count LEDs. I think 100 count mini's might be a tight fit for a foot of pipe though? I don't use standard mini's but I think it's more like 14-16 inches or so?

[michaelc]

Yeah, I haven't figured out what lights I'm going to use yet. Right now the only thing I have extra of are LED Rope lights. I don't recall seeing anyone making arches out of rope. Either way, I'm planning on building it using the modular construction method Maybe 10' of 1/2 PVC covered with the individual channels on Black sprinkler tube. I've got an extra roll in the shed from when I added lines to my sprinkler system. I do like the idea of each of my 4 arches being a different color.

[budude]

I don't remember who posted it but someone made an arch here using rope light - he doubled it up and had several channels of it (8?) - don't recall the details but it looked pretty easy to make. I don't think he put up a video of it running though so not 100% sure what it looked like...