I'm starting to construct my first light arch today, but have a few last minute questions before I start. I was thinking of making anywhere between a 10' - 15' (diameter) arch, with 8 sections/channels. First question is, what would the total straight length of PVC do I need. I can probably figure that out myself, but more importantly, what thickness should it be???
Ok, so I easily figured out the length to be about 31', by using the circumference equation of Pi * Diameter, but I guess I can shorten that a little to make it more of an arch rather than a half circle. Am I correct on this assumption?
Second question... I watched a lot of videos on construction of these, and one of them was different than others by, instead of 2-3 long pieces glued together, they glued 8-10 small pieces together, and stated that this makes a better arch rather than a "hexagon" like structure. that seems it would be opposite to me, but does anyone have opinions of this
Your formula is correct but you need to divide by 2 unless your making a circle
My first year making arches over my driveway I used 1 1/2" ABS pipe it's cheaper and has more rigidity than PVC. I also used screw together fittings on the ends of each length so I could disassemble them for easy storage. The problem I had is that I'm in a very windy location and the arches would sway back and forth. My neighbor's driveway is to close to mine to install guy wires. So the next year I had them made out of 1" square tube steel.
Another consideration for the arches is that at a 10' diameter they will be 10' tall.
Oops, simple math mistakes are what kill me. My original calculation of 30 something feet for the arch didn't seem right to me.
I figured roughly about 15' total length for a 10' diameter arch making it roughly 5-6' tall. I bought 1", um, I'm not a contractor or anything so not exactly sure about the correct name, but the electrical pvc conduit pipe? is that the correct name? It's the grey stuff that has the a flanged end to connect each one together without extra fittings, and in the electrical isle, not the plumbing isle. Will this stuff work and is 1" thick enough?
You are correct in the name it is PVC. You would have to glue the conduit to keep it together and hopefully you have somewhere to store it as a 15" length, or you would have to cut it when your done. 1" should be fine going up to 1 1/4" is a little stronger but the wall of the pipe is no thicker its just the extra diameter that gives it more strength. The only pain is smaller the diameter of the pipe the more times around you have to wrap the lights.
Darryl Lambert wrote: You are correct in the name it is PVC. You would have to glue the conduit to keep it together and hopefully you have somewhere to store it as a 15" length, or you would have to cut it when your done. 1" should be fine going up to 1 1/4" is a little stronger but the wall of the pipe is no thicker its just the extra diameter that gives it more strength. The only pain is smaller the diameter of the pipe the more times around you have to wrap the lights.
This was not my idea (sorry I don't remember who to give credit to on this), but 3/4 inch grey PVC electrical conduit has a bell end molded into one end of a 10 foot length, making it perfect for arch connection (and disconnection for storage - if you wind it in two halves). I would put 4 light segments on one side starting on the end of the bell. On the mating side, I started about 6 inches in (use the depth of the bell for perfect mating) and wind the other 4 segments. The friction fit held up perfect without any additional fastening. And they came apart easily at the end of the season for storage as 10 foot sections. Yes, the 3/4 conduit did flex a bit in the strong winds, but it does bend nicely into a smooth arch as you do not see any "kink" at the overlapping joint.
with a 10' diameter the arch would be 5' tall.