KerfCalc

Arc & Curve Layout Calculator

You know the opening is 1200 wide and you want the curve to rise 200 in the middle. This gives you the radius, where to put the trammel point, and — if the radius is too big for a compass — a table of offsets to plot the curve point by point.

Units

Curve

Marking out

Odd numbers put one point at the centre

Notes

Where the formula comes from

With chord C and rise H, the radius is (C squared divided by 8H) plus H over 2. It falls out of the intersecting chords theorem, and it is exact, not an approximation.

When the radius is bigger than your shop

A 1200 opening rising 100 needs a radius of 1850 — fine. Rising 20 needs 9010, and no trammel reaches that. That is what the offsets table is for: measure along the chord, mark the offset up from it, and bend a batten through the points.

Marking with a batten

Drive a nail at each plotted point, spring a thin strip of straight-grained stock against them, and pencil along it. A batten naturally takes a fair curve, which is more forgiving to the eye than a slightly wrong true arc.

What this does not do

It handles circular arcs only. Ellipses, ogees and free curves are a different problem, and a batten sprung through three points is usually the better answer for those anyway.