[TheForge] Forge Geometry- edit

[Fiorini & Skiles]

By the way, I'm not calculating anything related to a roadway.  The formula 
was pertaining to a roadway curve, but I figured it should work as well for 
any curve.  I'm dealing with a balcony curve.
-Kirsten
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Fiorini & Skiles" <bkmetal at mwt.net>
To: <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Saturday, July 22, 2006 8:39 AM
Subject: Forge Geometry- calculating a radius


>I was trying to figure out how to accurately measure an existing radius for 
>a curved railing. I came across this formula from 
>http://www.johncglennon.com/papers.cfm?PaperID=17
>
> R = Lsquared /8m + m/2
>
> Where
>
> R = the roadway curve radius, feet
>
> L = the chord length, feet
>
> m = the measured middle offset, feet
>
> This particular website was actually demonstrating another method that was 
> more appropriate for road work. But the formula above seemed like it would 
> be fine for the curve I'm dealing with.
>
> Does this work accurately for a railing curve, when you've got the curve 
> all laid out, easy enough to measure? It gave a close, but about 3 inch 
> different number than our rather inaccurate 
> 2-people-pretending-to-be-a-compass method. I'm planning to go by the 
> mathematically calculated number.
>
> Is there a better way? Will that geometry give me an accurate result? Are 
> there any other good websites or books on construction geometry?
> Thanks,
> -Kirsten
> www.knitsteel.etsy.com
>