Going around the bend with radii - Calculating double taper cuts

[MorganMc]

Lads:
I'm a newbie paver and have taken on a 5mx5m patio paver project. All the base work is done and I'm ready to stick the brick. Thought the soldier course along a curvy bit of concrete leading to the main area would be the easiest place to begin. After the first three pavers I realised that with nary a straight bit in 15 linear metres of coursework I had to know how to calculate taper cuts in my pavers. Tony's treatise on double tapers gives me a goal - how it should look - but I'm befuddled on how to calculate my cuts so that the double tapers are consistent. I don't want my radius work to look like a mouthful of bad teeth. My question is do you have an eyeball or using-a-square method of marking these cuts or is it more a mathematical exercise, calculated with the radius of the curvy bit divided by the brick length?

What a great site, Tony. Thanks for your generosity.

Morgan McArthur

[pickwell paving]

If its only a shallow curve you should be able to use full blocks as long as the joints don't exceed 10mm, if its too tight a curve to achieve this then cut 10mm off both sides of the block tapering out to nothing so the block should measure 80mm one end and 100mm the other, then use the tapered blocks as and when needed. hope this helps.

[seanandruby]

good eye and measuring.

[lutonlagerlout]

i would use a square and go 90 degrees off you arc to find the taper
10mm = 3/8th "
cheers
LLL

[mickg]

lay part of the soldier course out to the required radius with a equal gap between each block on the outer edge and the blocks touching on the inner edge - if its an external radius your doing

lets say as an example its a gap of 40mm between each block, mark 20mm on each side of the block your going to cut and draw a straight line from this mark to the corner of the block and then cut each side

if the radius is shallow you can cut every other block but still end up with a smooth curve, if its a tight curve then you will have to cut every block to a taper