post pictures of your homemade ARCH

[miller maple]

looking for ides on new arch to build for my 3X8 waterloo/small pans

[Bucket Head]

There is a picture of my homemade arch in the Sugarhouse section of this site. The post is "The New Sugarshack" by Bucket Head. I have a shot of it from the side, but I'll have to find it.

Mine is "overbuilt" compared to most homemade designs, but that was the plan. I wanted to be able to move it easily, with a tractor, and without damaging it, so it has thicker angle iron and sheet metal than the average arch. The present location of it is the third location its been in and I moved it the same way each time. The runners allow it to be pulled anywhere. And before I stretched it for my current pans, I winched it onto a small trailer for its first move.

You may not need something like mine- it may never have to be moved, but if it might in the future, it gives you some food for thought. I'm sure others will post pictures and then you can combine the best ideas from all of them.

Steve

[miller maple]

i really like your design is there any way you could send me your specs if you have them. From what i see it looks like this is for a raised flue and that is what i have, i really like it.

[Bucket Head]

Here are some shots of my homemade arch- before as a split-level and as a flat top for a larger set of pans. The original pans were homemade also. You can see my ramp with the insulation and bricks and how I bricked it on the sides and how I hold them in. I don't cement them so its easy to remove them if needed- like for moving it. There has been a lot of talk on broken bricks here lately. When they are dry fit (loose) they can expand and contract with out harm. I've had one cracked brick in twelve years. The grate is an old storm sewer grate with some rebar rod welded up to make another "grate" that lays over the holes and that keeps the coals from falling down through the large holes. And the large holes allow for plenty of forced draft air- AUF type air. I'm going to weld up sqaure stock for the grate next year which should work even better.

Its certainly not as "polished" as a factory made unit but it gets the job done. I enjoyed building it and modifying over the years. Maybe this will give those of you building an arch some ideas for yours.

Good luck and post the pics as you go!

Steve