how to work out arch sizes

[ukelfman]

Hi guys complete noob here

I am planning on making 4 leaping arches for this year, I am going to be using ws2811 12v strips internally running from an esp32 running Wled which can be controlled from my RGB software in realtime on my pc and have been reading some posts here that says you can use pipe from screwfix (UK). How do I work out how much pipe and how many strips i will need to use.

I want them so i only need 2 5 m strips to make 4 of them

thanks in advance

 

[MikeKrebs]

you have 10M of strips divided by 4 is 2.5M per strip. You will use 2.5M of pipe per arch unless you want a little extra on the bottom. How much on the bottom is mostly dependent on how you intend to hold them in place. A simple mounting system would be to run them into a 2x4 with two holes sized for the pipe. Another way to form the arch is to put a bracket on the bottom and then tie them off to the other side (rope, strong fishing line, a piece of emt). The flexibility of the pipe comes into play in how much you bend them so see if the pipe bends before you come up with the exact design.

My first arch was pcv pipe bent to fit over rebar I pounded in the ground. I had my LED on the outside but I could have put them inside if I left about a foot for the rebar to go up inside. I guess that might be another mounting system. Attach the pipe to rebar on the outside.

I like my arch setup that puts the actual arch a few inches up from the ground. That gives me room to finagle the wires around and keeps the strip elevated a bit off the ground.