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Blocklayer.com contains systems for construction of non standard shapes in concrete masonry.
It consists of four individual systems, each for one particular wall shape or opening.
The systems are used individually, one for each specific wall type, and can be combined
in any form to suit combinations of shapes. For example, Raker
is the system to build walls that 'rake' up or down on an angle.
Arkwall is the system for circular walls. If a wall both rakes and curves,
first use Raker to generate the cut sheet for the rake,
as if the wall were straight, then use the Arkwall system
for the curve. Because
Raker doesn't need a string line, it works just as
well in curved walls where you can't use a line. ( You can't pull a string line
round a circle). If the same wall has arches, bulls-eyes or odd shaped openings,
use Archie . Archie
doesn't use templates to build openings, so fits well with Arkwall.
For arches in curved walls its not practical to use a (curved) template.
If the same wall intersects with another wall(s) at odd angles, use
Miter to set out and cut the corners. For walls with odd profiles, e.g.
raking sections and curving sections, use Raker for
the rakes and Archie for the curves.
Archie can be used both for openings, with its offcuts and a membrane, or
for curved top profiles, discarding the off-cuts. For openings that have straight
lines, vertical, horizontal or at any angle, and curves, use
Raker in the same way as you use Archie and
combine the two for any shaped opening.
Raker
 
Sets out all the cut blocks in a raking wall, matching all the off-cuts and
positioning the bond beams ( if any ) for easy placement of reinforcing steels.
This system is very accurate and extremely fast, compared to the standard 'stick
and string' method. By slightly altering the height of the rake, you can optimize
offcut matching, often saving half your cutting. Enter length, angle or height,
bond and bond beam specifications and Raker generates a cut sheet listing all the
blocks in the rake. You mark and cut the blocks first, numbering cut and offcut.
Then its easy to lay the blocks up the rake by number. Because the cut sizes are
very accurate, its easy to keep the rake line straight without a string line. If
you can't build the high end corner to the top of the rake, for the line, its better
not to use one. As ascending courses have less perp joints, the rake will center
itself. Just keep gage and bond and you'll be amazed how straight and accurate the
rake ends up. With 2 bond beam courses, the second course bond is staggered forward,
so the core centers line up vertically, allowing easy placement of vertical reinforcing
steels. Because there's no need for a string line, Raker fits well with
Arkwall, the system for circular or curved walls, where you can't use a
line.
Arkwall
For circular walls or sections of circular walls. Arkwall generates a sheet listing
the distance from origin of every course. You pull a tape from the origin point
and using a fine tipped white marker, mark the correct measurement for each course.
Lay the blocks from the outside, to the tape mark. As any deviation to gage will
cause plumb errors, the sheet lists correct measurements for variance in gage, as
well as plumb errors for gage variance. Check the gage occasionally and if the plumb
error is significant, use the alternate measurement on the sheet. Arkwall sets the
circle or arc out to suit blocks, giving the inside and outside perp measurements
and allowing you to open or close the perps to a suitable size, or cut the last
block in the circle/arc to give comfortable 5mm inside perps. It calculates the
'block + perp' outside measurement, so you can check your bond as you go around.
E.g. , if the outside 'block + perp' is 418 mm, and you've laid 10 blocks on the
way around, 10 X 418 is 4180. Pull a tape around the outside of the arc to see if
your 'back' or 'forward'.
Archie
For arches, bulls-eyes or odd shaped openings. Archie
lets you build these openings without using a template. Because Archie dose not
use a template, it's ideal to use with Arkwall in curved
walls where a template won't work. For odd openings you can combine
Archie and Raker to form openings with straight
and curved lines.
Miter
For odd angled corners ( not 90 or 45 deg). Miter generates tables to use for setting
out and cutting mitered corner blocks for odd angled corners. Matching off-cuts
to bond sizes usually saves half your cutting. The tables tell you the number of
blocks and bond in the wall, for setting out and cut dimensions for offcut saving,
making it very easy to set out these odd length walls.
Using the systems together
Using Raker with Arkwall
Because Arkwall can have odd perp sizes, a wall of, say 17 blocks in length,
may not be the same length (straightened out) as a straight wall of 17 blocks. If
you use the length measurement from the circular wall in Raker, it won't match up
exactly. For Raking walls that curve, first use Arkwall to find the number of blocks
long the wall will be. Then multiply the blocks by their length and use
this measurement for length in Raker. For example, Arkwall with a radius of 9110,
and an ark length of 6700, is 17 blocks long. To use Raker on this wall, multiply
17 by 400 (1 block + joint) to get 6800. Use 6800 for length in Raker and the rake
will fit the curve. Just 'flatten out the wall' to get the length for Raker. Raker
works by the number of blocks long the wall is. If you build a wall that's 'opened
out' or 'tightened up' to normal, use the number of blocks long to find the length
measurement for Raker. For example, if your wall is 20050mm long and you 'open up'
to get the extra 50, the wall is 50 blocks long. For Raker, use 20000mm ( 50 X 400)
for the length measurement.
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