Stiteler Kiva Ellipse

Buckley Rumford Fireplaces
Stiteler Kiva Ellipse

Craig Stiteler Design
770 South Post Oak Lane Suite 340
Houston, Texas 77056
713 850 7788
Craig Stiteler

Craig Stiteler explains that the Kiva Rumford arch is really an elipse. See his drawing

Or take a look at this dynamic ellipse

So, how will a mason on the job without a calculator - and maybe who doesn't remember a lot about geometry - make an ellipse?
1) Get a pice of plywood at least as wide and as tall as the Kiva-Rumford fireplace opening.
2) Mark the center.
3) Measure up about ten inches and draw a horizontal line the width of the fireplace (W).
4) Draw a perpendicular line the same length so that the centers of the two lines cross in the middle.
5) Set a nail in each end of the vertical line.
6) Tie a string around one nail and around a pencil on one end of the horizontal line and tie the other end of the string off at the other nail.
7) Now draw the ellipse by using the pencil to keep the string taught at all times. The pencil will slip along the string as the length of string - the sum of the two diameters - remains constant.
8) If you want a little rounder arch, move the nails closer together. For a sharper arch move the nails apart.
9) Cut out the plywood as a template for the fireplace opening adding enough at the bottom to make the template as high as you want the fireplace opening (H).