How to build an arch

Arches and castles seem to go hand-in-hand many times, and I've wondered how to build them. Most masonry books tend to build straight walls, walls with square openings for windows, or other basic structures. DIYinfo.org has some fairly basic information on how to build an arch with brick or wood. This information could be used to create a stone arch quite easily, but the fit of the stone would have to be pretty good if you were going to make it out of dry stone; and if you were to use mortar in the construction of it you'd still want a good fit, otherwise it'll be more mortar than stone.

EDIT: Dec 6, '07

Another description.

This particular segment of the site seems to be by far one of the most popular (over 20% of the dreamsofcastles.blogspot hits), so for everyone looking for archbuilding information I've dug up some more information. Hope it helps!

To build an arched doorway in your house using wall board:

Kit Method

Totally DIY

How a barrel vault was built in a house

Building a Medieval archway:

Simple BBC Animation on how it was done

Arched ceilings being built at Castlemagic.com: (beautiful work!)

Tunnel

With framework still in place

Various arch forms being used to build windows and doors during construction.

If you can find it and are interested in the historical construction of arches and vaults, I'd highly recommend getting your hands on The Construction of Gothic Cathedrals, by John Fitchen ($13.00 USD at the time of writing this on Amazon.com). The book contains lots of information on how vaults and arches were constructed out of stone using Medieval methods. All of the information could be simplified and applied to building an arch out of modern materials. It only has about 6 chapters and the rest is notes and definitions, but it covers vault types, formworks, centering, explanations and drawings very thoroughly.