catalever lay out for ridge?

[the_gr8t_waldo]

i have less of a rudimentary understanding of what a cantalever cut is. but i'm not one to allow understanding to interfere with a good project! it obviously is a curve but (assuming here) it's not constant... how do you lay out this curve? i've tryed reading thru the description in "black bishop 351 black cat tarp" but frankly pretty well lost every time i try to wade thru that. i'm thinking about making a cuben fiber tarp that enploys a cat cut on the ridge line(aprox...3-4 inches). maybe smallish cuts to the out line too. fwiw- i'm making this tarp with the portion that drapes over the ridge line out of slightly heaver cuben ( .74 ridge about 20" wide at ends - the walls .51). and mostly glued. how do other's lay this out?..can it be done on the bench as opposed to on a computer?

[Redoleary]

For what its worth its a catenary cut, not a cantalever cut. You can easily make a pattern for one by hanging a string from two points equal to the distance that your ridgeline will be and let enough slack in the string for it to be as deep as you want it to be. Do this on a wall with some paper taped to it so you can trace the string and transfer the pattern to your fabric. You can also use a flexible batten (old tent pole, piece of pvc whatever) and with your fabric laid out on the floor, hold the ends of the batten at the end of the ridgeline then just flex the batten in the center to the appropriate depth and trace... that'll be close enough for government work.

[Redoleary]

Oh yeah, if I read your post correctly you sound like you would have separate ridgeline from tree to tree with your tarp draped over it rather than hung under it. If you plan to drape it over, then there is no benefit to a cat cut ridgeliine.

[Redoleary]

One more thing, here is a video explaining the batten method, go to the 5 min mark to see how they do it.

[the_gr8t_waldo]

thank you redo..it never occured to me to get a shape useing the wall and string..this makes a lot of sense for my project since floor space is at a preminum here.. i want to be able to experiment a bit with the ridge line...up till now it has gone under the tarp, but at some time in the future i'll be trying above and no ridge line at all, so making the ridge cat cut now makes sense to me. that link to sailrites sail loft was very intersting and muchly appreciated to this home hobbist and lastly thanks for the heads up about the spelling-