French Curves.( Not Juliette Binoches') [Archive] - Sawmill Creek Woodworking Community

Mike Cutler

11-09-2005, 10:08 AM

Keith Outten

11-09-2005, 12:27 PM

Mike,

If you can't find the French curves you are looking for get back to me, I have a set of vector drawings for French curves. I could cut them on my CNC router.

Triangles of any size up to 48" by 96" are also possible. Shipping something that large might be kind of tricky :)

Mike Cutler

11-09-2005, 12:39 PM

Keith.
Do you have the ability to make them out of an Lexan/polycarbonate material? Maybe even possibly used as a router guide edge?

Specifically I am looking for just a "standard french curve" that is/was about 60" high.

I would also like to get one about 36", additionally a set of right angles, one at 45deg. and one at 30deg. These also were about 36" on the longest side.
If you have the ability to make them. PM me with the cost involved, and we'll go from there.
I'm not just looking around, I really do need these. I hadn't thought of having them made. The obvious answer always escapes me it seems.:rolleyes:

Bryan Nuss

11-09-2005, 12:59 PM

Mike,

You could start out with an adjustable french curve. They hold their shape if you are transferring a curve, which is great. They come in all sorts of sizes:

http://www.artworker.co.uk/drawing_office/set_square.html

http://www.villagesupplies.com/alvin_french_curve_sets.htm

http://www.hoylegrips.com/rulers.htm

These may help to narrow your search.

Tom Scott

11-09-2005, 2:43 PM

Mike,
Have you tried a drafting/achitectectural/artist supply store in your area? They typically will have these.

Tom

Steve Schoene

11-09-2005, 3:28 PM

I've seen that exact thing in one of the catalogs that arrived at my house in the past couple of weeks, but for the life of me I can't remember which catalog, or find it. Not a whole lot of help.

Chris Giles

11-09-2005, 3:46 PM

Occasionally, on a certain internet auction site who's name escapes me at the moment, There is a catagory for drafting supplies. Every once in a while, a really nice set of old ships curves will come up for sale. This is where I would look.

Richard Wolf

11-09-2005, 3:55 PM

Chris has it right. That size is not really called french curves, the correct name is ship's curves.
Try this link;www.reuels.com/reuels/page428.html

Richard

Tim Sproul

11-09-2005, 5:28 PM

I have these from Lee Valley:

http://www.leevalley.com/images/item/Woodworking/MarkMeasure/07k0110s2.jpg

They are called blending curves (http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=51161&cat=1,42936,42958&ap=1).

I like them A LOT.

Dan Forman

11-09-2005, 6:31 PM

The one Steve was referring to I believe is in the new Woodhaven catalog, but it's only 12" by 24".

Dan

Mike Cutler

11-09-2005, 8:06 PM

Ships Curves..? You would think that a guy that lived within walking distance of the Mystic Seaport for 10 years would have known about those.:eek:

I like those a lot, especially if they come in longer curves(arcs?).

I also like the link to the Hoyle Acu-Arc, and Ships Curves in Bryan's post. Thanks for that link Bryan.

Believe it or not though, the device in I was refering to, was really a Giant French Curve. Looked just like the little ones. We used to hook each other over the head with it in school and get in trouble.
We used to hate those giant triangles I was also interested in. The teacher would line those up against your project to check for square, and it would make you sweat. You learned how to square up panels though.

I'm also still interested in what Keith can produce. To be able to have things like that custom made, could be a real time saver down the road on a project.

Thanks for all the info folks. Now that I know the proper name, I think I should be able to find them in the local area, or one of the links provided.

Keith Outten

11-09-2005, 8:19 PM

Mike,

Sure, I can get either clear acrylic or Lexan in just about any thickness you prefer. I assume that you would rather have quarter inch thick material, I will contact my local supplier tomorrow and price both materials.

The vector drawings I have can be acurately sized to your specifactions and they are true French curves. I can send you a jpg of the files if you would like to preview them. I haven't cut acrylic with my ShopBot yet but I have machined lots of Corian. Since they are somewhat simular materials I expect the acrylic should machine easilly.

Mike Cutler

11-09-2005, 8:32 PM

Keith.
I would be interested in the .jpg drawings.
Thank you very much.

Doug Shepard

11-09-2005, 9:40 PM

Sounds like Keith may have a fix for you, but could you also use a pantograph to trace and scale up from an existing French curve set? Not sure how big a scale factor those pantographs would give you, but thought it might be another option.

Cecil Arnold

11-10-2005, 12:12 AM

You might try an art supply if one is local, I found two sets in different sizes going up to about 8" and I think they may haave more than that. Theywere cheap as I recall.

Keith Christopher

11-10-2005, 12:22 AM

Ohhh Keith O, I might wanna buy a couple of them... I could use a larger one...I would almost want some from 1/2 stock as the weight would help keep it steady.

Keith

Mike Cutler

11-10-2005, 7:27 AM

Hmm..... Keith may have found a niche business. :cool:

Keith Outten

11-10-2005, 7:57 AM

Keith C,

Wow, half inch thick acrylic is gonna be heavy but I would also prefer something thicker for stability. Maybe 3/8" thick would be a nice compromise. I will try to post something late tonight, my workstation died (CPU Meltdown) and I just got another machine up and running. I need to install the second hard drive that has all my graphics and Corel Draw work files, I hope the drive wasn't damaged.

I purchased all the parts I need for a second workstation in my shop office and just got the operating system installed. Tonight I will be working on both of the machines. Last night I engraved glass untill 1:30 am, I had just enough software installed on the first machine to get the glass engraved.

Honestly I have been putting off making a large set of triangles for my shop, it has been on my wish list for some time. They sure would be handy for calibrating machines and laying off sheet goods.

.

Alan Turner

11-10-2005, 9:02 AM

Keith (or anyone with knowledge),

This is a great idea that you have proposed, using the CNC to make a square or french curve. Do you think that making a large 30-60-90 square, with a short side of 18", a hypotnuse of 36", and a long side of about 31.177", would hold together and remain stable if ther material was 9mm baltic birch?

In the new shop, we rent space to a guitar maker with a CNC router, and he sort of owes me a favor for using my old iron jointer and bandsaw to billet out a half cord of Sitka Spruce. His work off the CNC is terribly accurate and detailed. Cutting a square would be child's play for a CNC.

I am making a TS sled, and was thinking a large square would be the ideal tool for setting the rear fence. I think I would have him cut out the center, leaving perhaps 2.5 - 3" of material on each leg.

Keith Christopher

11-10-2005, 4:29 PM

Keith C,

Wow, half inch thick acrylic is gonna be heavy but I would also prefer something thicker for stability. Maybe 3/8" thick would be a nice compromise. I will try to post something late tonight, my workstation died (CPU Meltdown) and I just got another machine up and running. I need to install the second hard drive that has all my graphics and Corel Draw work files, I hope the drive wasn't damaged.

.

Yeah I think 3/8" would be ok. I tend to have a heavy pencil hand and find my rules and templates get pushed around when I trace them. So the heavier the better. Oh man a normal french curve and on perhaps 3-4x it's size. oh yeah. . .

Keith

Bill Fields

11-10-2005, 10:10 PM

Mike/Keith:

If you do this project,think about cutting 6 or 8 at a time.

What about "Masonite", or 1/4" furniture grade ply?

Keith' you could sell 'em to any number of places--not that the demand would be that great.

Still, keeping the ShopBot busy is a good thing.

Bill Fields

PS: Mike: How is the pond I built at 224 Mile Creek Rd./Old Lyme doing?
I built a REAL shop on that property and I miss it, especially in the 115 degree of a Phoenix summer!

Mike Cutler

11-10-2005, 10:57 PM

Bill.

I don't get down to Old Lyme much. We used to do hill repeats on Mt. Archer Rd., and then head up to the Hopyard, but I was too busy trying to focus on the rear hub in front of me to notice the surroundings
I'll drive down there and give it a look for ya'. I work in Waterford, so it's not too far a drive.

I'm not sure that masonite or ply would work. For a one timer project they would be okay, but for layouts the ability to visually reference off the previously marked line is what I'm looking for.
The transparency of lexan or an acrylic would allow me to adjust an arc or line, and see the resulting change easier, and more clearly.
It seems that I have a few projects on the horizon that will be more nouveau in style,and somewhat achitectural in nature. Having a set of these will greatly diminish my template making time.

You are right in stating that the demand wouldn't be high, but I guarantee you that if you gave someone a set of those giant triangles to use, you would find them out and being used on the bench in very short order.

Keith Outten

11-13-2005, 9:37 AM

I'm looking for a set of french curves. Specifically I am looking for a "Giant" set of french curves.

A long time ago, in a life far away, we had a set of "Giant" french curves, and triangles for layout work in high school shop. I have been looking for a set of these to do layout and template work, but cannot find them.
They were 36" to 60" in size, I think.
I have no idea who made the ones in high school, or if CAD has replaced tools like these.

TIA, any help would be appreciated

Mike,

Below is the French Curve graphic I have. The native file is a CAD drawing that I imported into Corel Draw 12. It needs a little cleanup but should provide a really nice curve that can be resized to any dimention within the 4 foot by 8 foot table on my ShopBot. Smaller curves can be laser cut up to 12 inches by 24 inches.

I forgot to call my plastics dealer for prices on 3/8" acrylite Saturday, got kinda busy at the Norfolk Turn-A-Thon. I will call tomorrow morning and get current prices for clear acrylite.

This is an export of the vector file, I have increased the line weight to make it more visible when I exported the graphic as a jpg.

Mike Cutler

11-13-2005, 9:53 AM

That looks like it. If I remember correctly they also had ascending sizes of circles cut into the perimeter. Maybe a thought for a later time.

That looks to be what I'm looking for though. Thank you for your time, and let me know when you'll get a chance to try a "test run".

PM me with the cost of one plus the two giant triangles, and be sure to factor in the oversize shipping, when you get some time. It sounds as if the last few weeks have been exciting for you and Jackie.