Ellipses Made Easy.

loneframer

Thought I'd throw this out here for the framers. I've done lots of chords, but never had the opportunity to use this method. I haven't found anything quite so easy to lay out an ellipse.

1. Determine your desired rise and run and add them together.

In my example I used a rise of 12" and a run of 36". Using a makeshift trammel, I spaced 2 nails, 48" apart.

2. Measuring from one of the nails, I drilled a hole at 12", which is my desired rise. I inserted a pencil here, to scribe the ellipse.

3. Starting at the vertical position, which will be the center of a 72" opening,(36"x2) I keep the nails in contact with the edges of the sheet and let the pencil do it's thing.

There you have it. An ellipse in three easy steps.

Attached Thumbnails

     

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Gus Dering

That is cool as school

How did you get so smart?

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loneframer

Eyes open, mouth shut.

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"Walking the fine line between production and perfection"



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KentWhitten

That's old skool mon. I had an old timer teach me that a few years back. I used to do the sting with nail thing. It comes in real handy. One of the few hidden gems.

I have a much, much easier way to do it now.

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If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place ~Lao Tzu

Custom Cabinetry - Portland, Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough, Kennebunkport, Yarmouth, Falmouth, Cumberland, Ogunquit, Maine

Salmon Falls Cabinetry

loneframer

Yeah, well we ain't all as technologically adept as you are bro.

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"Walking the fine line between production and perfection"



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KentWhitten

Oooh it's so easy. Ya wanna see how?

I cheat, but I do use technology to my advantage.

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If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place ~Lao Tzu

Custom Cabinetry - Portland, Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough, Kennebunkport, Yarmouth, Falmouth, Cumberland, Ogunquit, Maine

Salmon Falls Cabinetry

loneframer

Knowledge is worthless, unless you pass it on. So give it up.

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"Walking the fine line between production and perfection"



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Gus Dering

I hear a lot of talking going on and no pics, no description, no nothing.

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Every parent who has walked barefoot into their child's room late at night hates Legos

KentWhitten

It's right up your alley Gus! It's essentially a mini cnc with a knife cutter.

10 mil mylar is the medium. $72 for a 30" x 150' roll (375 SF)

Simple CAD lines on screen, press "print" and it cuts aaaany shape you need.

Zip, zip, zip.....

I can make a 100' x 100' template if I need one. There is no limit.

I can even make those doily things that women use to put borders at the ceiling line.

Much easier is to get a graphics print shop to do it for you for about $1/SF

Precision is beyond anything I can do. Hundredth of an inch.

I'm trying to figure out how I can attach a router head to it

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If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place ~Lao Tzu

Custom Cabinetry - Portland, Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough, Kennebunkport, Yarmouth, Falmouth, Cumberland, Ogunquit, Maine

Salmon Falls Cabinetry

mikec

Now that is cool!

loneframer

I knew that's where you were going Kent. Maybe someday I'll outgrow my pnuematic tool fetish and start spending the green on office equipment. Until then, I'll be using the scraps of wood and broken gun clips method.

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"Walking the fine line between production and perfection"



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Leo G

I make a jig to make a perfect ellipse. I have several of these in different sizes. I can use a pencil or a router on it.

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Warren

Now that is cool. I may just have to try an ellipse at some point. I have seen them before, but have never had to create one. I have researched it a little and always come up with the two string method. The nice thing about Leo's is that it can be saved and used with a router.Framerman has an awesome setup too, but for most of us were never gonna have that.

Tom R

That's similar to the way I do it, Leo. Uh-oh . . .

loneframer

I'm assuming, with Leo's method, that the pivot points are located in the same fashion as my method? No?

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"Walking the fine line between production and perfection"



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Tom Struble

can you post some pics when you get a chance Leo?how do you lay that out?

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Tom

KentWhitten

Well....you could sent me a drawing or shape and I could FedEx it down to ya next day. It's not like I'm popping out elliptical shapes every 20 minutes here

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If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place ~Lao Tzu

Custom Cabinetry - Portland, Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough, Kennebunkport, Yarmouth, Falmouth, Cumberland, Ogunquit, Maine

Salmon Falls Cabinetry

Leo G

I found this in a woodworking book and it was called the do nothing toy. It used dovetailed ways and had a handle on it to crank. I thought it was interesting and having nothing to do that day I made it. After I started playing around with it I noticed the motion that I made was ovalish. I was pretty good in math and started to look at the jig with a mathematical perspective and noticed that it looked like it was set up the same way I was taught to make ellipses in school. So I took out the handle and put a pencil in it. It drew a mathematically perfect ellipse. Ever since them I have always had a few of these kicking around the shop. I finally made a pretty large one for an elliptical gable end vent I needed to make.

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Sawdust Follows Me Everywhere

http://lrgwood.com
Custom Cabinets in Hartford County Connecticut

KentWhitten

The issue with what I have is that it is just a template so you have to free hand it after.

Leo's is more precise to machine out.

Mine is more flexible in the shapes it can make.

Plus you don't need the equipment. Just your local truck sign graphics shop. They have this equipment right in his shop. Maybe minus the Mylar, but they have other material. It's interesting to me, but probably a yawner for everyone else

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If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place ~Lao Tzu

Custom Cabinetry - Portland, Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough, Kennebunkport, Yarmouth, Falmouth, Cumberland, Ogunquit, Maine

Salmon Falls Cabinetry

loneframer

I just may take you up on that, if I get a large one that isn't practical with other methods.

I sent Andersen Tyvek templates of these roughs to get the windows manufactured.

Attached Thumbnails

   

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"Walking the fine line between production and perfection"



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