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It's been several decades since I took geometry and my memory must be failing too. Have a rush job that calls for a 4 X 6 foot oval cut out of MDO. I tried to use a printed grid and an aluminum meter stick for a batten with predictable results. Slighty smaller is OK and any tips would be appreciated. Thanks a lot. Rob
------------------ Rob Root Root Cellar Signs Waubaushene, Ont. point and click until it works
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hmm pic didn't show (server busy) hopefully it shows later ... or http://members.aol.com/slamgrafyx/elipse.gif ------------------ Designing... it's like an itch in the brain... an itch you can't scratch, that if you can figure out how to scratch it, it just itchs more
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THIS ALWAYS WORKS FOR ME, Put a nail at each end of the length of the oval(6').Tie a string loop around the nails.It should be loose enough for one side to reach the depth of the oval (4').Run a pencil around the board stretching the string, and you will have your oval.
------------------ David Overholt RunningDog Artworks 210 Cedar St Pemberville, Ohio aka, doc
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Hi Rob, Just curious why you wouldn't design your sign on your computer and let it make a perfect oval? After the entire design is made, you could then make a perfect pounce pattern. When I do this on a computer, I always make a horizontal and vertical set of center lines with the oval, which also get pounced, so it will be easier to align them on the board. (this is most important when doing a double faced sign)
I've also considered doing a perfect oval to scale on rubylith at about 4" x 6" and peeling away the background. Then you can project it using an overhead projector. I usually make the two cuts through it for the major and minor axis, too.
Mike Jackson
------------------ Mike Jackson Golden Era Studios Jackson Hole, Wy www.goldenstudios.com/
Posts: 390 | From: PO Box 7850 | Registered: Nov 1998
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I agree with Mike Jackson. Do the whole design on your computer first. Draw a circle and give it an absolute height of 48" and a length of 72" or whatever procedure your program has to make ovals. Voila...end of story! If you're competition is doing it this way, and you're doing it with pencil and a string....you are going to be outbid right off the bat. Use your computer as a tool to save time...because it is "time" that you are selling.
------------------ Louis A. Lazarus Milt's Sign Service, Inc. 20 So. Linden Ave. #5B 650-588-0490 fontking1a@aol.com
Posts: 560 | From: El Granada, CA | Registered: Apr 1999
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I was 17 when I began studying with a veteran Signwriter who could not remember how that was done. I've spent years trying to figure it out on my own. Thank you!
I have used string to make arcs and multiple circles, but this is amazing! Thank of all the Atkinson type stuff we'll see now!
I have used a paint stirrer with holes drilled with the tip of my exacto for those cheap (long neck) ball point pens to fit into. And then a metal head push pin for the center "nail." I marked the dimension of the circle on the stick, for obvious reasons.
If you want to keep your strings, you could mark with a piece of tape folded closed over with the math written on it.
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I know how to do the string trick for drawing ovals, but before computers, I avoided like the plague putting ovals in my layouts. That always worked for me!
------------------ Don Coplen aka "SaintPete" Coplen Designs St.Petersburg, FL dcoplen@mindspring.com
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Right on..... I'm always glad to see anyone wanting to learn the traditional ways of doing things........lest they get lost like so many other things. And there is something I heard somewhere about, "Keepers of the Craft" or some such silly saying like that......... Besides, Whatcha gonna do if ya don't happen to have this dumb machine real handy all the time...............? "Duh, Ya'll gonna haveta wait till this here "Blackout Rollover" passes before I kin draw ya a elipse" I think questions like this and good, simple, but accurate answers like Marks, are the best things on this BB Thanks...............cj
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While there is nothing wrong with knowing how to do things "the old way", actually DOING things the old way may cost you some money. If there is a choice between doing things the slow way and the fast way, it is usually better to opt for the fast way. The same way you would stack 10 18"X24"s and drill all four corners with a drill press at once instead of one hole on one sign at a time is what I'm talking about. There is really nothing noble about doing things the old way because back when they used to do things that way...it was state of the art for the times. Craftsmen of old weren't being noble or kewl, they were trying to make a product as good as they could and as fast as they could. If, by some miracle, you could show somebody who lived 100 years ago our technology, they would love it. It's a gift and not something to be cursed. Drawing an oval with string is simply math put to practical use. And, that is exactly what your computer software is...math being put to practical use. If you can truly do things faster the old way, then by all means go for it. However, if you're doing things the old way because you think it's "old world craftsmanship" or "kewl"...you are doing yourself and your family an injustice. But, hey....like the man said....we might all be doing things the old way pretty soon because we won't have any power to run our computers.
------------------ Louis A. Lazarus Milt's Sign Service, Inc. 20 So. Linden Ave. #5B 650-588-0490 fontking1a@aol.com
Posts: 560 | From: El Granada, CA | Registered: Apr 1999
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Although most of us use the computers for our daily sign making, there does come times when older methods are faster methods. Like on a job site away from the shop.
why must we limit our talent and ability to the limits of some computer programmer that makes our very limiting programs that we love to hate?
Go for it Rob,
draw that oval, cut that board and when your done I MAY have my computer booted, software open and paper loaded into my plotter, not to mention I still have to pounce it.
It's nice to have options.
You choose the right one for you!!
Remember, just because a way is NEW, doesn't mean it's better.....just NEW!
------------------ Bob Rochon Creative Signworks Millbury, MA bob@creativesignworks.com
"Some people's kids"
[This message has been edited by Bob Rochon (edited May 23, 2001).]
Posts: 5149 | From: Millbury, Mass. U.S. | Registered: Nov 1998
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It's a breath of fresh air!
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