On Sat, 14 Feb 2004 04:33:55 GMT, Michael Baglio
wrote:

On Sat, 14 Feb 2004 01:12:59 +0000, Andy Dingley
wrote:

The trick to using a French curve is to remember that every point
where two curves meet should be a smooth join, i.e. their tangents are
on the same line. This implies that the perpendicular to both curves
should be on the same line, which is why some curves have
perpendiculars marked at intervals.

Okay Andy, it's my turn to be the village idiot. I must have failed
cut 'n' paste in kindergarten...

I don't "get" French Curves.
Assuming there _is_ something to "get," what do they _do?_

I see the pretty curves, do I just shift it around on the drawing
until I see something I like,

basically, yes.

how I use 'em is first I sketch in freehand with a light loose line
the shape I want. then I shuffle the french curve around on it until I
find a section of it that makes the line (or usually part of it) that
I want. scribe that segment, find the next, repeat.

it can be a bit of a trick to get the segments to fair out right. one
method is to shift it around until you get 3 intersections. pick the
line up from the second.




or is there more to it than that?
Am I supposed to just pick a section of a curve and use that? Which
one? How do I know?

You're entire statement about perpendiculars and tangents tells me
there's a lot more to this than I see by just looking at one.


that stuff is for convenience. it helps, but don't let it run ya.





Man, I don't even know what I don't know with these things...
"When your only tool's a T-Square, every problem's just another
crooked line." ;

Michael