todd wrote:

"Morris Dovey" wrote in message
...

A thin strip of wood would work well. If you go the Office
Depot route, an inexpensive flexible ruler would probably
work as well.

The spindle sander should make the job of smoothing the part
easier. Just remember to take your time (or you'll be
re-making the part.) Plan to do the final shaping by hand
with a sanding block.

Woodcraft, Lee Valley, et al carry bendable curves that make
this kind of layout fairly easy. I have one but am usually
more comfortable with the wooden strip approach.

-- Morris Dovey West Des Moines, Iowa USA C links at
http://www.iedu.com/c Read my lips: The apple doesn't fall
far from the tree.


I used this approach to apply a curve to some table base
aprons. I bent a thin (1/8") strip of wood and clamped the
ends. I cut it out with a jigsaw and used the first piece as
a pattern for the second. I'm guessing that doing it the way
I did, I ended up with a parabolic curve.

If the strip is of uniform width and thickness, I think the curve
is called a catenary. It's the same curve a chain makes when you
suspend it from its ends. It's like a parabola, except that the
apex is flatter.

I don't think you'd really like aprons with a true parabolic curve.

--
Morris Dovey
West Des Moines, Iowa USA
C links at http://www.iedu.com/c
Read my lips: The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.