On Friday, April 5, 2013 5:09:09 AM UTC-6, Amy Guarino wrote:
So educate me here. If I were to try something like that, I imagine I'd draw a continuous curve as long as the whole unit, meaning, including where the stiles and other gaps would be. Maybe I'd use a bendable object like an electrician's snake. Then I'd mark off the rails and the center arch where they would fall on the curve. Now if I did that on actual wood I'd have some waste, but it could be done first on paper instead. I further imagine that I'd mark off only two of the rails, turning the template over for the other two to make them identical mirror images. Is that anything like what you did?

That's a good point to question Leon about. One would think, right off, marking/making the arc is easy, but after thinking about it, a bit, there are likely some nuances, in the process, first thoughts would miss. I've erred that way, before.

I'd further suggest/guess, for a first time attempt, as would be in my case, cut the rails ~~1/4" longer than the finish products, do some rough dry fitting to make sure all is on par, before cutting the rails to final finish length. Unless one has further exacting help from SketchUp, or similar, to be more/most sure with those first cuts, a little extra length may be advisable.

Inspect your board well, initially, as best you can, to make sure there are no defects that may cause problems at the cut sites. I've erred in that department, before, as well.

Sonny