On Fri, 07 Oct 2005 11:51:15 -0700, Jim
wrote:


My SO desires a couple 'perfect' oval tabletops she can mosaic
One about 2 feet wide the other about 20 inches.
Is there a desired width to depth shape that is more eye appealing than others.
I'm not really sure how to draw a perfect oval?

Oval = ellipse?
An ellipse will have one long axis and one short.
"Perfect" at the end, below.

To draw a cardboard template:

Method 1. A decent CAD program will draw to scale or to real
dimensions.

Method 2. Draw two concentric circles. Draw the axes, horizontal and
vertical to divide them into four. You need only one quarter of the
ellipse, since you can flip it on the item [table top] to draw the
rest.

From the common center draw a line anywhere in the quarter to cut both
circles. From where it meets the outer draw a line vertically
downwards. From where it meets the inner draw a horizontal line ot
meet the first. Where they meet, mark the point. That's one point on
the quarter ellipse.

Keep doing those steps to get more points.

Join the dots.

Cut out the ellipse and along the axes. Line it up with two axes
drawn on the item and sketch around it. Flip for the whole ellipse.

"Perfect" will mean in the Golden Ratio: 1: (1 + sqrt5)/2 = 1:1.618

Make the two circle radii in that ratio. If one is 24" the other will
be 38.8". If one is 20" the other will be 32.4"