I was just wondering if anyone would be interested in a program that aids in the creation of templates/outlines. I figure everyone has their own way of making a template, but we all gotta start somewhere, right?
Let me know if you have suggestions on how it should work.
Laters
I played around with the aps3000 software and thinks its pretty cool. There are alot of things I didn’t like about it though. It is pretty time consuming for one. Anyways, I was actually thinking about something alot more basic. Only templates, and geared toward the backyard guys.
It takes about 15 seconds to make a new template in APS3000(You can play with it for hours though). Do you need it to be more basic than that? The free version of APS3000 is certainly geared towards the backyard guy.
regards,
Håvard
Haavard do you have any tips for printing out templates from APS3000? I can’t get decent print outs…
Paper is generally 81/2 by 11inches.
2 x 11 = 22 inches.
So essentially a regular printer with regular paper is somewhat limited by 22" max width.
So the question is, does APS3000 orient and print a template to a standard windows printer?
I use Adobe Illustrator where I create a half-width template full-size and then print it out full-size to a wide format roll feed HP printer. Illustrator is very simple to use for this and you can draw some beautiful curves. Although I have learnt that the fewer control points the cleaner the curve.
Once I have printed out the full-size template I transfer it to doorskin in the form of a spin template, unless it is shorter than the length of a sheet of doorskin, in which case I make a full template.
So far I have been very happy with the templates I have created this way and plan on creating more in the near future.
This is obviously not for everyone as you need the wide format printer and they are not that cheap, although they are getting cheaper!
-Robin
make sure you change the layout and border size of the paper. i use legal size as it is less to tape together…
make sure you change the layout and border size of the paper. i use legal size as it is less to tape together…
precisely my technique, alan.
to answer your question directly, hal…yes…it does print from a regular printer (you just have to follow it up with some cutting and taping).
the old version of APS did not have this feature. i had to take a screen shot, paste it to a full-sized whiteboard, save it as a .pdf, and then take it over to kinko’s and have them print it up on wide format paper.
now, with the updated version of APS, it’s as easy as clicking File → Print → Outline. now i just need to find myself a wide format printer for cheap so i can put an end to the cutting and taping.
I’m interested in a programme which can make elliptical and circular arc curves, aps3000 can’t do it, it’s just an ‘eyeball it’ gadget which isn’t much use for formal designs using known curves.
The programme I am interested in would have to be able to produce coordinates for the curves at 1 inch intervals. . . . right now I can do it via lengthy calculations, but a programme which would do it would be a bonus, particularly for circular arcs which are hard to draw manually.
I think that a programme which can determine circular arcs would be very useful for the Swaylocks crew, circular arc tail rockers and tail planshapes are very good, and are provbably (IMO) not used as much as they deserve to be because a) They are hard to draw manually, and b) none of the design programmes currently used will do them.
We have the mathematical formulae for producing circular arc curves if you are interested in turning them into a programme please let me know.
…like hand shaper said
with Illustrator or Draw you do smoother curves faster than with aps3000
after I draw the templates in the program (Illust or Draw) I use a cnc router to cut the outline in pvc sheets
-check the forum archives for thread and pictures-
still I cant do in a faster way a smooth one with aps3000, I mean, you dont know exactly if the curve is “pure” or not
and should be a better board oriented if we can put other measurements like those at 1´ and 2´from nose and tail
TomBloke and Reverb have pointed out my concern. aps3000 works just like illustrator and relies on “the eye” to make sure a curve is smooth (pure). I was thinking more like a surfboard algorithm ([i.e.] a mathematically correct template) based on basic surfboard dimension inputs. Tom, I am interested in you arc formulas.
Here’s the formula, it is being treated as a tail rocker curve but could also be a tail planshape or trailing edge of a fin in cross section.
1-cos q = C sin q, where C = rocker depth /length of tail
then
R = Length of curve/sin q
then,
for any given degree of arc ‘p’ the coordinates for the required curve are given by:
R (1-cos p) = rocker depth
R (sin p) = length of tail
sounds a lot like what neira is doing with autocad, i’m more of a catia man myself but havent ever used it to draw out templates.
however i have a feeling both packages may be a little expensive…
i guess if you’re into the more ‘scientific’ side of it (roy!) then i can see the benefit of being able to measure the curvature etc.
But for me, APS3000 works just fine.
Tim
Well it used to be a long piece of welding wire with a pen attached to make a big compass, scientific in a primitive way I suppose, now we crunch the numbers which takes a couple of hours per curve taking into account writing everything back to front the first time etc.
It would be REALLY handy to have a little programme to do the job, I am happy to pay for one too.
two sheets of masonite
butt glued with zap-a gap
then glassed on one side
cut with saber saw
true to line with power planer
stacked two thick
rocker templates
then cut 1/2 template
for use with router
swell rewards.
add to template library
create variations with alternative set ups
modify at will
four pegs on the wall
accumulating panels since 1969
1/2 templates since 1985?90?
method ?
computer skills well applied
positive results.
other skils accessible make for adequate
alternatives.
door skin for hand drawing
easily burned by high speed router cut outs
1/8’’ masonite not so easily burned.
once transfered to doorskin medium
crafting materials comes into direct
context,ie if’n yall cut and sand curve acurately and or
otherwise tool the template
the results are indistinguishable.
In other words
one mans computer is mactavish’s newspaper
transfer from eyebaled left rail
onto right rail?
or perhaps transfered
to door skin masonite pvc panel .
and then the cut transcription to wood-foam…
must be fared to ambient curve.
template creating program still finally rests in
craft execution,hand tools.
Computer age requisite consulting the
blue campfire oracle is a contemporary validation
akin to a greek trip to delphi
only to peer into
a pool of water
or perhaps
a whisp of smoke.
cut to the chase.
grab the meterial shape the template
make the board
make a template from the board
takeout imperfections from the
first draft and continually refine
one following another
the program
at the gate
allows spectators
to identify all the players.
at least thats the way
the vendors called it
at the gate to seals stadium
when the west coast league dominated
san francisco baseball.
I collected cushions after the game
for a ticket to the bleachers
I had no money for the program
or a b-ball game ticket
after the game there were programes
on the ground as litter
we walked over while retrieving
rental cushions for Piggy.
in the same way these print outs
may be archived or discarded
sitting and watching the game is still seperate from
playing good baseball.
see the ball
step into it
swing timing is
everything
and followthrough
separates the
boys of summer from the men
on the respected field.
masonite is cheap.
tempered resists moisture
some of them 40 year old suckers are
still solid,and still crooked
the latest ones aint so crooked.
…ambrose…
is shaping
a twelve step program?
starting with template making?
even dr. bob and bill W.
wont tell.
no the start is building
a rack for shaping
the templates.
"is shaping
a twelve step program?
starting with template making?"
Ambrose,
I wholeheartedly agree. I use a router now for outlining, and every flat spot and hump on a template (no matter how small) shows through. I now spend more time making/refining/taking too much off/abandoning templates than I do shaping! When a template set is done right though, the contruction that follows flows so smoothly…no having to correct mistakes due to squiggly templates…
JSS
Illustrator is ind of expensive for the backyard guy IMHO. Also I have a hard time seeing that the curve will be all that much smoother, what kind of algorithm is used to make the curve? B-splines are technically smoother, however that’s mathematically. I doubt you can see the difference. beziers are used in numerous CAD software as a design tool. APS3000 lacks the curvature feature that Shape3D and boardcad has though which might cause problems.
APS3000 will print to a windows printer on regular letter or A4 pages or whatever. Printing on A3 or equivalent gives you less sheet to print though. MAKE SURE YOU ADJUST THE MARGINS TO THE MINIMUM YOUR PRINTER CAN HANDLE to minimize the use of paper. If submitted a few fixes to the print code for APS3000(one adjusting the margins to a minimum, another layering on top of an inch grid for a number of reasons), however with the APS3000 ‘situation’ I don’t know if it will ever be used.
regards,
Håvard
Hola maxmercy
I just saw your remark about cutting outlines. I think handsaws are the way to go on templates and blanks.
The width of the blade makes a huge positive difference to your line.
I use paraffin wax on the blade to keep it cutting decently through paper, glue and two sheets of masonite.
My jigsaw made wobbly lines, so I got a wide handsaw, and have been happy with the lines.
MHO–HTH
Greg
TomBloke and Reverb have pointed out my concern. aps3000 works just like illustrator and relies on “the eye” to make sure a curve is smooth (pure). I was thinking more like a surfboard algorithm ([i.e.] a mathematically correct template) based on basic surfboard dimension inputs. Tom, I am interested in you arc formulas.
If you browse through the catalog of say, rusty, CI, Lost, etc. you will find that there are a number of templates that are nowhere near ‘mathematically correct’ ( or rather mathematically smooth). They still work (some might say very well), so why would you want a mathematically correct template?
regards,
Håvard