Quick, I Need a Pattern for an Oval!

One situation was making an oval shaped pattern for a mirror frame. Another was an oval that would be the background for a relief carving.

Circles are easy - find the center, jab the compass point in and have at it. But ovals, you get close and then hope the artist or draftsman in you can make it look even.

You can plot them and I remember doing that in trig class but how about a simple solution?

Remember making paper snowflakes - you fold the paper, make a few cuts...? It's like that.

In this case, you figure out how big you want your oval, take a piece of paper that is a bit bigger, fold it in half on the short axis, fold it in half on the long axis, draw 1/4 of the oval, cut it out, unfold, and Voila! There is your template.

For an explanation with pictures click here.

As they say, it works every time!