French curves
Smooth line guides
French curves are plastic or wooden templates with smoothly curved edges used by drafters, designers, and artists to draw precise curved lines that cannot be made with a compass.
Each template contains multiple curve segments of varying radii, allowing the user to match the template edge to points on a planned curve and trace a smooth line through them.
She used French curves to ink the hull lines on the boat plans.
Though largely replaced by computer-aided design, they remain useful for freehand technical drawing.
- splineFlexible strip for drafting
- lineContinuous mark or queue
- pencil lineGraphite trace on surface
- flowing linesSmooth, continuous contours
- drawingsImages rendered by hand
technical drawing · designs · guide · edge · protractors · lofting · ship hulls · tool · drafting tools · old school · tracing paper · plastics · stencils · draftsmanship · T-squares · trace · drafting table · design templates
French curvesstraightedge
Line-drawing tool
ruler · T-square · straight edge · triangle · set square
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