# Decorative motif templates???



## Dimitri M (Oct 4, 2011)

Being in need to make a rather simple decorative motif on the side of some benchlegs , I would be grateful if anyone can suggest available templates or at least point me to some motifs somewhere on the net.

With thanks


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## jschaben (Jun 21, 2009)

Dimitri M said:


> Being in need to make a rather simple decorative motif on the side of some benchlegs , I would be grateful if anyone can suggest available templates or at least point me to some motifs somewhere on the net.
> 
> With thanks


Hi Dimitri - May take a look at this
http://www.amazon.com/Milescraft-12...ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1322873285&sr=1-1

You should be able to get one through Amazon in europe.


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## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

Cmt have some but it's unclear if they are templates or just printed patterns.
I would assume it's part of their 3d carving system.
http://www.cmtutensili.com/show_items.asp?pars=PJJ~RCS.PAN~2
You have a dealership in Athens
Εργαλεία & Μηχανήματα ξύλου - Papadopoulos tools
and right there on Crete
PEDIADITAKIS S.A.
IRINIS&FILIAS 29, IRAKLION, CRETE - 71410 (Greece)
Phone: +30 2810 258278 Fax: +30 2810 257091


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## Dimitri M (Oct 4, 2011)

John thank you - I keep this in mind: there seems to be no other similar template collection in the market. For the time I am thinking of drawing my own lines - they are so difficult (and beautiful) that I have not thought yet about how to convert them to router cuttings.

Gavin, by the looks of it, you might even go for a stroll down the streets near the central market in Athens?? Thank you very much, especially the link for the rep in Heraclio will turn out to be very useful - I will pay them a visit as soon as I go there.

For the time being I am experimenting with pencil drawings - the idea is to picture the figure of a "fruit (cone) of a cypress as a central motif on the legs a 4 benches anda long dining table I want to make. As a matter of fact in which forum should I start posting pics of my current projects? I would very much appreciate comments.

D

D


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## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

I'm not really sure what you mean by your comment but I'll take it as either a compliment or an invitation to Greece.

If you do a google image search for 'pine cone carving' or 'pine cone drawing', you should get a lot of inspiration.

There's a thread called 'show and tell' you could post your project in.


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## Dimitri M (Oct 4, 2011)

Gavin, thank you for all your attention and care. What I meant is that you seem familiar with the Greek market - do you speak any Greek at all?? The invitation is always open - if you ever come to Crete, I will be delighted to show you around and offer you a meal - I live in a village just outside Rethymno - just give me some notice in advance as my work sometimes keeps me awfully busy. 

I will have a look at the google images - never thought of that.


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## Dimitri M (Oct 4, 2011)

I found several drawings, but all artists seem impressed with dead dried cypress cones - I need to get my camera, rush off to the village and get a few pics of them; they are a very pleasant thing to look at, they smell nice and they take nearly a year to mature !!!
In the meantime, here are two pics I fished from Googling


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## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

I just have too much spare time and am good at searching the internet.
If my workshop was at my home, probably I would rarely be on the computer.
I don't speak any Greek but there may be a chance there are some other similar words like Raki and Rakija.
One day I will be sure to make it to Crete, maybe I'll drive so I can bring some of that Cypress wood back with me.


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## argoknot (Dec 7, 2009)

Dimitri M said:


> Being in need to make a rather simple decorative motif on the side of some benchlegs , I would be grateful if anyone can suggest available templates or at least point me to some motifs somewhere on the net.
> 
> With thanks


You could make your own template. How about tracing something on quarter inch plywood and cutting it out.


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## Dimitri M (Oct 4, 2011)

Gavin, I will be happy to see you, take you to dinner and then point you to the merchants.

John, if I make it with the router it will have to be simple - if I brand the wood, I will have to order it and pay for it - so far it is only speculations.


Thank you both.

D


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Perhaps drawing the pattern then freehand routing using a fine bit, 2 or 3mm diameter.
Freehand routing is not as difficult as one would imagine. I, well into my 70's have successfully freehand routed signs so a youngster like you, used to delicate work will have no trouble Dimitri.


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## Dimitri M (Oct 4, 2011)

Well, dear friend Harry, St Francis of Assisi used to say "O santa simplicitas", which in latin means "Oh holy simplicity" - actually your advice to freehand a few strokes with a narrow bit is perhaps the best answer. No more intricate precalculations, jigs for templates and stuff. I will take the old carbon drawing I found, eliminate it down to 4 - 5 lines, photocopy it, glue the photocopy on the wood with flour glue, rout it freehand when it dries and I am done !!! O santa simplicitas !!

D


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

It will be completed in not much more time than you took to describe your modus operandi!


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## Dimitri M (Oct 4, 2011)

Well then, dear Harry, I can only turn to your electronics/mechanics/metal/wood expertise for possible answers to the following step of the motif carving by freehand routing: 

If I use a "lance" bit, with rhomboid profile, and carve a line with plunging rather than standard depth, then I can achieve quickly a look that will resemble the ink-pen line, which starts narrow (and shallow here) continues wider (and deeper ) and fades again narrow (and shallow) to a fine point end. How can I achieve such a result? i am thinking of a slim small router (like the trimmers), where one hand moves the whole instrument along the pattern line, and the other hand regulates easily and accurately the depth of carve from a point somewhere near the cutting surface, and not from the bottom of the tool or from the handles that will not plunge unless two hands are used. Now this is a jig I wolud like to see, a leverage where with two fingers from the side of the platform one can guide the depth of plunge . Any ideas ???


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## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

Dimitri, you are describing something very similar to an existing product.
WoodRat PlungeBar

I don't think they have one for a small trim router though.


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## Dimitri M (Oct 4, 2011)

Very very very ineresting, Gavin, and 
I wonder if I could make something like it. I studied my superb Bosch min-plunge router ( I have to go down and write the model - (what a story... I bought it in 1988 in England - kept it in an unopened box for about 15 years, at some stage I needed to make a present to afriend of mine who was a carpenter but could not find it, and started using it 2003, when I moved to my new house and owned a workshop). The base of this router is 14cm diameter, the two parallel rods on which it plunges are 12mm diam and 10cm apart, so it is very easy to create a new lunge base altogether.

Maybe I will give it a try - many thanks, i would have never found itmyself.

Best wishes

D


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi 

Wood Rat bar
I made my own and it sucks 

I don't have a picture of it, I remove it from the router but I still have the parts in the tool box..somewhere 

++++++++++
My error I do have a picture of the MICKEY Mouse add on to the router .

I did weld some rod in place to make more stable and to take out the flex.
see picture below.. still sucks 

==



gav said:


> Dimitri, you are describing something very similar to an existing product.
> WoodRat PlungeBar
> 
> I don't think they have one for a small trim router though.


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## Dimitri M (Oct 4, 2011)

Bob, all these gadgets look great, but in my opinion they seldom do something drastic, they usually exist to fulfill the owner's feeling of success. What worries me is that they are more costly than the tool itself, and they require so much education and precise use that in the end you spend one hour to set the bits properly, and two minutes to do the job, and then you need a special place for the gadget, and with the extra screws etc you ask yourself two years later what they were for. Trying to make the gadget, has a suspense and a thrill, and even if it does not work, perhaps you realize WHY it doesn't. Ever made a second version of this ?
D


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Dimitri

" Ever made a second version of this ? " no not to happy with the 1st. version.. 

But I did see the error of my ways, but maybe some day but I don't think so. 
Not that great of a fixture for the router ..it's like adding a 2nd. pair of wheels to the rear of the truck, just not needed ..

Wheels,,,Note I have done that to LOL just for kicks but I'm back to just one pair now LOL

========


Dimitri M said:


> Bob, all these gadgets look great, but in my opinion they seldom do something drastic, they usually exist to fulfill the owner's feeling of success. What worries me is that they are more costly than the tool itself, and they require so much education and precise use that in the end you spend one hour to set the bits properly, and two minutes to do the job, and then you need a special place for the gadget, and with the extra screws etc you ask yourself two years later what they were for. Trying to make the gadget, has a suspense and a thrill, and even if it does not work, perhaps you realize WHY it doesn't. Ever made a second version of this ?
> D


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