Show me those curves...

Let's say you need to cut curves into a flat surface, whether it's a piece of furniture, a counter top or large physical letters for a sign. Unless you've got a CNC machine, you'll mark and cut your curve to the best of your ability with a jigsaw or bandsaw; then it's off to your oscillating spindle sander, disc sander, belt sander and/or hand-sanding block to clean up the edges and keep them in tangency. This is particularly crucial when you're making a template, as copies routed with a bearing-guided bit will all repeat any flaw you've overlooked.

German tischlermeister (master carpenter) Dierk Söder and his tool design company, ProTus, has invented a better way to do this. He calls his invention the Kurvenlinfix, and here is how it works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=174&v=YqrntTJcqoU

also:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ApEH1M_G28&ebc=ANyPxKr6FBXqvAM0WorIOdQg-T8VWV8LFtPI9fY8DEvPjknx77JoD5yf1iykl3oFrFaDjwg5rJpsVwPyx4vR4ka9aEEPmBqWJA

While the material might look like ABS in the pictures, it definitely isn't; actually, it's a strange blend of stiff and bendy material at the same time. They'll only say it's made of "an elastic synthetic material that doesn't contain plasticizers," so we've no idea what this proprietary material is.

Originally designed for luthiers (guitar makers), the Kurvenlinfix comes in different sizes. For those of you looking to give it a try, you can find a list of international distributors here.

Cheers, Gaston.