Drawing an Ellipse
Making an ellipse is easy with a simple beam and straight-edge. Find a straight-edge that is longer than your ellipse is wide and clamp it perpendicular to the edge of your work surface, at the center of your ellipse. Make a beam that is longer than half the width of your ellipse and fasten a pencil to one end. Place a nail (A) in your beam, away from the pencil point, at a distance equal to half the height of your ellipse and another one (B) half the width away.
Lay the beam as shown in the illustration, flat along the edge of the work surface. Pull nail (B) down along the straight-edge, keeping nail (A) against the work surface as you move (A) toward the center of the ellipse and (B) away from center. When the pencil point reaches the straight-edge, you should have a perfect quarter ellipse!
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