Graph paper large rolls

[FlyingVizsla]

Mr FV wants to graph an aerofoil, life-size, so he is after some graph paper that will stretch that far, so he can plot the x,y co-ordinates and lay it out for wing construction, design etc.  I tried a quick search for Graph Paper Rolls and came up with little in Australia.  Thinking like a Plotter roll (or smaller), but with pre-printed grid.  Any ideas on where we can get some?  I see that Birch makes a dressmaker's graph paper in rolls.  Anyone used that or any other suggestions?

 

Mr FV is not computer savvy and has resisted my suggestions of an Excel chart (I did one for him previously) printed on A3 and pasted.  He is using x,y plots published in various Aircraft design and Aerofoil design books.  He doesn't want to paste A3 graph sheets together either.

TIA.

[spacesailor]

News paper print  !,

Wallpaper using backside but not preglued.

I used a roll of 'carton card/paper ' for draughting my prop pitch formers.

Lots of smaller and larger carton manufactors use some of what would be useful,

Like ' Kelloggs corn flakes ' Botany Sydney. 

Now who makes cartons in Far Away N Queensland.

spacesailor

[spacesailor]

Found it !.

Have a look at 'vynal print shops '  their backing paper on the vynal IS printed with a " graph Grid ".

Thats the bit they Throw away. 

I have a narrow roll of black vynal to go on the kitchen scirt board & a large width " red velvet "  vynal for ' speaker enclosures '.

All have grid lines on them.

spacesailor

 

[facthunter]

You should be able to use a projector that can be distance adjusted to give you the ability to have a full size tracing  on plain paper or plywood. Nev

[turboplanner]

A bit laborious, but set an Excel file to print the actual square size you want on A4 then print as many sheets as you want and glue them together using a long stel rule or straight edge for accuracy.

[FlyingVizsla]

We already have lots of pads of A3 graph paper.  What he wants to do is convert the data (x,y co-ordinates) into a life-size drawing on graph paper.  He wants to take data like this Data file, and plot it like the Graph file.

 

He is not trying to make a tracing of an existing aircraft.  I have explained how much work (plotting x,y & joining the dots) this will be, but he is adamant that this is what he wants to do, he only needs a long roll of pre-printed graph paper .... then a huge table to work on .... Fortunately he has a lovely wife who puts up with him 

 

I tried the drafting suppliers.  Found a 20 yard roll of Fade Out Graph Paper (the blue lines don't show up on a photocopy and can be eliminated from scans) but at over $10/metre I am reluctant to get the amount he wants.  Tried Officeworks, the dressmaking stores, etc.  I have an A3 light table, and could use tracing rolls with an A3 graph sheet between.  Cumbersome, but I doubt he will accept that. 

 

Just thought someone out there might have a supplier of pre-printed graph paper in rolls.

Data.PDF Graph.PDF

[IBob]

It may not be an issue for your particular application, but be aware that some papers expand and contract considerably with varying humidity.

I once made a very precise brown paper pattern for a shaped piece of glass, got it cut on a rainy day and it didn't fit.......

[spacesailor]

As l said. 

Try to get the Free, or with a small donation, backing off the vinyl  used by lots of sign printers and wrappers.

spacesailor

[Alan]

I have some plotter rolls (contnuous graph paper roll about 300mm wide) in the lab drawers from some spectrometers we replaced in the 80s ( I hate throwing stuff out).  They have a clear grid marking, but from memory the X axis is marked in wavelength units.  

They are possibly 50m long.  I'll check details when I get back to work Tuesday.  Or PM  me an address and Ill send you a roll to try.

 

Regards

 

Alan

[old man emu]

What is the length of the chord of the aerofoil? That is going to govern how long a piece of paper you want. 

 

I plotted this rib from the co-ordinates You don't really need graph paper. Just set a datum line and work from that.

 

This is what I ended up with 

wing.pdf

[onetrack]

FV - You're going to have to bite the bullet and pay the $195 for the 18M roll of fade-out drafting paper. Note that this material is designed to accurately keep its dimensional stability over any substantial length.

 

IBob's advice is critical. Anything else you find, will suffer from serious dimensional stability problems, and that is the last thing you need for plan accuracy.

 

https://www.draftex.com.au/product/clearprint-fade-out-graph-paper-roll

 

 

Edited April 10, 2021 by onetrack

[Bruce Tuncks]

I read that the ships of yesterday used plywood templates made in the loft to cut the heavy steel bits. Due to dimension changes from humidity etc, they often had 50mm gaps to bodge up in the steep bits. This was especially bad if the steel was really thick like in a battleship. So onetrack's advice is good.

[Bruce Tuncks]

These days, parts are laser-cut directly from computer files. Apparently Caterpillar make their heavy machines to order this way.

[old man emu]

1 hour ago, onetrack said:

You're going to have to bite the bullet and pay the $195 for the 18M roll of fade-out drafting paper

A bit OTT. The wing rib plan I posted above is only 36 inches long - and I wouldn't dare convert the measurements to metric. Sometimes when building off old plans you have to keep to cubits or things go out of design.

 

You could draw it out using a CAD program, then have an architect office print it up for you. That's what I did. For a few simple CAD jobs you could use one of the free CAD programs. FreeCad is supposed to be the best of these. https://freecadweb.org/ 

[APenNameAndThatA]

31 minutes ago, old man emu said:

A bit OTT. The wing rib plan I posted above is only 36 inches long - and I wouldn't dare convert the measurements to metric. Sometimes when building off old plans you have to keep to cubits or things go out of design.

 

You could draw it out using a CAD program, then have an architect office print it up for you. That's what I did. For a few simple CAD jobs you could use one of the free CAD programs. FreeCad is supposed to be the best of these. https://freecadweb.org/ 

OP stated “Mr FV is not computer savvy”

[turboplanner]

You already have the co-ordinate figures to punch into CAD, but It takes a while to get your head around CAD’s treatment of space.

 

If there’s someone in the district doing CNC work it may not cost much for them to provide an aluminium template to your co ordinates.

 

Alternatively signwriters can print and cut them in vinyl.

[old man emu]

21 minutes ago, APenNameAndThatA said:

OP stated “Mr FV is not computer savvy”

[spacesailor]

OME. Me too !.

Some of my " aeromodler " plans have by necessety,  been put onto 35mm film. (, l have a microfiche  machine.)

The idea at the time of leaving the UK,  was to use a projector, at the correct distance, to get the scale to match by a steel ruler.

NEVER had the time to even look at them.

spacesailor

[old man emu]

I've used overhead projectors with the image projected onto a sheet of paper on a wall. They still make these things

[facthunter]

I suggested that in Post #4.  Nev

[Fw190]

1 hour ago, old man emu said:

A bit OTT.

Big fist. Glass jaw.