This software is available to wood-turners free of charge! The purpose is to help visualize the cut patterns on a rose engine ornamental lathe.
You set the rosette parameters on the right side of the screen. You can select from a variety of common rosette shapes. The amplitude (i.e. maximum deflection from min to max) is adjustable. You can also set the phase of the rosette. Note that this software uses the engineering sense of phase. That is, 90 degrees of phase shift represents 1/4 of the repeat pattern. The absolute spindle offset is phase/repeat.
The left side of the screen simulates a pen chuck on a rose engine. You can move the position of the pen toward the front of center (positive number), or toward the back of center (negative number). You can also set the width and color of the line.
Computer Requirements:
The software was written in Java, so it will run on most computers. It was developed on a Mac and was tested on Intel based computers. I’ve also tested it on Windows XP, Windows 7 (64 bit), and Ubuntu Linux.
You need to have the Java run-time software loaded on your computer. Mac OSX comes standard with Java run-time environment. Make sure you have the latest updates (Apple -> Software Updates).
Windows and Linux users are less fortunate because Java run-time environment is generally not included on most PCs. The good news is that this is free, but you have to take the time to download and install it on your computer. Go to http://www.java.com and click on the big red “Free Java Download” button. It will check to see if you have the latest version of Java installed on your computer. If not, it’s real easy to download and install the latest version.
Downloading and Running:
Mac Users: Mac users can click Download Disk Image on the left. This gives you a disk image that you can open, and drag the PenChuck application to your desktop or other location.
Windows and Linux Users: After installing the latest Java, Windows users can click Download Zip File on the left. This gives you a .zip file that you can extract. For windows, run the penchuck-windows.exe installer. For Linux, run the penchuck-linux.sh installer.