cutting compound curves

Compound curves are often cut on a bandsaw, when building furniture with curved legs, for example. If you know how its done, you understand the principle behind "bahrman rails". click here for a glimpse of what I'm referring to. Except I use a circular saw, jigsaw, and japanese pull-saw, not a bandsaw.

I started with my plan shape (template), and my lengthwise rocker profile (stringer shape). I decided my ribs would be 5" o.c. - closer than most other boards I'd seen, but stronger too.

Once I had my template, I cut 1.5" wide rail pieces from a redwood 2x6, and layered them vertically so that I could cut a rail with rocker from them. The key is using the rocker profile, with ribs marked every 5", and using those marks to correlate with the same rib layout on the rails.