Boxes - Relationship height, width and depth

I usually go with the size I want my short side to be then times that by 1.62 to get my long side. Gives a nice porportion.

-- Betsy - GO BUCKS!

Try doing a lumberjock search on the fibonacci gauge. I think David and some others have some great info.

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

Thanks for the quick response Betsy and Dennis.

Dalec

The golden ration is 1:1.618. (1.618=phi) For a box, a nice size is the width=height x 1.618, and length = width x 1.618.

Now that I’ve given you this, use what looks good to you with proportions that please your eye. If you fall into the trap of what you are SUPPOSED to make your box, I’m going to roll up a newspaper and hit you in the snout with it.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

and then of course the contents-to-be is a factor as well, if the box will have a specific purpose

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

I can look it up for you in a book I have by David M. Freedman. Just got it out…he calls it the golden rectangle. And the prize goes to Betsy (I knew that) who had half of it. Formula: short side = 1, long side = 1.62, and the height = .62 . So an example would be 10” x 16.2’ x 6.2”.......da.

Another “rule” is if the boxes’ perimeter is over 30” use 1/2 inch stock and under use 3/8 inch. This is the authors opinion.

These are some guidelines, But use whatever looks pleasing to your eye.

-- Odie, Confucius say, "He who laughs at one's self is BUTT of joke".

I wrote about using the Golden Ratio and Fibonacci series on my blog. Those are usually the starting points to achieve pleasing proportions in design. Take a look here.

-- Mark, Webster New York, Visit my website at http://thecraftsmanspath.com

I don’t plan or feel compelled to make boxes according to some formula. Anyway, I hate having my snout smacked.

Thanks Tom

Dalec

Thanks everyone for the many responses. I guess everyone is awake and on-line.

Appreciate the info and will see what looks good to me for this application.

Dalec

You do read these….

-- Odie, Confucius say, "He who laughs at one's self is BUTT of joke".

Oldie,

I find this to be a great way to learn. It’s fun communicating with LJs and reading the postings.

Dalec

Just used the formula that Odie gave and decided that I would go with a box 5” x 8” x 3” for a first try.

Again, thanks everyone for your help. Hope I will have something worthy of posting under projects.

Dalec

I usually let the wood give me cues on proportions. I don’t use any sort of formula since the grain can tend to make a box look longer, shorter, fatter, flat, fluid, etc.

-- Check out my new website! http://www.theeasellife.com

Why not make a box that fits what you intend to use it for. So many good ideas fall on their sword by not taking into consideration the size of the “note paper” or a “standard lette”r etc etc.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Excellent point, Bob…er, #2.

The Golden Ratio is good for ballpark dimensions, but just as important is to take into consideration the intended use for the box.

I also agree with making sure you use the right thickness of wood for the size of the box. I’ve seen boxes that had internal dimensions a full 1 1/2” smaller than the outside of the box because they were made with 3/4” thick wood. That’s a lot of wasted wood and wasted space…

-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/

Rules are meant to be broken ?

I find box proportions work that fit within proportions of 1:1 1:2 2;3 and 3:4 first number being the width, second number the hieght.

I like the big 1” square graph paper on sheets 2’ x 3’ and a pencil. Draw it out as big a scale as possible.

-- http://www.furnituremann.ca/

The Golden Ratio and The Fibonacci Sequence are guide lines. It would be difficult to always be exactly 1 – .618 so just get close. Then take a look and see if there is a way to break the rules and design something that is unique. This is where SketchUp is a real blessing. you can draw the piece and turn it every which way but loose. You can get a real feel for how it will look with out costing you anything but some time. You can even design it by eye and then check the dimensions. I just wish I could use it better.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions.

Dalec

Ask. And all kinds of experts will give their opinions.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

Make it the size of any photograph or Television screen (the older CRT ones,not these new fangled Plasmas)
They are all within the ratio, unless you work for NASA. But if you make it the size of a photograph, you can store photographs of the box you built.

-- Thuan

I never follow the golden ratio and I will join Mot in your flogging. Everyone has pretty much said it from every angle and I back them all. Much of what I build has a specific need so it is built to fit somewhere or for something to fit in it.

But when I have free reign, I go by “feel”. I hold my arms out and say, “About this wide by this long and this deep.” I then measure what that comes out to and that is it. It all seems to fall into place.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

Sorry about the delayed response to your suggestions.

I have been down with the flu, since Thursday evening and only feeling well enough to be up Sunday night, and having sleep so much, I can’t sleep any more, so I am back. A little slower moving than before coming down with this stuff. Avoid if you can, wash hands frequently and avoid health clinics and hospitals if possible. It turns out the flu shots cover respiratory flu, but not others.

I want to thank all of you for your suggestions. I hear the Todd and Tom (Mot) and several others of you about sticking to formulas for construction of a box. I can see the advantage of doing a classical proportioned box, but it would be very boring if box dimensions were always formulated, when as a builder I could build it any dimensions I wanted.

So far I have made a pile of saw dust, wasted some wood and learning from these mistakes. I will have to put it aside for a couple of weeks now we are down to the final week. It looks like a more traditional gift-giving this year.

Oh well.

Dalec

Cubes are OK for some things.

-- Maplewood, MN

There are rules in architecture. The trick is to use the rules without getting used by them.

Otherwise you would never think to use a piece of crown mould to make a wonderful base. Or that sometimes a piece not “properly” weighted at the base can be simply beautiful in its different approach.

-- miles125, Alabama.."Architecture is frozen music""

Rikkor,

So far I have cubes and firewood.

Dalec

miles125, Well said.

Rules are important but their interpretation is what gives art its vibrance, meaning and validity.

On the other hand, breaking rules can give something a freshness and previously unrealized vibrance, menaing and validity.

Complexity and contradiction give richness when the rules are well established.

:D

-- The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. Aristotle

Rules smules——make what you want. Let the wood speak and go for it!

-- Betsy - GO BUCKS!

Thanks again to all who replied to my inquiry about classic box dimensions. It was an enlighting discussion.

Dalec