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View Full Version : Biggest box from a (smallish) board...



karossii
08-26-2014, 09:34 PM
Not necessarily CW related - I mean I will be using the CW to decorate this project, but for now I just need to figure out dimensions and a cut list for a box.

I have a smallish board of purple hart I have decided to use to make a small box. I would like it to be as large as possible... and have a couple of thoughts; but I figure someone here might (okay, will definitely ;) ) know better than me the best way to go about it. I am thinking octagonal, though not necessarily a regular octagon (so rectangle with the corners cut off, instead of a square with the corners cut off). But I am fine with most any shape...

The board I have is 3/4" thick, and 3.75" wide by 24.25" long. The bottom of the box can be a piece of quarter inch ply I have, I will just lay it in a rabbet and cover the inside with felt. But I would like the top and sides to be the purple hart. I'd like it to be at least a full inch deep on the inside.

So, I first thought of cutting eight 1.875" strips of varying lengths, as the sides (1.875" becomes the height of the side walls), and then two halves of the lid, roughly 3"x8" each, with the corners lopped off to make it an octagon. Those two pieces leave me just barely enough for the 8 sides.

So the box would be 6" at its widest and 8" at its longest, and 2.625" tall (including a 3/4" lid in the height). I'm attaching the basic layout on the board as an mpc - I know that the project as is would not cut properly at all (especially since designer doesn't have a 45 V-bit to use to set the proper 22.5 degree angle on the walls); it was just to get an idea of how I am laying out the cuts. I will probably not use the CW for those cuts..

Any ideas to get an even larger box from this wood, and have less scrap? I would be open to a hexagon, a rectangle with curved corners, or other shapes.

Also, assuming I do decide to waste a few hours on my cut motor, instead of using a miter saw and jig saw... what would be the best way to get the 22.5 degree bevels I would need for the side walls? I don't actually have a 45 V bit, and designer wouldn't recognize it if I did, and it probably would not have the right size to hit a 3/4" depth... so I am guessing I could use the 3D tools to make the bevel. Just haven't played with it yet.

karossii
08-27-2014, 03:10 PM
Just noticed I never attached the mpc file. not sure how or why I forgot to do that. not that it is a huge deal, but here it is...