Rule of thumb for proportions in box/tray making?

LancsRick · 20 Aug 2016

Another year has rolled on by, and as a very nice surprise on my birthday I've been given an Axminster dovetail jig which I'm looking forwards to learning how to use once I've got a couple of projects completed.

I've never tried making any form of box/tray or otherwise, so this is all new to me. I have a lot of 1" thick hardwood planed stock, but I'm unsure what sort of dimensions that thickness of timber lends itself to without being disproportionate. I a lot of people on here make this sort of thing, so I was wondering if there was a rule of thumb for proportions to keep an aesthetic appeal?

Racers · 20 Aug 2016

1" is very thick for a box unless its for blankets.

Some of mine

Ripple ash bog oak and brown oak box by Pete Maddex, on Flickr

200x150x100mm with 10mm thick sides.

Birch Burr and Oak box with flip up lid by Pete Maddex, on Flickr

120x120x65mm 8mm thick sides and lid.

You might be able to resaw the 1" stock but it might warp.

Pete

Peter Sefton · 20 Aug 2016

Depending on the size of box but 8 to 14mm thick is in the right region. One deciding factor is what hinges are you using and how are you going to fix them?

Cheers Peter

marcros · 20 Aug 2016

i always start with 3x2x1 wxdxh for boxes. It may get adjusted a little when i have the actual timber in front of me. I go for 10ish mm sides for a 300x200x100mm box. Thick sides really can spoil small boxes.

As peter says, start with the hinges though. I used Isaac Llord for the last few that I have done. There are some posts on here with the product code that I used. Other options available.

LancsRick · 20 Aug 2016

Perfect, thank you everyone, especially those dimensioned pictures.

I'll get some thinner stock at some point then - to start with I was just going to get some plywood and practice making decent joints with that, then make some open topped trays, and only then venture into boxes themselves.