Stupid Newbie Question about Design Issues

dw · 2006-01-10T12:20:49+00:00

Hello All,Long time lurker, 2nd time poster...I am still very new at this woodworking stuff. I have decided to make a toybox. It is going to be a pretty basic box, which my oldest son (very artistic) will base paint a light color, then hand paint with animals and toys and such. The rough dimensions are 18" deep, 20" high and 36" wide.My wife wants me to keep the materials cost to a minimum, and since it will be painted, I'm opting for plywood. My question is about the thickness. My original thought was 3/4 inch ply, but I'm now starting to wonder if that is unnecessarily thick, making the toybox unnecessarily heavy. So I guess I'm hoping for your input on two questions:1 - If you were building a toy box of these dimensions, and you were going to use plywood to do it, would you use 3/4 or 1/2?2 - Where would I find some kind of guidelines or rule-of-thumb about things like this (other than looking back in 20 years at my experiences...)?Thanks for the help, and for all the great posts!dw

Jan 10, 2006 27 Replies

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DonkeyHody 20 years ago

Uh sorry. Begging your pardon. I temporarily forgot who I was talking to. Of course you don' got to admit nuthin. You are JOAT after all. :)

But any reasonable person would admit that hardwood is stiffer. If it's stiffer over the long span then it's stiffer over the short span too. Whether or not the difference in stiffness is important is a personal preference, not a question of fact. Now I enjoy recreational arguments as much as the next guy, but typing is not my favorite activity. So I'm gonna bow out now without asking you to admit to anything else.

In good fun DonkeyHody

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Andy Dingley 20 years ago

Last time I was a dairy farmer I lived in Northern Ireland. Over in Ireland (Eire) Landrovers and particularly Discoveries are popular, but the tax on them is very expensive. So it's common to see the "van" model (which you very rarely see in England) which has no rear windows and so dodges the "luxury car" tax. I saw one once that had cow "passengers" painted on these steel windows.

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Jim K 20 years ago

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J T 20 years ago

Wed, Jan 11, 2006, 1:10am (EST+5) snipped-for-privacy@codesmiths.com (Andy=A0Dingley) doth admit: I saw one once that had cow "passengers" painted on these steel windows.

I would have thought something like this would have been more appropriate, given the place.

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'll never get anywhere if you believe what you "hear". What do you "know"?

- Granny Weatherwax

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Edwin Pawlowski 20 years ago

About 38 years ago I made one with that size frame. the plywood was nailed onto it. Lasted through two kids, a couple of grandkids, now is my wife's storage box. Still in very good condition.

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connor aston 20 years ago

I might just but him one!

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phillips_idaho 20 years ago

Sounds like my wife, too!

How about using 3/4" mdf? It is heavy, but it is inexpensive. For painting, its smooth surface can't be beat. If you are moderately careful with your joinery, you can build a rock solid box that can take a ton of abuse. I'd probably avoid the lid (or use stout lid support hardware) otherwise you will have conked heads and squished fingers.

About five years ago I built a pyramidal shaped box with a flat top for my 1945 era shopsmith turned dedicated drill press. This is a super heavy tool and the box-base has held together great. I'm a pretty big guy (250 lbs) and I actually jumped hard on the box before mounting the tool - the box didn't even squeak under the pressure and weight.

Scott

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