Math help. Brain freeze. Going insane.

[Kevin Villas]

I swear I have totally lost my mind. It could be the 2 hours of sleep I got last night, or I have just become stupid over the years. If anyone has the math education of a 6th grader I would appreciate some help.

I posted earlier about some veneer in building a clock, it is used for the face. I deiced I would give it a shot ordering some thin veneer online. Figuring out how much stock I need I made a quick paper template. This is where my brain failed.

The project is detailed here:

http://www.diynet.com/diy/ww_decorative_furnishings/article/0,2049,DIY_14441_2276590,00.html


As you can see by the top 2 pictures it is divide up between maple and wenage.

He says to take a 9.75 x 9.75 piece of wood and divide it by drawing a line from corner to corner. then take each of those 4 sections and divide equally into 3. Saying it makes them 30 degrees, I came up with different #s..

I will now refer to the pieces as number as they would be on a clock with #s.

So by doing this wouldn't it make 12oclock, 3oclock,6oclock,9oclock bigger sections with a larger angle? Thus kind of screwing up being able to tell time by them? or I guess the spacing at the top is equal because its 3.25 inches between each section on a 9.75 square? Ugh.

Also I am confused because is you look at Figure O of his plan. he has all the maple ganged together and all the wenage ganged together, which wouldn't work would it? Since they alternate?

I think there are 2 different angles so their would be only have to be 2 gangs but they would be mixed woods.

If anyone can make my head stop hurting I would appreciate it.

[Mark Stutz]

Kevin,
I remember watching this episode. I think the thing that is confusing is the length of the outside edge of the individual pieces. If you imagine a traditional clock face (round) superimposed on the square, the angle of each segment is the same--30 deg. or 1/12 of 360 deg. The outside radius of each piece is the same on the circle, but when you extend the "lines" (for lack of a better term) to the edge of the square, some of the segments look larger, but instead are just longer. I think the contrasting wood contributes to the illusion as well. Since each piece is the same size you can gang cut them. Be prepared for a little touch up sanding to get them to fit. Once together, you can trim the outside to any shape you desire.
I not sure how clear this is, but I'm sure someone else will chime in. Godd lluck and don't forget the PICS!

Mark

[Craig Colvin]

OK I think I can help with at least part of it.

If you take a piece and draw a line from each corner and cut it into 4 sections then the corner that was at the center of the original board will be 90 degrees.
If you divide that into 3 you get 30 deg per piece.

30 deg per piece is correct for a clock. You want to divide the 360 degrees by 12, which ends up being 30 degrees each.

As for the distance between pieces the issue is that some pieces are longer than others because it is square instead of round. But if you inscribe a circle where the hands of the clock would go, you will see the spacing is all the same along that circle. It works out.

[Dale Thompson]

Kevin,
When the plan says to divide each of the four sections into three equal segments, it means the angle, not the piece itself. The diagonals of the 9.75 square will give you four 90 deg angles in the center. If you divide that by three you will get 30 deg. If you have a drafting triangle of 90 - 60 - 30 degrees, the process should be easy. The three pieces that you get from each of the four quadrants will not be equal in shape but they will have equal angles (i.e. 30 deg.). That is why the clock will work. Each 30 degree "sweep" will give you one hour. Twelve times 30 degrees equals 360 deg. I hope that I have not confused you even more. Let me know if i have and i will try to do a better job of confusing both of us. ;)

Good Luck,
Dale T.

[Dale Thompson]

OK I think I can help with at least part of it.

If you take a piece and draw a line from each corner and cut it into 4 sections then the corner that was at the center of the original board will be 90 degrees.
If you divide that into 3 you get 30 deg per piece.

30 deg per piece is correct for a clock. You want to divide the 360 degrees by 12, which ends up being 30 degrees each.

As for the distance between pieces the issue is that some pieces are longer than others because it is square instead of round. But if you inscribe a circle where the hands of the clock would go, you will see the spacing is all the same along that circle. It works out.

Craig,
I was typing my response while you were posting yours. :o I apologize but I'm glad that we agree. :)

Dale T.

[Craig Colvin]

Craig,
I was typing my response while you were posting yours. :o I apologize but I'm glad that we agree. :)

Dale T.
No worries. Mark was posting his while I was typing mine. :)