WOODWORKING QUIZ for 11 AUG 04

[Ralph Jones]

Good Evening friends,
OK, you wood turners here is one for you.
You have a block of wood that is 8" square and 4" thick.

How do you figure the dimensions or proportion a bowl with the golden mean?

Respectfully, :)

[bitingmidge]

Interesting question, but why is it called the golden mean?

Makes it sound all very nasty. No wonder so few people understand it.

Perhaps from here on on this board we could refer to that wonderous proportion 1:1·6180339887 as the Golden Nice Thing??

:D :D :D

Cheers,

P

[Cliff Rogers]

G'day.

I'd attack it with my bowl saver & make 3 bowls & a picture/mirror frame.
The bowls would be 2" high by 3 & 1/4" wide, 3" high by 4 & 3/4" wide, &
4" high by 6 & 1/2" wide. The frame would be 8" wide.
Hows that, close enough? ;)

[Wood Borer]

Good morning Ralph,

How about a bowl 6 15/32" X 4" ?

Haven't got a lathe so I might be wrong :confused:


- Wood Borer

[Wood Borer]

1:1·6180339887

I find that a bit innacurate Bitingmidge and I prefer to use 1.61803398874989484820458683436564 but you need a good sharp plane to achieve it. :D :D :D

- Wood Borer

[Ralph Jones]

Good Evening Friends,
To answer bitingmidge's question of what is the golden mean.
To get an eye appealing bowl shape requires a sense of proportion. An ancient Greek formula called the golden mean frequently guides the turner.
It's really about using the ration 1:1.618 to find the length of the long side in relation to the short side of a rectangle.

To proportion a bowl with the golden mean using a block of wood 8" square by 4" thick, You would multiply the 4" by 1.618 to arrive to a diameter of 6 1/2" for the rim and then divide the 4" by 1.618 to arrive to a diameter of 2 1/2" for the bottom.

Thank you for your support.

Respectfully, :)

[Bob Willson]

Ralph

Read bitings answer again. He wasn't asking a question (except in a sort of twisted rhetorical way) he was giving you an answer.

PS what happens if I decide to turn the 8" down to 2" first (because I want a smaller bowl) and just waste the timber?