Resizing Plans

[Chris Leacock]

Good morning everyone! I'm getting ready to make the art deco desk clock that was shown in the November 2008 issue of Wood magazine but I need a little advice.

I'd like to make it more of a larger mantle clock but am unsure how to resize the dimensions shown on the plans. Are there any best practices or rules of thumb when changing the overall size of a piece? Should I increase everything by a certain percentage or just go with what I think looks good?

I'd certainly appreciate any advice you can give.

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving!

Chris

[Todd Carpenter]

Hi Chris,

In your case, you'll just resize all the dimensions to suit the final size you have in mind. Since I haven't seen the plans, the only limitation you may have may be the clock insert/face - this may be your driving dimension.

If that's not an issue, you could just blow up your plans on a copier/scanner to the size you want and eliminate the math altogether.

HTH
Todd

[Dave Shawley]

Just in case it might be relevant, many rectangular things use a ratio of 1.618 to 1 for height to width. This is called the Golden Ratio, Golden Section, and a bunch of other names. Divide the longest dimension by the shortest (usually height / width). If you get 1.618 or something close to it, then try to maintain the ratio when you resize it - if you double the width, then multiply the height by 1.618 instead of doubling it.

If you are interested, give the Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio) a read. If you google "golden ratio woodworking" you'll get links to some more information.

Enjoy.

[Chris Leacock]

Great info! Thanks for the advice!