Making things that fit togetherLesson 10 of 16
Polygon box
A six sided box is not a four sided box with two more walls. The corners meet at a different angle, and a tab cut for a square corner leaves every seam on a hexagon standing open by the difference.
Choose how many sides, and the size across the flats. That is what a ruler laid across the box reads, so it is the number worth typing.
Every wall comes out the same: tabs up one edge, slots down the other. They interlock the whole way round, however many sides there are.
One wall per side, plus a base, laid out on the sheet. Add a lid if you want one.
Every setting
11What each number in the dialog means, and where it starts.
How many sides. 6 is a hexagon, 8 an octagon.
Across the flats, wall to opposite wall.
Outside height in millimetres
Material thickness in millimetres
Finger size in millimetres
Beam width. Panels grow half a kerf, slots shrink one.
Raises the floor so the box stands on its walls, not on its base.
Rounds inside corners so a square tab seats fully.
Sheet width the panels are laid out on
Sheet height the panels are laid out on
What it is
A box with any number of sides: hexagonal, octagonal, triangular. Type the size across the flats and the walls come out cut to the right angle for that many sides.