Well this is going to be fun

[SeaCat]

The wife wants me to re-do the planter around the light pole out front. She has even decided how she wants it to look. She wants it to be an Octogon 36 inches in diameter. Okay I can do that, in fact I think it will look pretty good.

Then I started thinking about it. I want it nice and deep so we can plant some nice flowers in it. I'll be using 3x4 inch Landscaping Timbers. I'm going to be making it three layers deep.

Now we're talking eight to nine cuts per layer. (Each cut is 22.5°) I just have to think about it a bit and figure out the length of each piece of wood.

I'll have fun making this and I'm sure it will look nice when I'm done.

Cat

 

[TheeGoatPig]

You could get really complicated and fabricate it like a barrel that is tapered from a wider top to a narrower bottom. The angles involved would blow my mind though, so I would never attempt that much complication with a project.

 

[The_Fool]

You could get really complicated and fabricate it like a barrel that is tapered from a wider top to a narrower bottom. The angles involved would blow my mind though, so I would never attempt that much complication with a project.

Angles wouldn't change, just the length.

 

[DesertPirate]

Angles wouldn't change, just the length.

They would be compound miters, not simple ones.

 

[TE999]

An octogon huh? Just like a stop sign. Rent a chop saw, it'll make life a lot easier.

 

[SeaCat]

I have the chop saw.

I have even figured out how to find the length of the wood sections I'll need. (You have to love the Internet. I remembered being taught this in High School oh so many years ago but I'll be damned if I could remember how to do it.)

Now I suppose I'll have to go out and buy the supplies needed and get to work on it.

Cat

 

[Weird Harold]

Now we're talking eight to nine cuts per layer. (Each cut is 22.5°) I just have to think about it a bit and figure out the length of each piece of wood.

Actually, if you're cutting at 22.5 deg, you're going to need at least 16 cuts/layer. If you only want 9 cuts per layer, cut each piece to length with a 45 deg miter and match the mitered end with the square end -- you wind up withthe 135 deg angle for each point of the octagon with only eight cuts/layer.

You really only need the top layer to be pretty with nice matching 22.5 deg miters; you're going to hide the joins in the other layers with the top layer anyway.