Wall mounted desk, material suggestions.

[johnw100]

Hi All

I`d like to build a desk for our study but i`m not sure about the best material to use.

This is the design, total length about 280cm and width 55cm. Its to support 2 x 21" monitors , 17" laptop and keyboard.

Untitled

• johnw100
• 29 Mar 2013
• 1

I was going to fix battens at the ends and along the backwalls. I was considering melamine covered 18mm mdf but i`m concerned it will sag with the weight of the equipment. If thats the case would perhaps two pieces of 18mm mdf glued together do the job, or perhaps a metal post to the floor where the desk angle changes? Or would another material type be better?

Any suggestions? Thanks alot

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Kitchen worktop, they come in all different appearances.

 

[AronSearle]

It might be worth seeing if you have any wood recyclers around you, rather than buying a new kitchen work top, see if they have any solid blanks, and if they have a second hand wooden kitchen top or table you can sand it as good as new, and cut to shape.

 

[AronSearle]

Also if you are in london, what about Ikea.

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/40146524/#/00145748

not quite the length you want, but close.

 

[Burnerman]

Do consider how to produce that mitre though....not the easiest bit of the job!
John

 

[AronSearle]

you could make a cardboard/paper cut out then use that as a stick on template.

 

[foxhole]

Last office I worked in used 25mm mdf, takes a lot of weight though monitors weigh little and could be wall mounted.
Kitchen worktop would seem ideal, either laminate or timber depending on budget, though mdf would be cheapest.[Offcuts would provide all the batoning so only one sheet required.]
Single leg required just to the right of join.

 

[joe-90]

The easiest way to get the right cut would be to loose overlay them and mark the point where they intersect - then join the lines up and cut.

Does anyone know a way of working it out using maths?

 

[AronSearle]

Draw it in sketchup and use the protractor to measure the angle?

 

[Harbourwoodwork]

The easiest way to get the right cut would be to loose overlay them and mark the point where they intersect - then join the lines up and cut.

Does anyone know a way of working it out using maths?

Yeh you could do with trigonometry but I wouldn't bother I think youv'e got it nailed

 

[pr1970ster]

What about if you build a template out of newspapers and overlay it on top of a large sheet of mdf. Then use a jigsaw to cut out the shape. It would also you to put a nice curve in the desk rather than straight angled edges. Perhaps glue to sheets of mdf together to give it some thickness.
Just an idea.

 

[Harbourwoodwork]

If I were going down the template route I would use some 4mm sheet of whatever is cheapest ,rip it to finished width,use two rip's to get round the angle fix /clamp together on the overlap ad the curved front with a fairing batten directly onto MDF top

 

[big-all]

have you thought about using shelve or drawer units as support as you will need somewhere to store all the crud

i personally would aim for support at 2 points with no gap greater than 1200

as an aside
if you don't bisect the angle equally one will be longer than the other
as in say 18 degrees if one is at 12 and the other is at 6% you will have maybe a 25mm difference

 

[johnw100]

Thanks for the all the responses.

Harbourwoodwork
With the template route. D you mean cut two 4mm sheets to the correct shape and then use battens along the walls and also the depth of the worktop from front to back. Then tack a strip of 4mm sheet to the front ?
I've done some shelves before like this but not anything with a curve or angle.

Joe-90
Like the idea of overlaying two pieces of wood. I think I'd prefer to have some nice solid wood for the desk, but comes down to cost really. What's the best way of joining the two pieces.

I wasn't going to have any fixed drawers. But was going to have a long shelf under the main worktop for printer,etc. it might be worth considering some vertical supports that include shelving I guess to provide strength.

 

[Harbourwoodwork]

No, just using thin sheet for template for one piece MDF worktop