Advice RE Project

dwayned

Hi Guys,

I was wondering if I could ask for some advice. I am starting a project to build a reception desk for my fiancée's business. This is the first such project I have attempted so apologies for the lack of knowledge, so far Google has been my mentor.

I was going to build the frame below out of 44mmx44mm planed wood then place MDF sheets over the front/sides and possibly a conti board as the work top with 2 shelves on the inside. Should this be steady enough considering there will be shelves going in as well or would I be better adding another vertical brace at the front end of the bench?



My queries;

How best to affix the frame together.
- Combination of 2 screws and 2 wooden dowels
- 4 screws
- Something like a cam lock & dowel

RE the screws, I read somewhere that they should be 1.5 times longer than the piece of wood they are driving through so this would be ~65mm screws as the frame is 44mm thick. What about width of the screws? Is there any standard distance to stay away from the edges to prevent the wood splitting?



thanks very much
Dwayne

jack of all

I'm sure someone more qualified than me will chime in shortly with a good solution but I have a few ideas/ queries for you! If you will be sheeting 4/ 5 sides of the desk in sheet material why bother with the internal framework of softwood at all? If using 18mm MDF there should be no problems with sagging. If you had access to a biscuit joiner you could knock up a very simple carcass in short order. Using a couple of strap clamps during glue up would allow you to adjust the basic carcass for square before fixing your counter top (probably best to have an overhang all round. If using plain MDF (to be painted later) for the sides I would plane a slight chamfer on all leading edges which would create a slight shadow gap and would be more forgiving if your panels go a little out of kilter during assembly. Glue a triangle corner block in each corner (made up from multiple pieces of MDF laminated together), allow the block to sit 12mm or so below the edge of the sides and you have a "glide" or foot. Pocket screw into the side panels for safety. Glue an extra strip of MDF on the underside of the counter top, all round, to beef up the thickness and provide some additional rigidity to the open side (where you sit). You could permanently fix an interior shelf or use some cheap shelf studs/ dowels. Just some ideas to consider...

recipio

Its not a bad solution.You can just run in two no 4 spax screws into the endgrain and it will be rigid enough but you need to use a large countersunk bit for accuracy. Be sure to cut the wood bang on at 90 ,preferably with a miter saw.
If painting it I would screw some 6 mm MDF panels to the outside of the frame for rigidity. Fill or plug the countersunk holes.
Using 18mm MDF without any frame will make it pretty heavy and you need very accurate cutting and joining techniques.
Might I suggest that Conti board for the top is a bit cheapo cheapo - can you get hold of a piece of kitchen worktop or at least something about 40 mm thick with an overhang.
Lastly try and build in a toeboard - recessed 50 mm under the bottom or everybody will be stubbing their toes on the frame.