# How to join 2 sheets of wood



## Falmarri (Jan 1, 2010)

I'm new to working with wood, I'm an electrical engineer. But I'm bored and decided to try building a desk. I'm wondering what the best way to join 2 pieces of wood at their ends. But it's not flat. I mean, I'm building this desk to wrap around a little corner in my living room, and the wall juts out at an angle of about 130 degrees (estimate). I'm wondering how I should be joining my sheets of wood. I'd like to not have to build to seperate sections, that is, I'd like to not have any legs that have to go down so I can swing my feet under the desk and not have to work around a leg. A rough drawing of the top view is shown in the link.

http://img51.imageshack.us/i/deskhg.jpg/

I'm open to suggestions, or critiques, or people telling me I don't know what the hell I'm doing, cuz I don't.


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## phinds (Mar 25, 2009)

There are cabinetry folks here who can probably give you a better idea, but what I'd do is miter the two sheets, put biscuits (or dowels) in the joint but for real support, run an angle iron perpendicular to the joint and about a foot back from the front edge and a couple of feet away from the joint in each direction and then a shorter piece close to the wall

By the way, welcome to the forum.

Paul


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## BHOFM (Oct 14, 2008)

Two things I see, one is the desk appears to be
about ten feet over all, how are you going to get
it in there after you build it?

Until we get a flying carpet thing it has to have legs.
Or something?

Is this built in or free standing? Drawers?
If it is attached to the wall, it would just need
some cantilevered legs back to the wall for support.
If it is free standing, you might check the local office
supplies, they have legs that don't get in the way.
Like a "U'' on it's side.

WE NEED MORE INFO!
:laughing::laughing::laughing:

:boat::boat::boat:


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## phinds (Mar 25, 2009)

I'm assuming you'll have legs at the end, so my suggestion would look something like this, with the light lines representing the angle iron.

If you have room under the desk for a drawer above your legs, you could probably move the angle iron closer to the front edge and incorporate it into the drawer construction.

BHOFM's suggestion of a "U" leg is good too.


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## Falmarri (Jan 1, 2010)

Ok I guess I should elaborate. It is just about 10 feet in outer perimeter. And the idea was to make it free standing. I haven't worked out exactly how I'm going to do that yet as I was tackling this problem first, and I kind of plan on just winging it for the most part, heh. But I plan on putting about a 2 foot hollow compartment on the left side to slide my computer into (it's a double wide tower). And then a set of drawers on the far right side. I also plan on somehow putting a stand on at least the right face of the table to put my monitors on (3 24" monitors).

It wouldn't be a huge problem to attach it to the wall if that makes it significantly easier though. I'll include a picture of the space that I plan on putting it in case that helps. Sorry they're such bad quality.

http://img6.imageshack.us/i/20100101190730.jpg/
http://img685.imageshack.us/i/20100101190747.jpg/


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## Falmarri (Jan 1, 2010)

phinds said:


> If you have room under the desk for a drawer above your legs, you could probably move the angle iron closer to the front edge and incorporate it into the drawer construction.


No, I always rip those drawers out from desks I get. What software did you use to create that mockup? In that design. How strong would the desk be at the middle and how much would it sag? I'm going to have 3 pretty heavy 24 inch monitors on it as well as misc stuff I'm working on. The reason I'm trying to make it this big is that I need my monitors here, but they literally take up the entire desk and I have no place to work.


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## BHOFM (Oct 14, 2008)

It is always good to look around a bit. I like this, working in
a corner always bothered me, I like the little straight place
in this one. This would be a breeze to build. The skirt in
the back will take care of any sage and the box will
hold the tower. The end could be cut with a curve to
keep it out of the way a bit more. I have three monitors
and they are on the riser like this one. Makes for more
space on the desk and a better eye point as well.


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## phinds (Mar 25, 2009)

Falmarri said:


> No, I always rip those drawers out from desks I get. What software did you use to create that mockup? In that design. How strong would the desk be at the middle and how much would it sag? I'm going to have 3 pretty heavy 24 inch monitors on it as well as misc stuff I'm working on. The reason I'm trying to make it this big is that I need my monitors here, but they literally take up the entire desk and I have no place to work.


Use a strong angle iron and sag won't be a problem --- what WILL be a problem is that it will go from non-sagging to collapsed if you put too much weight on it and the screws pull out. A few monitors won't be a problem but if someone sits on it, all bets are off.

If you DO go with my suggestion, use lots of screws in the angle iron. Better still, use threaded inserts and machine screws instead of wood screws, at least out near the end of the angle iron.

Sketchup is the drawing tool. There's a sub-forum on it here. It's free from Google, easy to learn and has amazing capabilities.

Paul


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## Falmarri (Jan 1, 2010)

I'm slightly confused. Maybe we're using angle iron to mean different things? My understanding of angle iron is that it's bent at 90 degrees to join perpendicular pieces. Is it also called angle iron if it's just flat like your picture shows?


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## phinds (Mar 25, 2009)

Falmarri said:


> I'm slightly confused. Maybe we're using angle iron to mean different things? My understanding of angle iron is that it's bent at 90 degrees to join perpendicular pieces. Is it also called angle iron if it's just flat like your picture shows?


The drawing is just to show the POSITION of the angle iron. A flat strap of iron would be of little use, but angle iron provides a flat mounting strip and then a perpendicular strip that actualy provides the strength against sag.

Paul


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## Falmarri (Jan 1, 2010)

Oh yeah. I don't know what I was thinking. Duh. I was wondering how that was going to provide enough support. Now I just have to determine what angle my wall is really at.


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## phinds (Mar 25, 2009)

I just realized that when I made the comment about using threaded inserts out near the ends of the angle iron, I had my head screwed on back-asswards ... you need the most strength at the MIDDLE of the angle iron where the joint is, so that's where you should use the threaded inserts.


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## TomC (Oct 27, 2008)

I would use gloot.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*I would use 3 pieces of wood...*

a scab of cross grained plywood running across the bottom intersection a minimum of 12'' lap on each side. If you look at the desk posted by BHOFM it shows a bridge shelf above the desk surface. This can be made into a structural element by closing in the sides or ends across the back and attaching this to the rear edge of the main desk portion. WE are trying to keep the intersection from "bending" and breaking ultimately. By adding a structural element 6" to 8" above the main desk we create a bridge span which will strengthen the entire unit. I suck at sketch-up or I would post an image. Maybe mics can help out here or someone. :blink: bill


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## mics_54 (Oct 28, 2008)

Just use to layers of sheet goods for the top, stagger the joints. It needs to be attached to the wall because it will be front heavy with the center of gravity in a line between the two end supports.


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## BHOFM (Oct 14, 2008)

If you look close at the picture I posted, it is a three piece top.
Center section with wings. Much stronger and simpler to build.

I would make the top of MDF doubled for a full 1 1/2"! You could
have lap joints at the seams. 

Make the surface of laminate flooring and do a chis cross pattern
for the middle seam.


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## Burnt_Blade (Dec 26, 2009)

I made a simple drawing of a desk that I'd make in a scenario like yours, have the back edge of the desk supported by cleats on the wall. The mitre angle is supported by the column that hides the power cords coming down to the towers, as well as having that bracket to provide support closer out to the front edge of the mitre intersection point.

As far as the three heavy monitors, I did not make the drawing of them, but you could build a variation of a microwave shelf that is separate from the desk and is mounted on the wall, high enough to give you several inches of clearance from the desktop....or

consider mounting the monitors on pivoting arms that are secured to the wall...


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## mics_54 (Oct 28, 2008)

Which is the front???? The inside corner or the outside corner?

Attached Images


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## Falmarri (Jan 1, 2010)

The inside corner. I think I'm going to go with a small box type support in the back corner with at least 1 piece of angle iron supporting the front. If it needs more I'll add more but I think that should be ok. I'm going to home depot now, I'm sure I'll be back here for more advice.


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