carpentrydesk
I've built a desk out of melamine 55"l 26"w and 30"d the sides are the same material and the center of my desk bends and causes my monitor to wobble. I'd like to reinforce this without large obstruction and was wondering the best way to do that.
On a side note, I've got chips on the edges from when I cut it and was wondering the best way to fill them.
Thanks
There is usually some structure around the perimeter of hollow panels. You could either:
Reading from other comments here - 1cm round or 1cm square pipe just sticking straight out of the wall on its own will not cut the mustard. You should be thinking of some type of right angle support bracket. With a 60cm side shelf, supported along the wall on a solidly mounted strip, that right angle bracket should come out under the shelf to at least 50cm and have a vertical side against the wall as far down as feasible. I would think that the vertical span of the bracket should be at least 20cm. The length of the third side of the triangular bracket would best be if it was full length but if the vertical and horizontal sides of the bracket were really sturdy then the angled side could be shorter.
Brackets like this could be purchased ready made or fabricated out of wood or metal.
Note that with brackets like this a good share of downward applied force at the outer edge of the shelf will get translated to pull out force on the mounting strip and the upper fasteners on the bracket edge against the wall. You will have to make sure to use fasteners into the brick that can withstand this pullout force with a good margin of safety to ensure that the shelf is secure. You should definitely be thinking in terms of someone coming along and trying to sit on the edge of the desk even is that is never the intention.
Best Answer
This sounds like a quick hack kind of desk -- no shame in that, but as you are finding out it has compromises. Melamine is just the stiff plastic glued to the woody stuff underneath and provides no structural rigidity. And the kinds of things melamine is glued to, particleboard and fiberboard, have very weak resistance to breakage. I would not put a CRT monitor on a particleboard desk surface without reinforcement for example.
Strips of mild steel or hardwood screwed to the underside of the desk and running the entire long axis might help and be unobtrusive. As an extra step, and one that also solves your edge chips, aluminum angle trim can be glued and screwed to the edges of the desk to reduce flex. It won't be enough to prevent flex all by itself, but it will help.
If you need to build another desk like this, I would recommend 5/8" plywood as a superior alternative to particleboard, and real wood is best of all, as your finances and skill permits.