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Thread: Floating, Wall-hanging Desk

  1. #1
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    Floating, Wall-hanging Desk

    Hi All,

    A friend of mine has asked me to build him a modern wall-hanging desk. He wants it to be up to 11' long (it can be comprised of separate sections). He's a photographer and this desk is for a modern workspace he has in a newly constructed free-standing studio/office in his back yard.

    He would prefer for it to have no legs or visible bracketry. Of course my main concern is strength, knowing that people often use desks to lift themselves out of their seats. If he has an overweight guest, this could be a problem!

    Here's an example of something like what he's thinking (don't take the design too literally though):

    http://www.yliving.com/mash-studios-...dl0A4Q#thetabs

    So my question- do you guys have any advice on designing it for sufficient strength? In the example above, I imagine large steel brackets passing through and fasten to the backside of the wooden "wall plate", and the wall plate is tastefully lag-bolted to the studs at high and low positions.

    Would this be strong enough?

    Thanks!!

    Peter

  2. #2
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    Does this proposed desk fit into an alcove between two walls? Or does it have a wall at one end?

    How thick does he want the desk to be at the front edge? 3/4" 2"? 4"? Is it just a solid slab, or does he want drawers and such in it? How deep is it? That is, front-to-back dimension.

    (BTW, the Yliving example is kinda ugly. The upper lag bolts are right out in plain sight, and they destroy the "floating" esthetic. The designer should at least have put them inside the desk. And why put that sliding aluminum panel on the thing? When it slides, it sweeps things on the desk surface along with it, so you can't use the front 3" of the desk. Dumb.)

  3. #3
    is the studio construction finished? you could install large steel L brackets behind the drywall that protrude horizontally to support the desk, or get some (1/2" steel) brackets fabricated and powder coated to match the wall. they could be surface mounted and be relatively invisible, or maybe even let into the drywall.

    what about a cable/turnbuckle type hanger, almost like an awning? visible, but relatively unobtrusive.

    the desk in the link is, aesthetically, right up my alley, but i have to agree with Jamie that the design choices make no sense. i'm not a fan of that wall plate, and although i like the sliding metal 'drawer front', its creates a kerf along the entire top. how annoying would that be? works much better on the wall cabinet shown in one of the pictures.
    Melad StudioWorks
    North Brookfield, MA

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Peter Aeschliman View Post
    So my question- do you guys have any advice on designing it for sufficient strength? In the example above, I imagine large steel brackets passing through and fasten to the backside of the wooden "wall plate", and the wall plate is tastefully lag-bolted to the studs at high and low positions.

    Would this be strong enough?

    Thanks!!

    Peter
    My take on it would be, given the desk in the image, I dont think you would need any steel brackets at all if the box and flange were adequately sized and well constructed. I wouldnt have a worry screwing the desk in that image to the wall (appropriate fasteners) so long as the projection were let-in to a dado on the flanged portion, glued, clamped, and screwed from the back. If the entire projection is well assembled I would almost guarantee the fasteners into the wall, or the wall itself, would fail before any of the joinery. You would of course have to fasten the flange to the wall and plug. If the plugs were an issue you may consider a mounting flange of ply/soilds and then desk assembly sliding down over and just sitting there though you may loose a little strength.

    Its always good to think of the fact that someone may sit on the edge of the desk, or even climb/stand on the desk. I would even venture, even though we are in the US (calorie laiden) someone could stand on the desk and be ok.

  5. #5
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    Well, the OP seems to have disappeared, so this thread is likely going nowhere. However, one simple approach is FastCap's Speedbrace. http://www.fastcap.com/estore/pc/Speed-Brace-4p2457.htm No custom steel necessary. It is a line of big steel braces specifically intended for uses like this. A pair will support 1000 pounds. These braces make a big wall-hung desk easy. You tack a horizontal 1x2 to the wall to establish the horizontal. You screw the braces to the studs. You build a table top to sit on the braces. You screw the top to the braces. Done. There's no worrying about whether the wall is straight. If the wall is not plumb, you can put shims on top of the braces to fix it. The whole thing is simple.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jamie Buxton View Post
    Well, the OP seems to have disappeared, so this thread is likely going nowhere. However, one simple approach is FastCap's Speedbrace. http://www.fastcap.com/estore/pc/Speed-Brace-4p2457.htm No custom steel necessary. It is a line of big steel braces specifically intended for uses like this. A pair will support 1000 pounds. These braces make a big wall-hung desk easy. You tack a horizontal 1x2 to the wall to establish the horizontal. You screw the braces to the studs. You build a table top to sit on the braces. You screw the top to the braces. Done. There's no worrying about whether the wall is straight. If the wall is not plumb, you can put shims on top of the braces to fix it. The whole thing is simple.
    Jamie, thanks for the link. It led to some other nice braces (Deco Speedbrace) that I think I'll use for some garage shelves I need to hang.
    Brian

    "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger or more complicated...it takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." - E.F. Schumacher

  7. #7
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    Thanks everyone for your feedback. Busy at work- sorry for my delay replying.

    Here are a few pictures of the space. Sorry, they're not all that clear, but it should give you an idea.






    Quote Originally Posted by Jamie Buxton View Post
    Does this proposed desk fit into an alcove between two walls? Or does it have a wall at one end?

    How thick does he want the desk to be at the front edge? 3/4" 2"? 4"? Is it just a solid slab, or does he want drawers and such in it? How deep is it? That is, front-to-back dimension.
    -There are walls at either end, but it's a really long space (11'). So I think the wall will help for strength on the ends, but won't be of I'm worried about the middle.
    -We're not sure on edge thickness. For budget reasons, we're considering high-quality plywood (no voids, etc)- I've seen some modern furniture that looks great with exposed plywood end/edge "grain". So we're probably talking 3/4".
    -I'm thinking about doing something like the alcoves pictured in the link I sent. I told him I can't commit to doing drawers or doors (I'm doing this for free as a favor)
    -Not sure on final dimensions- obviously if we make the desk surface shallower, leverage is less of a worry... but it needs to serve its function too.

    Quote Originally Posted by Jamie Buxton View Post
    (BTW, the Yliving example is kinda ugly. The upper lag bolts are right out in plain sight, and they destroy the "floating" esthetic. The designer should at least have put them inside the desk. And why put that sliding aluminum panel on the thing? When it slides, it sweeps things on the desk surface along with it, so you can't use the front 3" of the desk. Dumb.)
    Agree completely- that link was the result of a quick google image search just to give you guys a very rough visual of the general approach.

    Quote Originally Posted by Ethan Melad View Post
    is the studio construction finished? you could install large steel L brackets behind the drywall that protrude horizontally to support the desk, or get some (1/2" steel) brackets fabricated and powder coated to match the wall. they could be surface mounted and be relatively invisible, or maybe even let into the drywall.
    The space is already constructed and finished, unfortunately. I like where your head is though!

    Quote Originally Posted by Ethan Melad View Post
    what about a cable/turnbuckle type hanger, almost like an awning? visible, but relatively unobtrusive.
    That's an awesome idea! I'll float that to my buddy. He has one wall in his studio (on the right end of the table) that is covered with intentionally-rusted steel panels. I have a sandblasting cabinet, so I wonder if I could blast down some galvanized steel cable and turnbuckles and rust them to match.

    Quote Originally Posted by Ethan Melad View Post
    the desk in the link is, aesthetically, right up my alley, but i have to agree with Jamie that the design choices make no sense. i'm not a fan of that wall plate, and although i like the sliding metal 'drawer front', its creates a kerf along the entire top. how annoying would that be? works much better on the wall cabinet shown in one of the pictures.
    Definitely would prefer not to do the wall plate idea. It's not as clean and simple-looking as what we're going for.

    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Bolton View Post
    My take on it would be, given the desk in the image, I dont think you would need any steel brackets at all if the box and flange were adequately sized and well constructed. I wouldnt have a worry screwing the desk in that image to the wall (appropriate fasteners) so long as the projection were let-in to a dado on the flanged portion, glued, clamped, and screwed from the back. If the entire projection is well assembled I would almost guarantee the fasteners into the wall, or the wall itself, would fail before any of the joinery. You would of course have to fasten the flange to the wall and plug. If the plugs were an issue you may consider a mounting flange of ply/soilds and then desk assembly sliding down over and just sitting there though you may loose a little strength.

    Its always good to think of the fact that someone may sit on the edge of the desk, or even climb/stand on the desk. I would even venture, even though we are in the US (calorie laiden) someone could stand on the desk and be ok.
    You could be right- I've just never done a cantilevered desk like this (well, I guess this isn't cantilevered technically), so I would hate to build and install it only to find that it's flimsy... I'm a belt and suspenders kind of guy I guess!!

    Quote Originally Posted by Jamie Buxton View Post
    Well, the OP seems to have disappeared, so this thread is likely going nowhere. However, one simple approach is FastCap's Speedbrace. http://www.fastcap.com/estore/pc/Speed-Brace-4p2457.htm No custom steel necessary. It is a line of big steel braces specifically intended for uses like this. A pair will support 1000 pounds. These braces make a big wall-hung desk easy. You tack a horizontal 1x2 to the wall to establish the horizontal. You screw the braces to the studs. You build a table top to sit on the braces. You screw the top to the braces. Done. There's no worrying about whether the wall is straight. If the wall is not plumb, you can put shims on top of the braces to fix it. The whole thing is simple.
    Again, my apologies for the delay... I've been working 14 hour days this week (TGIF!). Thanks for the link- I like the simplicity of brackets like that. I'll see what my friend thinks.

    Thanks again everybody.
    Last edited by Peter Aeschliman; 10-25-2013 at 4:40 PM.

  8. #8


    What about something along these lines? This was just done as a quickie but maybe it gives you some ideas

  9. #9
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    Our art studio above the garage has a 12' long desk surface in three sections. They are made out of oak plywood with a 1x2 for the lip standing on edge. They are hinged at the top or back of the surface and have very interesting supports. 3/8" steel rods that telescope into slightly larger tubing. There are two supports at each side, and the locking mechanism is a plastic handwheel with 1/4" threads, working on a welded nut on the tubing. They work really well, are adjustable for tilt and can go from vertical to horizontal. Not exactly what you described but very functional. The lower end of the tubing is welded to a lap hinge mounted on a beam near the floor.

  10. #10
    There is the obvious - using brackets that are hard to see etc....and I doubt you need advice on this

    I also came across this website, pettydesign which suspended a table using a cable and a bookshelf.

    Now for the real idea.....I've heard of this being done by using steel rods, with the rods mounted into the wall. Obviously, the rods need to be mounted into something suitably solid - wall studs for example. There was an article on doing this for a wall-mounted server, in the June 2013 edition of Popular Woodworking.

    A table would be somewhat heavier than the server, but the idea of mounting a long, heavier table intrigued me, so how about this....

    Build a torsion box, out of two 11' long pieces of wood, with the pieces separated by 1 1/2 inch x 1 inch rails. Build several of the rails by laminating together two 3/4 x 1 inch pieces of wood, that have a dado cut out of them that would be half as deep as the steel rod you would be using. Rather than using plain steel rods, use instead threaded steel rods. Each of the threaded steel rods needs to be properly mounted into the wall. The threaded steel rods mount directly into the dado, which would have recessed into the end furthest from the wall, a hole to accomodate two nuts, which can be tightened onto the steel rod.

    You literally tighten all the bolts, tightening the shelf into the wall, pulling it into place. If you want, you could mount triangular brackets underneath the table to provide some additional support.

    The torsion box could be the finished product, meaning you just attach a face frame, or you could them mount a tabletop and table front over the torsion box.

    I've mocked something up on sketchup, showing t bottom half of the torsion box, to demonstrate what I'm thinking of. Take a look at the left end of the torsion box diagram - you'll see what I have as an idea for mounting the threaded rods.

    The idea for the threaded rods came from a take-apart workbench I used, where I used threaded rods, mounted in a dado, to pull the joints together.

    Of course, there is a dowside on all this.......You need to cut some holes into the wall to mount the rods to studs....or take down the entire wall. Still, the idea is interesting....
    Attached Files Attached Files

  11. #11
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    One of the recent issues of Fine Homebuilding had an article on building a wall-hung vanity; no legs or base. For support the builder used some very large iron T-straps, similar to the ones you use to support outdoor structures. Most likely they were 1/4" flat iron, welded into a T-shape. The vertical leg of the strap was bolted to the wall framing, with the horizontal leg projecting into the room for mounting the cabinet. A torsion-box structure would be ideal for flatness and strength. Be sure to show us the results when done.

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