Beginner tabletop thickness question

**syilim** · 29th June 2017, 03:36 AM

Hi All.

Completely new to woodworking here. Actually, I don't think you can even call this project "woodworking" as it's a very simple ikea-like job. Anyway. So I'm gonna make my own desk by joining some table legs to a table top. It's quite a common combination found on most youtube "dream desk" setup videos. The question here is whether or not the table top I'm using is thick enough, or do I need to attach another piece of plywood underneath it before screwing the legs on. So the tabletop I'm using is actually a kitchen cabinet type of wood. I'm not sure of the exact name for this type of wood, but it's meant to be for kitchen cabinet doors, wrapped with Formica laminate. It's 20mm thick, and 186cm x 80cm. I'll be using a Alex drawer unit (ALEX Drawer unit - grey - IKEA) to support the center part of the table top, along with 4 Adil legs (ADILS Leg Silver-colour - IKEA) at the 4 corners. I noticed that most of the tabletops offered at Ikea are roughly 30mm thick, with the thinnest one being 28mm thick. Would my 20mm tabletop be thick enough to connect the legs with screws? Obviously the screws will have to be less than 20mm, otherwise, it'll protrude through the top of the tabletop. I suppose majority of the weight of the tabletop, and everything else I'll be using on the desk will be supported mostly by the drawer unit, so the the screws attaching the legs really only need to be sturdy enough to keep the legs in place, therefore even sub 20mm screws will do right? Or should i attach another piece of wood under the tabletop so the legs can be screwed on with longer screws?

Sorry for the very basic question. I just dont want to risk using short screws, only to find later on that the screws aren't long enough to keep the legs in place.

Thanks

**Alkahestic** · 29th June 2017, 12:47 PM

First off - I think I had a heart attack when I saw $699 for the drawer unit. Then I saw it's Ikea Hong Kong and in HK dollars.

Moving on - if the drawer top is 36x58x70cm and your top is 186x80cm, you'll have about 75cm between the edge of the drawer top and the top of the edge. Putting it into The Sagulator – WoodBin you should be ok assuming the top is MDF. You'll just have to make sure the top is resting on the drawer unit completely or better yet fix the drawer unit to the top. Short screws on the legs shouldn't matter if there isn't much lateral force, and for a table there really shouldn't be any. Happy to be corrected in that regard though.

**syilim** · 29th June 2017, 03:25 PM

Thankyou for your reply, Alkahestic.

Yes, it's Hong Kong. Haha. Sorry for giving you a heart attack.

The idea is most certainly to rest the top completely on the drawer, as well as the 4 legs at the four corners. The drawer will be centered horizontally-wise, but not depth-wise as I want the front of the drawers to sit flush with the front edge of the top. So basically, the rear 22mm of the tabletop won't be sitting on the drawers. But since its such a small area, im guessing that won't play much part on sagging potential.

As for the legs, since i wont be attaching them right on the edge, but around 5cm in from the edge, therefore the part of the tabletop that won't be supported by anything is around 70cm. Im hoping since it's a relatively short area that sagging won't be a problem. I need to find out from the place i got the top from exactly what wood is used. They told me the chinese name of the type of wood, but I've no idea what that is in english....haha.

If sagging is an issue, what would be the simplest solution to strengthen it? Would attaching one piece of wood, say around 18mmx30mm along the whole length of the underside of the top, just behind the back of the drawer where it makes contact with the top be enough?

THanks

**Alkahestic** · 29th June 2017, 04:01 PM

Attaching a single piece of wood may stiffen the top a bit but I'd be dubious as to how much it'd help. Realistically you'd have to make a frame and attach the top to it, then attach the legs to the frame (oddly enough, kind of like actual tables

) to eliminate sagging issues. Your initial idea of using a piece of plywood under the 2cm top would probably be simpler.

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