TheProf

Hello,

I hope everyone is well.

I'm hoping to pick the brains of the gurus here. I have the following wooden desk:



The make up of desk is:
Main parts- Steel, Pigmented epoxy/polyester powder coating
Panels- Particleboard, ABS plastic, Melamine foil

I would like to attach a keyboard arm I picked up (at an amazing price of $50 CAD from a used furniture place!) to the bottom of the desk so it swivels forward. The arm looks similar, but not exactly, to this:


(Sorry for the large size)

A close-up of the part that would attach to the bottom of the desk surface is:



So here are my questions:

1) Is the besk option to screw it into place through the existing holes? I had heard that particleboard isn't the greatest stuff to screw into.
2) would it be better to somehow glue or caulk it onto the desk instead?
3) the bottom surface of the desk is not a smooth wooden surface. Imagine you flipped the desk upside down. You would find, running about an inch in from all sides, a steel reinforcement bar about 1"x1", along the entire perimeter. Would I then have to mount this arm against that?

I'm not sure if I've described the situation well enough - if more info is needed, I will try to clarify.

thank you very much!

iamnormal

Glue a piece of wood to the bottom of the desk then screw the keyboard tray to it.
The piece of wood is bigger than the keyboard tray mount and small enouf to fit in between the metal parts of the desk. Wood thickness 1/2" to 1" thick should work.

Be sure to use good clamping force or heavy weights when glueing the wood.

cyrnel

By the time you have the shim and the tray attached you could lose 1"+ vertically. Make sure you and your chair can roll under where you're attaching the tray.

When I tried trays it always meant raising the desktop which then didn't match other surfaces. I eventually gave up on them. My favorite part was chair arms ramming my hands into tray edges.

__________________
There are a vast number of people who are uninformed and heavily propagandized, but fundamentally decent. The propaganda that inundates them is effective when unchallenged, but much of it goes only skin deep. If they can be brought to raise questions and apply their decent instincts and basic intelligence, many people quickly escape the confines of the doctrinal system and are willing to do something to help others who are really suffering and oppressed." -Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, p. 195

fhqwhgads

I wouldn't suggest screwing anything that is going to take any kind of weight into the bottom of a piece of particle board. Gluing isn't going to do much either... particle board is very prone to splitting/seperating. Is there any way that you could attach a 1/2 inch thin board across the underside of the desk, lengthwise, and attach it to the metal framework of the desk? Put a few screws through the board into the particle board as well, so it doesn't sag. Then attach the tray to that piece...

Martian

Also, while it's possible to screw into particleboard it's not highly recommended, as due to the makeup, particleboard tends to tear itself apart when you apply torque.

Best bet is to go with fhqwhgads' suggestion and attach a piece of wood to the metal framework, although I'd recommend glue rather than screwing it onto the particleboard. Again, make sure you clamp heavily. Note that you may need either a shim or cross beam of some sort though if the frame and the bottom of the desk surface aren't level.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

TheProf

Hello,

Thank you all for replying to my questions.

So the overall view is that it is not enough to just screw/glue into the bottom of the desk. This is good to know.

A comment about the clearance under the desk is important, but since the desk is completely adjustable, I can just raise the hight of the desk (it has holes every 1.5" along the full height) appropriately. Just hope I don't have to go too high!

In regards to the frame acround the bottom of the desk, you can see the right side and along the front (it is recessed on the front) of it in the image in my first post. It is completely flush with the desk so that won't be a problem. The distance between the bars is fairly large (about 42" across the front and 24" front-to-back) and the frame itself is 1 1/4" square a side. What would you recommend I do to attach the wood to the metal? Do I need to drill through it? Glue? Clamps? Magic?

thanks.

fhqwhgads

Gluing wood to metal isn't a great idea. Use some sheet metal screws. Drill a pilot hole through the piece of wood and through the metal, and use a sheet metal screw that's at least 1/4" - 1/2" longer than the thickness of the piece of wood that you're using. Just make sure that the screw isn't so long that you'll go through the desktop. (Keep in mind that when you drill your pilot holes, you want to use a drill bit with a diameter just slightly smaller than the diameter of the screw)

Also, it's not a bad idea to put some "liquid nails" or another all purpose adhesive on the board before you screw it to the desk, just for added support.