Attaching triangular wood

[KentAndy]

I am looking at building something like this:

https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?img...d=0ahUKEwiEhMb2j-nJAhUF0RQKHezGCiEQMwgjKAcwBw

I was just wondering what the bets tecnique would be to securely fix the triangular pieces at the front?

I really am stumped on this one.

 

[marcros]

It depends what tools you have.

Dominos, biscuits, dowels, pocket screws.

 

[worn thumbs]

A couple of biscuits each side with a recycled three inch cut nail to hold things while the glue cures.For the industrial aesthetic,leave the nail visible.

 

[galleywood]

+1 for biscuits

 

[Jacob]

A big nail through predrilled hole at each end. Cut off nails nearer the pointy end one each side - aligned at 45º so they go in straight as you hammer the triangular section in? Just an idea!

 

[Droogs]

+1 for Jacobs comment. It's how my sheesham corner unit was put together and that held up for 5 years before i took it apart

 

[Steve Maskery]

If you want to add the triangular piece last, use biscuits. Dominoes are great, of course, but you will have to jiggle things to get them in in both directions at the same time, whereas the curved shape of biscuits make that task much easier.

If you don't have a BJ, then you can get the same effect with a slot cutter in a router.

 

[andersonec]

Fit your biscuits and clamp before you fit the back uprights. you will have to make the receiving slots larger than usual as the triangular piece will be entering at an angle to either side and not straight on..

Andy

 

[custard]

Fitting the triangular infill isn't hard, depending on what kit you've got just pick from any of the previous suggestions...they'll all work.

The other issue you've got is the long mitre joints that join the straight sections together. Whatever you do don't butt joint them as then they're guaranteed to split. The version you show in the photo is mitred, and that's probably the best approach but there are still a couple of things to bear in mind,

-if the corner isn't exactly 90 degrees then you'll have to bisect the actual angle for the mitre, this in turn will have implications for the triangular infill, so do that last
-the mitre will do its best to open at one end as the boards shrink or swell, to stop a gap opening up you should secure the mitre right along its length. A stopped spline is best but multiple biscuits, dominos or dowels would also get the job done.

Good luck!

 

[blackrodd]

A big nail through predrilled hole at each end. Cut off nails nearer the pointy end one each side - aligned at 45º so they go in straight as you hammer the triangular section in? Just an idea!

+1 for the above if you wan't to keep it simple, dowels or nails, fix the outer edges with sunken screws and pellet them
Regards Rodders

 

[KentAndy]

Fitting the triangular infill isn't hard, depending on what kit you've got just pick from any of the previous suggestions...they'll all work.

The other issue you've got is the long mitre joints that join the straight sections together. Whatever you do don't butt joint them as then they're guaranteed to split. The version you show in the photo is mitred, and that's probably the best approach but there are still a couple of things to bear in mind,

-if the corner isn't exactly 90 degrees then you'll have to bisect the actual angle for the mitre, this in turn will have implications for the triangular infill, so do that last
-the mitre will do its best to open at one end as the boards shrink or swell, to stop a gap opening up you should secure the mitre right along its length. A stopped spline is best but multiple biscuits, dominos or dowels would also get the job done.

Good luck!

Thank you all very much for your advice. I think I will go for buscuits.

Its funny that you mentioned the mitred sections. I was going to butt join them by starting with one section as a cabinet and then I was going to use pocket holes to join one section to the other. I wasn't confident enough to join the two mitres with buscuits... Is this the wrong approach?

As an aside, how would you join to scaff boards at a right angle? Buscuits? Dowels? Pockets?

Cheers,

Andy

 

[custard]

Fitting the triangular infill isn't hard, depending on what kit you've got just pick from any of the previous suggestions...they'll all work.

The other issue you've got is the long mitre joints that join the straight sections together. Whatever you do don't butt joint them as then they're guaranteed to split. The version you show in the photo is mitred, and that's probably the best approach but there are still a couple of things to bear in mind,

-if the corner isn't exactly 90 degrees then you'll have to bisect the actual angle for the mitre, this in turn will have implications for the triangular infill, so do that last
-the mitre will do its best to open at one end as the boards shrink or swell, to stop a gap opening up you should secure the mitre right along its length. A stopped spline is best but multiple biscuits, dominos or dowels would also get the job done.

Good luck!

Thank you all very much for your advice. I think I will go for buscuits.

Its funny that you mentioned the mitred sections. I was going to butt join them by starting with one section as a cabinet and then I was going to use pocket holes to join one section to the other. I wasn't confident enough to join the two mitres with buscuits... Is this the wrong approach?

As an aside, how would you join to scaff boards at a right angle? Buscuits? Dowels? Pockets?

Cheers,

Andy

Hello Andy, use biscuits on the mitre joint, nothing to get concerned about, it's all pretty straightforward. A butt joint however will end badly.

Wood shrinks and expands across the grain, it hardly moves at all along the grain. If you did a butt joint without a triangular infill section you wouldn't have a problem, just make two separate pieces of furniture and leave them resting next to each other. However the triangular infill sections means the entire corner piece should really be one complete piece of furniture, and in this scenario a butt joint between an end grain board and a long grain board will likely end in tears. So stick to the long mitre solution as illustrated in the photo you posted, and use biscuits if that's what you're comfortable with. It'll be fine!

Good luck.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Custard, you make more stuff than I do, so I'm certainly prepared to hear you out. But what about shrinkage of long mitres? I'd say that there is an even bigger risk of a long mitre failing. Usually it's the internal corner that opens up as the wood shrinks. No problem in a kitchen scenario with man-made board material, but with a softwood? I'd be very wary of that.
It looks good, but I think that the whole thing is a tad high-risk, if I'm honest.

 

[KentAndy]

Thank you all for your detailed replies.

It's all getting a bit complicated. I don't want it to be weak but equally I got given 10 scaff boards for free and I want to use them for a nice project.

 

[custard]

Steve, you're right to be concerned. I think mitre shrinkage could be tackled with adequate jointing right across the mitre, but I went back and looked at the original photos and it's not what I expected. I thought there'd be some upright in the back corner, maybe in the manner of a diagonal corbel, that was principally carrying the weight of the TV. But looking more closely I can't see anything in the shadows. So jointing with mitres but without any additional support would just leave the boards cantilevered out in the air to carry whatever weight the client chooses to place on the top. As currently pictured that's not a good design and the triangular infill pieces are in some ways a distraction from the more important question of how to make a corner unit that could carry the weight of someone sitting on it!

 

[KentAndy]

What would you suggest I do? I can't really add a corner support as I will need to put sky box dvd box etc probably in the joins?

 

[KentAndy]

Would you suggest an mdf 18mm lower section with a scaff top for effect?

 

[custard]

Would you suggest an mdf 18mm lower section with a scaff top for effect?

That would have the advantage that you could joint it any way you like with no shrinkage problems. But if you wanted to use scaffolding boards throughout then two separate cabs standing next to each other would also remove any shrinkage problems.

 

[KentAndy]

Thank you. If I do them as two separate cabinets I will need to make it look like one so may just use one end that is a third the size. That way I will have something to screw into and it won't stand out.

Thank you all for your help.

 

[beganasatree]

Hi Andy,
How about work top joining bolts?You could use a smaller nut and bolt and some flat steel bar.



PETER