I'm building a desk for the home office and have an off cut of 40mm MDF that we used as a worktop for another project. Unfortunately it's not quite as deep as required, but as it will be built-in this gives me an opportunity to add a "cable trough" along the back edge. I have made this from plywood (a simple U shaped profile) and now face the task of affixing one vertical face to the endgrain of the MDF.
I have a large span that will have minimal support (i.e. not a leg) so I would like to make this joint as still as possible for stiffness. Whilst I would typically trust wood glue and minimal mechanical fastenings, I suspect that it will get absorbed into the MDF endgrain too quickly to be effective, is this correct?
I have had unpleasant experiences with using screws with MDF in the past and had hoped that deep pocket holes in the worktop would be a good solution, but test pieces faced the same splitting that is common with fixings and MDF.
A supporting piece could be easily secured to the plywood trough to create a "shelf" to support the MDF and allow fixing into the face would do the job, but unfortunately I don't have the room to do this along the full length.
If the word picture I'm attempting to paint above is clear as mud, please let me know and I'll try to cook up some photos.
Any suggestions, most welcome.
I have a large span that will have minimal support (i.e. not a leg) so I would like to make this joint as still as possible for stiffness. Whilst I would typically trust wood glue and minimal mechanical fastenings, I suspect that it will get absorbed into the MDF endgrain too quickly to be effective, is this correct?
I have had unpleasant experiences with using screws with MDF in the past and had hoped that deep pocket holes in the worktop would be a good solution, but test pieces faced the same splitting that is common with fixings and MDF.
A supporting piece could be easily secured to the plywood trough to create a "shelf" to support the MDF and allow fixing into the face would do the job, but unfortunately I don't have the room to do this along the full length.
If the word picture I'm attempting to paint above is clear as mud, please let me know and I'll try to cook up some photos.
Any suggestions, most welcome.
