Need help with keyboard tray

[motorhead9999]

I need some input/advice. I made this keyboard tray, and I'm having some issue with it. The two side panels it's attached to are 3/4 plywood with solid maple strips on the edge. They're connected to the desktop with festool domino metal connectors. They seem to hold the weight fine, but when pulling/pushing the keyboard in and out, they are definitely shifting at the bottom left to right, and it definitely seems to be pulling out the screws for the keyboard slide from the plywood panels. Any suggestions on how to proceed here? I thought of the following, but I'm not really sure what's best:
1) Get some angle brackets and mount them on either side of where the panel connects to the desk, hopefully preventing them from swaying as much
2) Put a panel that runs along the bottom of the side panels
3) Run a stringer along the back of the side panels

Any other suggestions/ideas?

 

[cpw]

I would put something between the side panels to prevent them from racking.  The connectors are really best used with wooden dominos to hold the weight, and the connectors just lock things together.  You don't seem to have anything that could do that for you.  But even if the connectors were glued domino tenons, you have a box with no back which racks easily.

 

[tjbnwi]

If you have the room put a back on the keyboard “box”.

Tom

 

[waho6o9]

Panel back and or top rail as suggested is good advice.

All the Best

 

[semenza]

  ^^^^  Yup, add back and bottom.  If you need clearance you can add strips (glued in place) to extend the size of the end panels.

  Basically there is a lot of weight wiggling or "swinging" left / right.

Seth

 

[Packard]

Not much weight.  I would add some pocket screws.  They would not be visible and they would handle the weight.  A back panel, glued and nailed or inset and joined with pocket screws would keep the sides from racking. 

I don’t know what brand keyboard you are using, but a mid-range ($500.00) Full-sized Korg keyboard weighs in at about 25 pounds. 

I was basing my recommendation on a weight range of 25 - 35 pounds.

This is a variation on Occam’s Razor.  The simplest solution is often (most often) the best.

 

[motorhead9999]

Alright, so after some fiddling, I realized I had to go a bit back to the drawing board on this.

I think my best option at this point is going to make a dedicated box to house the keyboard and tray, and then attach it via screws to the desktop itself. I'll use some threaded inserts for that part.

So I guess the question now is, what is the "proper" way to make the box. I figured I'd use dominos glued in place, but I'm not sure what is the best way to align the panels. From the photo I attached, I'd imagine that option 2 would be the "stronger" option, as in that case you would be putting as much cantilevered weight separating the plies as compared to option #1.

And for reference, the keyboard I'm putting on there is about 52lbs, plus the weight of the keyboard tray and heavy duty slides. It's also quite a long span, something around 1460mm.

 

[peter halle]

I haven't had need to use it, but wouldn't something like this lateral stabilizer help with this situation?  I realize it might require the use of particular drawer slides also, but I remember both [member=4105]tjbnwi[/member] and [member=3130]Dan Rush[/member] mentioning them in wide kitchen drawer situations to coordinate the two slides which might help with the movement  https://www.wwhardware.com/blum-tandem-lateral-stabilzer

Peter

 

[tjbnwi]

The stabilizers will help with the “walking” of the tray. I don’t think Blum makes a slide for keyboards. The primary difference in the slides for keyboard applications is they “lock” in the out position. This prevents the tray from sliding in when using the keyboard.

I believe the most important thing here is getting a 5 sided box build to prevent the box from racking.

Tom

 

[Crazyraceguy]

I would say that a full back and a single stretcher tying the sides together at the front, is the bare minimum. Putting another stretcher at the top can stabilize it even more.

 

[Packard]

I think you are over-thinking this.  I am out having my coffee, so I made a really quick sketch (below).

I would make the tray using Pocket hole joinery, or Confirmat screws, or dowels or Dominoes.  Any one of those will be strong enough for the keyboard.

To the outside of the tray, at the top, I would glue and screw a piece of 1-1/2” x 1-1/2” stock equal to the depth of the tray (see sketch).

When this is all done, a few screws through the 1-1/2” stock up into the top panel will finish this off.

The joinery will be almost entirely hidden and while you could use dovetails if it makes you happy, but none of it will show. 

You should be able to knock this off in an hour or so. 

Also, I made a “keyboard” pull-out for my computer desk, and for a computer keyboard.

But the full extension drawer slides I used could easily hold 25+ pounds.  I’ll submit a photo later.