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Cabinet has a little give...should I worry?

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ahofle:

Ya, no back panel (UAII plans). 
Forgive my ignorance, but are we talking metal braces here?  Or just 2x4s?  And would this be right in the middle of the cab?  I was hoping it wouldn't affect the storage space (i.e. where my PC is sitting) too much.

RTSDaddy2:

I'll have to try those diagonal braces also. I've got 2 x 4's under the sides of the monitor already, so it wouldn't work to put them there again, I don't suppose.  ;D

(Kudos Drew - left me rolling again! Wife says you'll have to talk about the hat though!  ;D)



DrewKaree:

Ima need to whip up a diagram.  You SHOULD be slapping a back on there, but I suspect most folks attach it differently. 

I'm figuring since most folks who are having a wobbling problem are having it because of bad thinking (they don't have those engineer friends to tell them the right way to do it ;) ) that throwing a diagonal brace, and then adding a half-lap joint into the mix, is just a surefire recipe for disaster! 

Um...ahofle, think about what you're saying.  You have a horizontal shelf in the middle of the cab, and then essentially another horizontal shelf that the rest of the cab is sitting on. 

If you were to build a piece of furniture, the back is usually used to complete the piece, define storage space of the piece, and help to square the piece.  Once the piece is square, fastening everything down well usually takes care of it.

Best way to avoid wobble?  Look at a bookcase or something (not your cheap particle board ones from Wal-Mart, a decent one!).  The back is set into a rabbet in the back of the piece to square and align everything. 

To get the same effect all quick and dirty like, the back should be fastened ON the edges of the sides, rather than having the back fit INSIDE the edges

Make sense?  I'll make pictures if not.

ahofle:

Hmmm, sounds like different advice from your 7 step list earlier ('just throw a couple 2x4s under the monitor shelf').  And why are diagonal braces a 'recipe for disaster'?

Ed_McCarron:


--- Quote from: DrewKaree on August 01, 2005, 10:13:21 pm ---You SHOULD be slapping a back on there, but I suspect most folks attach it differently. 

 that throwing a diagonal brace, and then adding a half-lap joint into the mix, is just a surefire recipe for disaster! 

--- End quote ---

I agree with the concept that a back is best - it's how my cabs are setup (and my bookshelves, come to think of it)

But I'm confused as to why the pair of diagonal braces is bad?  Are you thinking that the joint would weaken the 2x4?  I've built trailer walls (OK, more like a fence) like this - and they hold up over the road pretty well.

My college statics classes tell me that the x-brace in the back would stop the side to side wobble pretty well - the front, perhaps not, but I'm hoping theres a front installed on his cab to stiffen it up.  With no front stiffener, there'd be some kind of bending moment set up if you rocked that half of the cab, but thats another story all together.

Thoughts?  Its been a while since college, and I can't promise my thinking is sound anymore. :)  I moved into electronics after school - and all those mechanical classes went out the window.

Drew is a weenie.  Just testing.

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