Looking for advice on metal to use for desk frame

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Hello,I am building a built-in desk in my home, and I have some interesting design challenges due to location of windows, an angled wall, and the fact that I want to minimize supports.  With a top planned as 3/4" MDF w/ formica, I am facing a pretty likely sag problem.  Wood support braces are unlikely to provide adequate support, and the windows limit my support against the wall anyway, so I concluded a metal support frame would be my best option.  I attached pictures of my plan, and a proposed view of the frame using 1" square tube.I'm a woodworker, not a metalworker, and therefore I plan to find and hire a local welder to build the frame, but I need to get my calculations finalized, and changing the dimensions of the metal will make a difference.  So my question is whether 1" tube (1/8" thick on walls) would be adequate to keep the desk rock solid.  3/4" MDF normally weighs about 3 lbs/square foot, so the total desktop weight will be about 60 lbs, in addition to normal desktop items like computer monitors, etc.  The length of the desk from the cabinet where I plan to attach to the left wall is about 9.5 feet, and the desk will be 24" deep.any advice on the metal or just comments on my design would be appreciated. Attached Images
Reply:if you plan on hiring it out anyway, talk to the person doing the work. If you trust them to do the work, you should trust them to help with the design.That being said. tubing is expensive. you could probably do just as good would angle. My $0.02 as much as its worth.There are no problems. There are only solutions. It's your duty to determine the right one.Hobart Handler 210Airco 225 Amp MSM Stinger
Reply:If you are a furniture grade wood worker, (I'm not and can barely build a pallet) id encourage you to make your desk a showpiece of your skills and creativity. Wood is perfectly capable of spanning those gaps. Your desk will obviously be custom since its a built in but why are you using materials that will make it look like something on page C69 of the Office Depot catalog. MDF? Formica? Barf. You are already ahead of the $ game by doing the work yourself. Don't skimp on materials do much so that it causes you to have to hire a welder to install a material (steel) you know nothing about. Use real wood, do badass craftsmanship, increase your homes value and do better work from home in your office on your desk by building a real desk with real materials. My .02
Reply:1x1x11ga square tubing will hold it fine. I agree with Jimmy_pop, if you have the skills to build it out of wood then go that route and really do it right. Build it out of good material with a nice finish. Only way i would use MDF is if I were going to use a good grade laminate top on the MDF.Making as much progress as a one legged duck in the middle of a pond, just going in circles.
Reply:The weight of the desktop is not the issue.  When one of us 200#ers leans/sits on the edge and shifts our weight, that's when you'll probably hear the crunch.1x2x16ga (I like 14ga) vertically will probably be stiffer and more sag resistant that 1x1x11ga.  Your overall "span" looks to be over 10', and thankfully has a center support, but I would either bump up the size and gage of the corner outlooker, or move the top of the kicker closer to the front.  Also, the big forces on the outlooker will be "pullout" from the wall corner at the top.  A 1/4x1.5x4" long tab on each side, with two 3/8x4 lag bolts each into the house corner studs would make me feel a lot safer.x2 on Thor's advice to consult the builder, and talking to a couple bidders will give you a second opinion. DOUBLE x2 on Jimmy_pop.  I built very high end custom, and antique reproduction furniture thru the 70's and 80's and LOVED the transition from wood to metal to both!     Lots of pride in that!!!
Reply:Thanks for the info thus far.  I appreciate all of you taking the time to respond.Re Fabn4Fun's comments, I'm struggling a bit with the metalworking lingo, are you suggesting bigger metal (1x2x16) on just the vertical supports or throughout the entire frame with the 2" side being perpendicular to the MDF?  A couple of comments on the critiques of my design...First, I said I was a woodworker, not an especially gifted one.  I have a day job, and woodworking is a hobby that I tinker with a couple of weekends a month.  I would love to spend the next 18 months building a monument to craftsmanship, but I just don't have the time and I need a functional desk within a reasonable time.  The MDF will be only used in the desktop, and only because I wanted a formica top to give me a smooth writing surface.  The rest of the desk and cabinet will be Red Oak.  Give me a couple of days after finishing the project, and the desktop won't be visible anymore anyway with all the computer parts and papers I will inevitably pile on top of it.
Reply:Originally Posted by Fabn4FunThe weight of the desktop is not the issue.  When one of us 200#ers leans/sits on the edge and shifts our weight, that's when you'll probably hear the crunch.
Reply:Originally Posted by atxgo ... are you suggesting bigger metal (1x2x16) on just the vertical supports or throughout the entire frame with the 2" side being perpendicular to the MDF?
Reply:I would definitely use a larger section for the center support arm, even if you have to taper it down a bit toward the front."USMCPOP" First-born son: KIA  Iraq 1/26/05Syncrowave 250 w/ Coolmate 3Dialarc 250, Idealarc 250SP-175 +Firepower TIG 160S (gave the TA 161 STL to the son)Lincwelder AC180C (1952)Victor & Smith O/A torchesMiller spot welder