Load calculator for 3/4 in wood

[Luis Reyes]

I have some narrow 3/4 in thick tongue and groove wood planks that I’m thinking of using to create a printer stand for my wife. Her printer weighs about 50 pounds and I am thinking the top will be 36 in wide and 18 in deep. The 3/4 in wood should be strong enough to support that right? I’m not sure what type of wood it is but it feels like poplar (but I’m guessing, got a bunch of this wood from Facebook)

is there an online calculator I can use to see how much load my top can support (thinking ahead for future projects)

thanks! Luis

[Will Mullendore]

This is a good resource.
https://woodbin.com/calcs/sagulator/

[Brian Tymchak]

I have some narrow 3/4 in thick tongue and groove wood planks that I’m thinking of using to create a printer stand for my wife. Her printer weighs about 50 pounds and I am thinking the top will be 36 in wide and 18 in deep. The 3/4 in wood should be strong enough to support that right? I’m not sure what type of wood it is but it feels like poplar (but I’m guessing, got a bunch of this wood from Facebook)

My educated guess is that a 50 lb load on a ~34" span will cause a noticeable sag with time. 3/4" material is fine for the project. You may need to play with the design a bit to achieve a sturdy structure. Such as putting a verticle panel under the top midway between the sides. This cuts the span down to 15-16". Using the Sagulator tool that Will offered will show the effect of managing the span.

[Scott Winners]

I like the online sagulator tool also. Seat of the pants, you will probably need an extra piece down the middle to halve the span between two visible aprons, in agreement with Brian above.

One thing I haven't tried to input is 3/4inch T&G glued together. You may have to search around a little bit to find a similar strength plywood in some other thickness. Like someone (not me, not here) offering educated reasons 3/4 poplar T&G glued up with TiteBond is about the same strength in deflection as BCX Doug Fir ply at ____ thickness, and then put the DF ply into the sagulator.

[andy bessette]

You don't need a computerized calculator. If you make the overall dimensions close to the OA of the printer, you should not have a problem, as the printer's feet will be near its edges.

[Scott Winners]

You don't need a computerized calculator. If you make the overall dimensions close to the OA of the printer, you should not have a problem, as the printer's feet will be near its edges.

Andy is correct that if the printers feet all hit the top near the table legs the thickness of the top isn't that important because the span between printer foot and table leg top (x4) will be pretty short (x4).

So good point Andy, but I haven't seen a printer footprint around 18x36 since dot matrix went away. When laser printers started showing up around 1990 they (the printers) have all looked pretty square (footprint) to me for 30 whatever years now, so I overlooked that possibility.

[andy bessette]

...I haven't seen a printer footprint around 18x36 since dot matrix went away...

My own printer (Canon Pro 100) is 16" x 28".