IKEA Lack Shelf - WHAT'S INSIDE??!
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- Опубликовано: 28 апр 2018
- IKEA Lack shelves are probably the most popular floating shelves in the world. I've fitted hundereds of them over the years and I even have a few in my own house. So just how do IKEA make a pretty rigid floating shelf for just £10? Let's rip one apart to find out! Feel free to argue the pros and cons of IKEA in the comments :-). Needless to say you shouldn't be using any of the tools shown in this video if you don't know how to use them properly and safely.
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#Workshop #IKEA #Shelf 
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4:18 2.6 mm ;-)
Oh my god you're right!! I need my eyes tested!! I thought it didn't look nearly 4mm... 😂😀😂 that's worrying...
The internal paint gives the wood lice something nice to hang their pictures on
Composite honeycomb construction, as used in F1 and aerospace for the lightest and strongst structures.
Them bees know a thing or two! 👍😀
We have about 3 of the LACK tables at any given time. We treat them as disposable items. I use them for making on, the kids draw and play on them, they are work platforms when I need an extra ~2' ish. When they get too ratty, which takes a surprisingly long time given the abuse, I grab a new one next time we feel like meatballs.
It's basically the same as a hollow-core door -- in the US, they are made with a honeycomb of the same type of paper. It's very strong, but also very light. Generally, only custom houses have solid interior doors.
The way you jammed your hand through isn't the direction where the shelf is strong, or needs to be strong. Your test at the beginning was indicative of the strength of the torsion box.
I once had a desk made the same way, from Ikea. The top was amazingly strong and flat, and lasted for a long time. As a woodworker, it didn't exactly make me proud, but from a practical standpoint, it was good.
As to the white end-pieces, it's not paint right? Is't it the melamine on both sides? Looks chipped like a laminate. My guess is they cut up miscuts of their thin shelves or drawer sides or something. Seems weird, but it's a possibility.
Thing is - we can argue all day about how crap it is, but is it fit for purpose? ... yes. That honey comb structure is surprisingly strong. If looked after, and not overloaded, there is no reason why this won't last at least 13 years
I had one of this tables and it started looking awful after a year.
But I did use it a lot 🤷♂️
Raw Oyster for a table it doesn’t fit the job, its too light duty. I just installed these shelves yesterday and it looks and feels good except for a little play when you wiggle it. For light decorations, this is perfect but i dont recommend using it as a bookshelf or for storage.
@@raw_oyster i still have a small one. like one sqaure foot by one square foot. I've had it for like 10 years. It looks awful. But i'm too cheap to replace it lol, and i don't have guests much and i'm the only one who sees it now. Plus all it does is support a microwave. But yeah the finish isn't durable at all.
@@raw_oyster the small one is only 7 euros, is that too much for a year?
@@impurityK : lol, it was not 7 euros, but about $30 (for a bigger one) i used it as a coffee table, every day. I was broke and in college and that was all I could afford.
Perfect timing. I am actually ripping a lack shelf down exactly like this to extend another one. The total shelf depth needs to be 350mm so I am adding part of one lack behind a full lack. Nice to know what to expect when i finally cut it down :)
As for the painting on the inside, I saw a documentary on ikea once that stated that certain bits of furniture are made to a specific size so the off cut fits into something else. the bit that is painted on both sides is likely an offcut from another piece of furniture they make.
I think it’s a hard board that we in Sweden usually call Masonite. Differens is that it’s made without glue. It’s steamed and pressed in a seartain way that makes the natural lignin thats in the wood makes it stick together. It becomes very dense and very hard witch makes it perfekt for this type of application.
Hi Andy with regards to the painted inside. My thinking is as follows. The sides are painted to ensure good adhesion when the plastic trim is added. The shelf is made in 3 or 4 different 'lengths' (same thickness & depth) so mast pass through the fabrication line length ways so that fabrication can be adjusted to each shelf length. And then with the shelf side components being fed from the one side, shaped and glued. By painting both sides you can have the same feed cut and fit the component to both sides of the shelf.
I've hacked or modded loads of Ikea stuff and a top tip I've found is that an awful lot of their glues are heat bonded so can can prize open components with minimal damage if you heat them up first.
Thanks for this video ! Very useful
Great video Andy! I call these 'droppy shelves' rather than 'floating shelves' - never ever, ever have I got one to sit at 90% to the wall - I end up adding small wedges uner the metal plate to angle them upwards and even then things are at risk of sliding off.
I've had four of these Lack shelves for near enough ten years now. I didn't realise I was supposed to have thrown them away by now. :D
So far, I've yet to encounter a better product in the cheaply-made floating shelves category. I've put up several other superficially-similar competing products over the years (mostly on behalf of my sister). The IKEA Lack shelves were the only ones that sat square to the wall on the first attempt and don't wobble loosely on their brackets. The other ones were all pretty dreadful by comparison. It appears that designing the interface between the wall bracket and the shelf and then consistently volume-manufacturing that interface to the required tolerance must be the most challenging part about producing these kinds of shelves.
The IKEA ones also came with with screws that were not made out of plasticine. (For fixing the wooden box part to the metal bracket. None of them come with wall fixings, because they don't know what kind of wall you've got and don't want to take responsibility for selecting something appropriate, which is fair enough.)
Thank you for your sacrifices
Great vid, and reading down through the comments there are no surprises
Brilliant idea
Very intresting! Thank you!
brilliant engineering application
The BBC did a great series about the processes in Ikea. So investing how they make and design things.
Routing out the support also makes it more forgiving of misalignment between the holes at the back and the supporting pieces. Less accurate equals cheaper...
I make floating shelves from ply doors that are manufactured the same way, and sat on them (at 13st) with no problem. Painted they look solid and actually are solid.
Interesting video, thanks. White paint possibly because they are made from off cuts from other furniture? Re the holes, could they be molded like that rather than machined from solid?
cool video. I wanted to know what the front edge is made of
Thats how they make hollow doors as well, with the honey comb kind of design.
In the production process it doesn't matter which way round the end strip goes if both sides are painted, which perhaps simplifies the mechanics of construction. That's my educated guess anyway, for what it's worth. For the price Lack shelves are strong, easy to fit and look reasonable in many environments. If you're on a tight budget they will work well for you.
If fitting them to a brick wall you can actually make them support significantly more weight by drilling extra holes in the mounting plate and adding extra heavy screws and plugs. I have fitted a few of these for other people but I had no idea what was inside these so thanks for showing us.
Oh, man, I just filmed almost this exact same video but with something called Linnmon which I was cutting down as a favour for a neighbour!! Hope you don’t sue me when mine finally gets published!! Great vid 👍
Ha no worries at all Keith - happens all the time! Same happened with me & Peter talking about filler around the same time! More the merrier and you'll probably do a better job of reading the calipers! 👍😀 We could start a series on dissecting IKEA furniture! 😂
I've seen 1.27 min of your last (my first) video, coming from the podcasts you make with Peter Millard.
And I already know, that I'm going to subscribe before continuing watching this video.
I just finished watching the video now. I survived it better than the Lack shelf.
Yes, IKEA has Lack tables too. We have several of them at home. IKEA prices are sometimes incredibly low.
Good for buyers but bad for real carpenters because many people are expecting similar prices for decent hand made furniture, which is of course impossible. Thanks for sharing the video. Thumbs up.
Quite right too, Hans 👍😬
I like the idea of that. Actually, I have a video planned about Ikea floating shelves... 😂
Maybe the bracket goes up against stops so the holes in the metal line up with the securing holes on the under side of the shelf?
Good thought - no stops on it though! 👍
Not quite the same I know, but I have a huge wardrobe unit with drawers etc from MFI from the early 1980s, which is still reasonably solid, if I recall the whole lot cost under a grand which was a lot of money then. Just don’t rub the foil veneer on it too much. The only major thing I’ve had to do is glue the hardboard drawer bottoms, because of damp, but the whole lot weighs a ton. It belonged to my parents who’ve now passed away and I’m going to keep it for a bit. It’s dark brown and not quite the nicest thing to look but it’s functional. Interesting video, enjoyed watching it.
Is there a chance the painted inside is for part-interchangeability? Perhaps that strip of particle board is used on a different piece of furniture where both surfaces are exposed? And maybe mass-producing one two-sided part is cheaper than two differently painted similar parts?
great video . hopefully a new mini series for you. lets see how crap they make stuff
I love "How it's made videos." Thanks for opening one up and showing us. I'm going to buy one for nick nacks. No more than a few pounds (I'm an aweful American who didn't learn metric when we should have - shame on me). Tee Hee - have a great day and can't wait to view more videos. Love PegEgg
I guess they are painted on both sides, because the assamblemachine has only one 1 feed for the material and alternates the outfeed to left an right, so they dont have to make one left and one right side or someone/something that flips the sidepieces. i hope you get what i mean, im from germany and im not good in explaining in a diffrent language :P
Certainly applies to the lack side tables, legs are compressed chipboard veneered on top. The top is like the shelf.
Oh and my guess for the painting of one side is that it's most likely down to that being the material they had.
Put toilet paper rolld together in a big mat and you'll see you can actually walk on them without breaking any of them. Cardboard arranged in that direction is really strong. It's not made for side force, and this is why you can crush it easily like that
At a guess it would be to balance the chipboard reducing the risk of warping
Treated both sides by the panelmaker for stability and bought by the shelfmaker as being the best price.
The superfluous back addition is maybe because it looks sturdier and customers seem to care.
The honeycomb is very similar to many doors.
The superfluous back thing - very good point! Like when they add weights in to cheap plastic goods to make them feel sturdier. 😀
Back in the early 80's my parents were burgled. The back door was smashed in and they claimed on the insurance for a new back door. It wasn't until 10 years later and they wanted a cap flap fitted to do it we discovered it was actually an internal door made out of honeycomb paper and hardboard :D. The worst thing is the scam even included going as far as fitting wiremesh glass for extra security :D
This is ideal to make a model train layout/diorama from since it's hollow and cheaper than several layers of ply of the same size
The Open sides probably allow for more margin for error in production/fitting than a drilled hole in the chipboard.
Oh and it's probably painted on the inside as that part is used in several items (some where it might be visible).
Possibly - I really think for something produced in this volume they wouldn't re-use parts. 👍
You could take apart a 'birch' (or any other finish) version and see if they use the same painted parts?
How would I be able to round the corners of one of these Ikea Lack shelves? I know you can get iron-on edging strip, but would this be possible on this kind of construction? 🤔
The honeycomb is only strong in one direction so would collapse if the force isn't perpendicular. So my guess would be the corner pieces are to stop the top and bottom moving relative to each other.
The groove for the pin needs only be a halves as they can't go left or right. That way it is only halves of the area of a rectangle with a drilled holes. 50% saving on wood. Itight also be a formed chipboard section. In massive prod volumes it pays to make such pre formed section and not using drill bits or other tooling.
Could be! It looked tooled rather than pre-formed. Very clever though! 👍🛠
Is it possible to cut it on both sides (I need it smaller, 70 cm instead of 110) and preserve "integrity" of the whole thing?
I wonder whether the side pieces are painted on both sides because they’re off-cuts from another product?
Possibly... but I think for any product made in this sort of volume every part of it will be made specially. They wouldn't waste paint if they didn't need to. That's $0.0001 worth of paint there! 😀
Is the paper/cardboard structure stuck to it? Maybe it helps it adhere?
There didn't seem to be any glue on the white bit. 👍
Gosforth Handyman just a thought from my lamination background...painted surfaces improve adhesion. Also the half round segments for the bars, maybe if your walls were bowed this would skew the bars outwards. So this would give room for error (bowed walls)
If it is mitered, maybe they flip back and forth on the mitering, and use the pieces alternately to get zero waste and the paint is cheaper than the wasted particle board.
The particleboard at both end of the rear edge is to protect the corner of the shelf in delivery, remember the screw package is too thin to protect the edges if that piece.
Another reason is to support the ABS edgebanding 1mm thich i suppose
This edgeband also contribute to protect the edges in the manipulation
The paint or finished white face is possible the “evolution” of honeycomb furniture. On early days a strip of wood had to be applied between the inner faces of this type of board and previously machined to a exact height ‘cause the tolerances and waviness of the thin faces, the next generation used a plastic strip instead of wood because always a additional support is needed when 3mm faces are used.
I think the white material is the same of the faces possibly the scraps of the sizing
Saludos
Gerardo
Do you know how Long the bracket is on the 74 inch shelf? I want to cut one down to put above my washing machine.
@8:12 probably scrap from the previous batch. Just a wild guess. Thanks man.
Thanks for this video! I'm wanting to shorten the length of a couple of these for a nook that's 54 inches wide. Do you think I could saw about 10" off each end and still have the shelves be structurally sound for the most part? The ends will be snugged up against the walls on each side so the ends won't show. Thanks!
How did the shortening endeavour go? I am mere days away from removing about two inch/5cm from these shelves to fit them in between kitchen cabinets.
Maybe they're dipped in paint or chaotically spray painted in a room. I wonder in what order they make these.
The end pieces, were they painted on the outside also? Where the glued on plastic bit is?
Very interesting video!!
Really hard to tell as that plastic edge is glued on hard! 👍
Not surprised as their coffee tables are made the same way. It's so easy to punch a hole through the top by dropping something heavy them. I done it from a low height. I then dissected it. Like my old school days in biology. That time it was a chicken and I reckon that was worth more, it certainly had more stuffing.
You can make strong alcove shelves out of these by knocking out the honeycomb cardboard near the edges and then sliding the shelf onto laths attached to the walls.
Good tip! 👍
When I say strong I mean stronger than on a flat wall using the included bracket!
LOL !! Nice funny description of the shelf! :D But doesn't people read the specs before buying things ? ^^ Ikea became so freaking popular back then because of its "cheap" products made by cheap materials only for people who can't afford for real things. The problem is that today, it doesn't matter people's status, anyone more or less buy Ikea products wherever there is a Ikea shop ^.^.... BTW... There aren't many things at a Ikea shop which is MADE IN SWEDEN ^.^
Maybe painted both sides so it doesn't matter which side is rebated or it could be a common section with another product?
Great video idea mate 👍I love Ikea. They provide people with all kinds of things I could never make at the price they're prepared to pay; nothing wrong with that. So, how thick were the skins on your floating shelves again, Andy? 6mm FTW 😯👍😬
Cheers bud! We've been over-engineering again! 😂
This is exactly the floating shelf meant reacting on one of your videos.
I don't remember if it was that cheap at the time I bought it. Many years ago (2002 or so) with still Slovak Crowns as the currency here with an exchange rate of about 60 SKK to 1 GBP.
But still going strong. Whole length with books and magazines. Estimated load 12-15 kg (25-30 lbs)
Always 😬
Reminds me of the internal doors fitted in social housing. I found this out a long time ago when I had to take 2" off the bottom of one. Amazingly strong for paper and cardboard. It's all in the honeycomb. Torsion boxes done cheap.
I bought a very expensive record deck recently and strange as it may be I was told that these Lack tables make a wonderful base for any deck.
Not for me, but there you go.
As you've said. Fit for purpose provided the limitations on each are observed. Simples
The two chipboard end pieces, i suspect, are spacers attatched to the backpiece [the one with the holes drilled] and used for insetting it at glue-up. The 10mm end piece...maybe it comes as a coated piece that is also used in another product and they capitalise on cost by using it here too.
p.s. what do they mean by LACK?
No idea! Lack of materials? 😭👍
I think you should make this a series and cut every piece of furniture Ikea sells in two....
Hi I'l bet the painted wood is because they use offcuts from other builds. There muse be tons available.
Regards from France (born in Sunderland) :)
Thr edges are possibly finished on both sides for faster assembly
The corners are painted on both sides because the strips run through a auto machine that coats both sides then it's cut to length and drops through and then picked up by another machine so it doesn't matter which way round it's placed . All these products are done on cnc's and auto machines . There was a programme on Tele about Ikea products .
Hi Andy, do you think is it possible to cut to size for a sitting room alcove. Thanks!
I haven't tried but I dare say it's possible! Report back! 😀
You missed the front side, how thick it is... please update that, thats very useful...
I would imagine that the reason that the wooden groove that the metal rods fit into are cut in half, is in order to make them more economical. As well as much lighter.
that way you can get two boards instead of one. (cost effective)
I think the end caps are painted inside and out so that any side can be used. You just pick it up and assemble it, either by hand or by machine. The cost of paint is negligible in such large quantities!
The end pieces that touch the wall are ther, I think, to allow you to scribe to an uneven wall and still have rigidity. Got your pint right here, Connecticut USA
Simple torsion box, light but very strong.
👍🛠
Yep, a PAPER torsion box. Who'd a-thunk of that? A pretty brainy Swedish engineer. Looks like it was built by some giant honey bees.
We've had hollow core doors for as long as I can remember, they are commonly fitted in tick-tacky modern houses.
The sides are off cuts from waste from another product
hi what metal detector do you use please Thanks joe
It's a Bosch PDO6 but I don't think it's made any more - I've put a link to a similar one on here but haven't used it: gosforthhandyman.com/products-i-use/
Looks like they were trying to leave some wood on one side for strength and support. If you drilled the hole in the middle there would not be enough material on either side for the same reason
Painted to stop warping from one side being painted and the other abosrbing moisture.
Possibly... I don't think it could warp with all the other material around it though. Good idea though! 👍
Its painted because its a left over piece from another product they produce.
Do you think it's possible to cut out a 1x5 slot for cables right in the middle?
Probably be fine but haven't tested it obviously. 👍
@@GosforthHandyman top man will let you know how it goes, thanks
I have a Lack light oak shelf in my lounge and it fits in well with all my oak furniture. For what they consist of they are extremely well made. I have a similar shelf above my desk which I purchased for the same price at Argos and the finish is rubbish by comparison. At 10 quid for a shelf Ikea can't be accused of ripping people off for sure. With stud and drywall installation you want light not heavy shelving and the Ikea shelves fit the bill perfectly. What I will say to people buying a desk from Ikea, make sure the top is solid wood or you get a top made with the same honeycomb paper that you ge in their shelve.
genius
It's not the shelf that is rated to 15kg is it? My guess is that must be the max of the bracket/wall fixings? I wonder if the internal chipboard support is routed out so that there is some room for error in assembly? Same reason the end is painted both sides, I suspect the material is used in many Ikea products, some which need it painted? The end chipboard parts probably adds support too the end of the shelves.
I think they are genius design for a tenner!
Yeah, the 15kg is just the max suggested load for a brick wall... I think. They're very vague on this... probably deliberately. 😀
Now screw one of these and one of your lovely bespoke shelves to a brick wall and give us a destructive load test! Your shelves can probably take 50kg! I wonder if Peter would be up for a head to head against your floaters...
That's the same construction as an interior door. It's just what I would have expected it.
Bei OBI gibt es die in ausgefalleneren Farbtönen.
Could this hold a tv
My theory of the holes was that it gives a little leeway for the bars.But yours seems a better one.I think the painted wood one is like a lot of those things, they paint both sides to eliminate the mistake of it going on the wrong way.They do that with the drilled holes for shelves and cabinet sides,so that either way works
I'd agree with this theory (although bear in mind there's a plastic edge band glued over the other painted side). 👍
Perhaps the plastic strip comes later in the shelf build production?
Hope your going to use those shelfs Andy ha.
Ha - let's just say I hope I manage to make £10 from this video! 😂
IKEA!!!!!
Having made reproduction furniture since 1977 using traditional methods, it gets to me a bit, however I can't knock the price they sell it for. I would not have it in my house but thats me, my children are all happy to have ikea, they think the furniture I make is for old folk (which is what I am I guess). It is a usable commodity like food, use for a couple of years and then get rid, and buy some more, that way you keep them coming back for more. Unfortunately in the throw away world this what it is all about, sadly most of this furniture will end up as landfill, which as you probably know, is what ikea furniture is known as.
I still think that people like yourself will make a living, doing a better job which will stand the test of time, just hope there is youngsters out there that want to continue the tradition.
But with so little material used does it end up with less landfill as a result despite not lasting as long?
This is standard flush door construction since the 1950
No surprise really. Same as moulded doors. Clever by Ikea and great consumers!
Poland its second after China witch produced ikea stuff and it’s 16 large factory’s here
Thank you for the un-lacking sacrificial Lack...helped me plan accordingly for my project!
Nothing new in the design they have been making doors this way for as long as I can remember, and still do!
There's a video of the material being made here: ruclips.net/video/Jm23z8505sc/видео.html which I found really interesting. The honeycomb is very strong in compression, and the glue means that the honeycomb board is nearly as strong as solid board, but much lighter and cheaper.
Fantastic find there Bob - very interesting! 👍👍
I always thought IKEA was Swedish for “landfill” anyway.
To be far I had a similar surprise when I tried to “adjust” a B&Q door once. Needed shortening a little to clear some new carpet and thicker underlay. Trimmed about an inch off the bottom only to find I’d cut the wooden strip reinforcement off the bottom of the door and that it was actually hollow with that honeycomb cardboard crap inside! Needless to say Senior management (Wifey) was not impressed! I’d never come across it before. The door was light I admit but I just thought I’d been working out in my sleep! 😳
Andy, is the Ikea shelf made in Sweden or China? If its Sweden then most of the work is probably done by robots not humans to meet that price point. Good video by the way. Bob
and in China the robots are way more expensive than people!
Hi Andy. Here's a video of a production line from one of the three IKEA factories in Portugal... ( Narrated in Portuguese, but you can follow the process quite easily without the narration, sorry didn't check if it has subtitles in English).
ruclips.net/video/g146YobqE9g/видео.html
Regarding the chipboard painted inside the shelf... I believe that's the base material... Pre finished chipboard. Sometimes we use those, were I work. It saves time and material avoiding primer and/ or laminate with formica. Hope it's helpful... Nice channel and thanks for the vids!
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
"it's rated at 5 to 15kilos, I weigh 80 so i'm gonna hang from it" lol!!!!
Next time someone says how much!? I'll show them this video.
What is you’re expecting for a very cheap hanging shelves?
modern day MFI
Can the hold my books???
paper shelf
If it's melamine then it has to be done in both sides to keep the sheet balanced. Also need to balance it if painted. The plastic is abs edgebanding.
I'm thinking of buying it just for the bracket and replacing the paper shelf with wood.
Yup - got a collection of these brackets, they're great! 👍
in india people expect furniture to last a life time how is ikea going about this
Sadly in the UK a huge amount of furniture is considered disposable - used for 5 years or so then taken to landfill. Not good. 😭😭