Creating a S.L.A.C.K.

For an event we needed some tables for displays and game consoles. What better choice than the cheap IKEA Lack table: simple design, lightweight and beautiful because of its simplicity. So we got 20 of them donated by various people, which means there 80 IKEA lack table-pilars that need to be assembled.

Out of the foil, attaching the pillars to the table is a tough job. Its do-able for one or two tables but then it becomes a chore and you need a new pair of hands.

Luckily we're smart enough to make ourselves a tool. With some scrap metal, power tools and safety instructions we created the "Speedy Lack Assembler Companion Kit", aka SLACK. 

The tool reduces assemblage time from 5 minutes per table to just 1 minute with a fraction of the effort. Disassembly is even faster if you time your moves right. Its also a great excuse to use power tools, since it fits directly onto an (electric) drill.

The original version of this tutorial can be found on:
http://www.awesomeretro.com/index.php/2011/12/creating-a-slack/

Step 1: Ingredients

Get ahold of something similar like this. Any hardware store sells this stuff for about a few quarters. The sizes are important in this case, since it needs to fit smoothly around a 5*5 centimeter square. Depending on your tools its possible to use larger shelf-holders and grind/cut off the part you don’t need.

What you see here are some shelf holders, a nut and bolt and a 3 * 5 cm metal plate with a hole in the center.

Comments

[nguyenbinh82cm]

goog

[beecroft]

I have to confess after having read this instructible I'm still not sure what it is that you have done/made here. Is it just a jig to facilitate assembly?

[axiesdad]

Excellent instructions. I'm sure I could build one of these tools by following them. But. What's it for? What is a "Lack table" and how is this tool used to facilitate assembly?

[clide]

I was wondering the same thing. Turns out the legs are installed on this kind of table with a double ended screw that requires many turns of the table leg. This image should help so that we don't have to all go to Google on our own.

http://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/FY3/JQK3/H29XS3BZ/FY3JQK3H29XS3BZ.THUMB.jpg

[Ninzerbean]

Thanks!

[baldmosher]

Have you heard of Google? ;-)

[derte84]

Added to my Hack-the-Lack guide http://www.instructables.com/id/Hack-the-Lack/

[Krimm]

Seriously? I just wasted ten minutes of my life trying to figure out what you would do with this thing. Here's an idea, just get a block of wood if you dont know how to solder metal together.

[ksykes]

Having had assembled my own Lacks, I can honestly say what a great idea this is!

[tfaal petersson]

We had a tool exactly like this when I worked at IKEA in Stockholm in my youth like 20 years ago, works great, but you have to be careful not to overtighten or you can easily break something. Thanks for the Instructable though, gave me a nice flashback :-)

[m9365428]

This is the kind of thing that makes contract work possible.
I have had to install hundreds of those table in new offices and it take forever.
Thank you. You have saved me and my guys hours in assembly time.

[Dave A]

Haha, only by the first picture only I saw you had to be from the Netherlands: A Bavaria cordless drill from the Action. I own the same one and however it is a very cheap tool it hasn't let down still.
Nice Ible.

[PKM]

I just chucked the weird double-headed screws into my drill and screwed them into the tabletop first- it made screwing on the legs about half as much of a chore and easier to keep alignment straight, but then I was only building one table.

[jessyratfink]

Absolutely genius!