Ikea Lack Plus (light)

Everyone knows that table because it's the Ikea's philosophy essence for an extremly low price. Built from nothing more than 4 screws, air and wood fibers can withstand a lot considering how flimsy this material is.

Here's how it's made:
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/11/video-inside-an-ikea-factory/

What is the most striking flaw though, is the surface that wears out quickly. You can put a sheet of glass over it to add some glamour or you can go even further and add a light source beneath, and have a cool clubbing accessory!

I've been thinking of making an evenly backlit surface, but it turned out to be not possible using that low budget.
Sticking white foil sheet blocks too much light, transfer paper lets too much, 2 cathodes can't evenly light the surface. 
Thinking about the problem drove me to a simple solution such as - christmas lights!

So, what you will need:

A lack table
Sheet of custom cut frosted glass
LED Christmas lights 
Two rolls of double sided foam tape
reasonably long electrical cable
miscellaneous plugs, switches, tools

Step 1: Cut It, Cut!

You ca cut the table with a paper knife with no much trouble.
Mark a stripe around the edge as wide as the foam tape (20mm). 
In the corners there are cubes that hold the screws. I didn't know that so I scraped the surface from them, you may want to leave untouched finish over them, they are around 5,5cm in size.
Take out the honeycomb.

Step 2: Accesorize

Insert what you think is right.
Using an IBM connector allows you to unplug the cable when not needed.

Step 3: White Inside Out

Paint the inside, glue a sheet of paper to the bottom.

Step 4: Connect

Solder the wires and test connections.
I've changed my mind and moved the power socket to the leg. More convinient.
Glue the leg, wires doesn't strech!
Feed the cables through through back of the leg.

Step 5: Sticky Stuff

Prevent lights from moving using scotch.
Stick the foam tape over the glass. Watch out for air bubbles.
Foam tape is incredible, it holds so firmly!
You have only one chance to align the glass, my is off for a milimeter or two.
Second person may come in handy.

Step 6: Be Proud

Time for the final blink-blink!
Flip the switch and reward yourself with something that looks great with light shining from below.

Comments

[lietux]

Electrical safety tip: Don't try to set up your own mains electrical connections - it's incredibly dangerous, and very easy to come up with issues that are not immediately obvious and might kill you or your loved ones at some point.

E.g. this power plug can be torn off when someone trips on the cable, and then either electrocute someone or just set the place on fire.

You should build something like this by just leaving the adapter's original power cable intact and feeding it outside of the table, using a 3rd party adapter that you solder into the safe voltage side of the adapter. Alternatively you could also use e.g. a C14 to US power plug -power strip, and add any kind of C14 extension cables you might need, and build a safe connection.

[audreyobscura]

This came out great!

[PaulinLabelle]

obviously that's your fault...

[BartholomewH]

Next time use plastic instead of glass? It's your friend's fault for being stupid tho. cheers

[antioch]

In fact, all the glass in the world should be removed, just like hot coffee, slippery water and scissors, so that the peaks of evolution (you and your friend) can be safe and prosperous.

[SteveH6]

Any glass table top should be made from tempered glass for this reason. (Ever wonder why those commercial glass tables are so expensive?) It's a lot stronger than garden-variety window glass and will shatter into harmless granules if broken. FROSTED (what the industry would call "opaque") glass that's tempered is very expensive, though; as an alternative you could use inexpensive frosted window films on the bottom side of a tempered glass panel.

[Throcken]

YES! This is just what I need. Iv'e been planning on building myself a lightbox! This will work better than perfect! Hoorray!

[sunblock]

Yeah! While we're at it, we should remove all the recipes off the internet because someone might stick his head in the oven and die.
Very dangerous.

[kbawcutt]

Did you replace the honeycomb structure? without it the table should lose a lot of it's rigidity.

[mikemaj]

No I threw it away. The glass is held so firmly that it regains some part of its rigidity. You just can't put heavy objects on it, but the glass would crack anyways. So there is no worry about the table being destroyed easily.

[Thereyouhaveit]

That's a IEC Connector !

[mikemaj]

Maybe it is, I gave the name from the seller's site.

[Junglenut]

Great idea, I love IKEA hacks!

[mikemaj]

You can order it at a regular glazier. It was more expensive than the table itself but not much ;) And I ordered it frosted.

[monkeyboy222]

i tried to make something similar my first project but it failed D: and i was very upset but this is a nice touch very good job there

[specialedster]

Very cool indeed. I want to try this myself. I have one question though. Where did you get the custom sized glass sheet? And was it frosted when you bought it or did you frost it yourself?

[mikemaj]

Thanks ;)
You can experiment with putting things underneath the glass, like throwing some dry leafs, they would give some nice shadows.
The leg is empty inside, it's crazy how it can support such weight while being that thin.
I've been thinking about batteries too, but my table is lit with approximate 100 leds so it would drain batteries lightning fast.

[anneangersbach]

this looks great. I got a brown/black Lack table, gonna try this out some time :)

The leg is also hollow or does it have honeycomb inside too?

I wonder if this would work with rechargable batteries too, to forego the cable altogether. With LED lights that should work I think :)

[Mr WoodE]

Man that looks really nice.

It inspires me to try this thing to other stuff.

Very nice

Thanks for sharing.