Hacker’s help: What’s inside a Lack?

lack orange
Photo: IKEA.com

I want to convert two Lack tables into a laptop table with a height convenient for use by the sofa (one table is a bit too short). Building in ventilation for the laptop would be a bonus.

To that end, I’m wondering if people know what’s inside a Lack?  Based on weight and what I could see through a screw hole in a tabletop at Ikea (they had a bunch of Lacks screwed together), a fair amount of the tabletop is hollow, and the top surface of the Lack is thin (3mm?) particleboard.  But obviously the corners are filled with something like MDF for attaching the legs.

  • Does the MDF fill at the corners go all the way up to the top surface of the tabletop, or is there just a chunk of MDF on the lower surface of the tabletop?  i.e., will the top of the tabletop take a screw at the corners?
  • Are there any additional supports for the top surface of the Lack tabletop, or is it all hollow except at the corners?
  • Are the legs hollow except for the top and bottom, or are they filled with MDF all through?

I guess what I really would like is an x-ray or ultrasound of the Lack before I start cutting. 🙂  Maybe I should have bought a spare for dissection.

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arpruss,

Here’s a photo of the material inside the Lack, taken from a display in the IKEA Through the Ages exhibit. Though the exhibit is old, I think it is pretty much still the same in the Lack. Hope it helps. ~ Jules

honeycomb