caveduck
semi old rocketeer
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2011
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Tobor inspired me to get going with my Ikea Lack table to replace my microscopic old wood table. The main disclaimer here is that I'm just building a stand, not a full enclosure! I've got it finished so this is going to be an "insta build thread". Here's the "before" pic with the Prusa MK3S perched on a postage stamp oak table with spindly non-adjustable legs:
The Lack table is the canonical reference for 3D printer stands and enclosures, but it's only marginally OK out of the box. I started by looking for some leg/tabletop reinforcement brackets on Thingiverse. The normal Lack leg attachment just uses a double-end stud threaded into some chipwood inserts in the tabletop and the 5x5cm leg. Not confidence-inspiring, so I made a set of these: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2119747, which look like this:
Actually I made my own new CAD in F360 so I could move some of the screw holes, but as it turns out I didn't need them. Anyway I printed out 4 of my version of the PETG brackets. I may have accidentally improved the rib spacing for 19" rack compatibility however - I've not checked the original version for that.
I began by attaching the legs as normal with the threaded studs, but added a thin layer of Gorilla Glue (the original urethane kind) on the contact surface, and made sure to screw the leg down tightly. Then I glued on the 3D printed corner brackets with Gorilla glue, clamping in all 3 axes. The resulting stiffness was so good that I dispensed with putting in all the #6 screws since they would not add any rigidity, and the glue bond seems quite strong.
Next I wanted some leg levelers/extenders. Further poking around Thingiverse turned up these: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3154181 with this remix for fully solid male screws: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4186777. In addition to making leveling capability, they raise the table a couple of inches. I printed up a set of these in PETG at 0.25 res (16 hours, whew) and mounted them with #6 x 5/8 wood screws on the bottom of the legs. Here they are before installation along with a little drilling guide (lower right) that I made to speed things up.
I haven't ordered the rubber anti-vibe pads for the feet yet but that's on the roadmap. Here's a closeup of an installed leveler. As usual I added some Gorilla Glue to make things stronger.
Now about that power strip you can see in the photo above. One of the cool things about the Lack tables, besides only costing $8 or so, is that the leg spacing is perfect for mounting some standard 19" rack gear. You have to watch the weight because the legs are rather thin hollow tubes, but if you add some reinforcing or drill through some brackets, you can put in a small stack of rackmount gear. I got this basic 8 outlet 19" power strip: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D4H2XK6 and decided to just mount it through the leg reinforcing brackets, which somehow magically turned out to have exactly the right spacing between the bracing ribs in my remix version, YMMV with the original .stl. I used #10 self-drilling screws from HD, some #10 washers, and a #21 pilot drill. The upper holes went through into solid (?) chipboard, while the lower ones are just in the bracket and the thin leg wall. Overall it seems to be sturdy enough.
At this point the table assembly is done. Here's the formal portrait in the music room.
Notice that the power strip is mounted on the *back* of the legs to make it less obtrusive and allow some cable bend without going beyond the envelope of the tabletop.
The final setup with the MK3S on its new, spacious, less wobbly, power-distributing, better-lookin' home.
finis.
The Lack table is the canonical reference for 3D printer stands and enclosures, but it's only marginally OK out of the box. I started by looking for some leg/tabletop reinforcement brackets on Thingiverse. The normal Lack leg attachment just uses a double-end stud threaded into some chipwood inserts in the tabletop and the 5x5cm leg. Not confidence-inspiring, so I made a set of these: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2119747, which look like this:
Actually I made my own new CAD in F360 so I could move some of the screw holes, but as it turns out I didn't need them. Anyway I printed out 4 of my version of the PETG brackets. I may have accidentally improved the rib spacing for 19" rack compatibility however - I've not checked the original version for that.
I began by attaching the legs as normal with the threaded studs, but added a thin layer of Gorilla Glue (the original urethane kind) on the contact surface, and made sure to screw the leg down tightly. Then I glued on the 3D printed corner brackets with Gorilla glue, clamping in all 3 axes. The resulting stiffness was so good that I dispensed with putting in all the #6 screws since they would not add any rigidity, and the glue bond seems quite strong.
Next I wanted some leg levelers/extenders. Further poking around Thingiverse turned up these: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3154181 with this remix for fully solid male screws: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4186777. In addition to making leveling capability, they raise the table a couple of inches. I printed up a set of these in PETG at 0.25 res (16 hours, whew) and mounted them with #6 x 5/8 wood screws on the bottom of the legs. Here they are before installation along with a little drilling guide (lower right) that I made to speed things up.
I haven't ordered the rubber anti-vibe pads for the feet yet but that's on the roadmap. Here's a closeup of an installed leveler. As usual I added some Gorilla Glue to make things stronger.
Now about that power strip you can see in the photo above. One of the cool things about the Lack tables, besides only costing $8 or so, is that the leg spacing is perfect for mounting some standard 19" rack gear. You have to watch the weight because the legs are rather thin hollow tubes, but if you add some reinforcing or drill through some brackets, you can put in a small stack of rackmount gear. I got this basic 8 outlet 19" power strip: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D4H2XK6 and decided to just mount it through the leg reinforcing brackets, which somehow magically turned out to have exactly the right spacing between the bracing ribs in my remix version, YMMV with the original .stl. I used #10 self-drilling screws from HD, some #10 washers, and a #21 pilot drill. The upper holes went through into solid (?) chipboard, while the lower ones are just in the bracket and the thin leg wall. Overall it seems to be sturdy enough.
At this point the table assembly is done. Here's the formal portrait in the music room.
Notice that the power strip is mounted on the *back* of the legs to make it less obtrusive and allow some cable bend without going beyond the envelope of the tabletop.
The final setup with the MK3S on its new, spacious, less wobbly, power-distributing, better-lookin' home.
finis.
