IKEA Lack Enclosure
for 50x50cm / 25x50cm side panels
Why another design
I liked IKEA Lack Enclosure for 3D printer, so I bought the IKEA tables and acrylic glass of standard dimensions 50x50cm and 25x50cm (4mm thickness), but I didn't find any model using exactly the same dimensions.
Therefor I've decided to create my own design.
What's needed
- 2x IKEA Lack table
- 2x 50x50cm 4mm panels (acrylic glass)
- 4x 25x50cm 4mm panels (acrylic glass)
- 32x M4 nut
- 32x M4x16 bolt (for 4mm panels, M4x14 should also fit)
- for 2mm panels M4x12 should be fine
- 16x 4x70 wood screw
- 16x 4x40 wood screw (even shorter may be enough)
Optional:
- M4 washers (optional, up to 48, I've used 16 for hinges)
- 4-8 magnes
- 4-8 magnet holders
- door handles
- filament guide
I've used four 20x10x3mm neodymium magnets and created design for holders and small handles (screws of handles are hitting magnets to keep the doors closed).
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4707223
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4843989
You can add some drawers bellow the table:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4845111
If you will build a second floor, you may need a bowden tube to get a filament from the top to the bottom box. I've created bowden clips for that purpose (usable for bowden printers getting filament from a side):
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4848118
Models description
There are two type of hinges - left and right, 4 of each.
Left hinges are mounted on the left side of a door (for left door), right hinges on the right side of a door (for right door).
All pieces are named according to their location and position (numbered from the bottom).
Each piece orientation is according to the assembly position, but some pieces are better to be printed upside down. Bellow you can fine recommended orientation for each piece.
LeftFrontBottom3, LeftBackBottom2, LeftFrontTop1 and RightFrontTop1 should be the same pieces with a different orientation, but for better clarity I've exported each piece separately.
I like more rear seam for this print, some pieces will need proper rotation in your slicer if you want to use the same.
Printing
- 4x HingeLeft
Print as is - 4x HingeRight
Print as is - LeftFrontBottom1
Print as is, mount HingeLeft - LeftFrontBottom2
Print as is, mount HingeRight - LeftFrontBottom3
Print upside down, bigger hole on the front (bottom) right corner for rear seam - LeftFrontTop1
Print as is - LeftFrontTop2
Print upside down, mount HingeLeft, bigger hole on the front (bottom) right corner for rear seam - LeftFrontTop3
Print upside down, mount HingeRight, hinge holder on the front (bottom) right corner for rear seam - RightFrontBottom1
Print as is, mount HingeRight - RightFrontBottom2
Print as is - RightFrontTop1
Print as is - RightFrontTop2
Print upside down, mount HingeRight, hinge holder on the front (bottom) left corner for rear seam - LeftBackBottom1
Print as is, mount HingeLeft, hinge holder on the front (bottom) left corner for rear seam - LeftBackBottom2
Print upside down, bigger hole on the front (bottom) left corner for rear seam - LeftBackTop1
Print upsdie down, side holes on the front (bottom) side for rear seam - LeftBackTop2
Print upside down, mount HingeLeft, hinge holder on the front (bottom) right corner for rear seam - RightBackBottom
Print upside down, nut holes on the front (bottom) and left side for rear seam - RightBackTop
Print as is, nut holes on the front (bottom) and right side for rear seam - 12x NutLock
Print as is (laying on the bed) - 4x NutLockShort
Print as is (laying on the bed), usable for LeftBackBottom and RightFrontTop
Assembly instruction
- Assemble one Lack table (bottom one)
- Print all parts
- Mount together all pieces according to their name, it's better to start with bottom parts
- Insert nuts into prepared holes and fix them using NutLock (or other preferred method)
For LeftBackBottom and RightFrontTop use NutLockShort - Remember to insert hinges where needed
- Insert 4x70 wood screws into long holes going through all pieces
- Screw it to the leg
Make sure sure you mount together parts belonging to the same leg
(i.e. LeftFrontBottom parts on the same leg as LeftFrontTop parts) - Insert two sided screws (included within Lack table) into top parts
- Mount legs to the desk
Make sure orientation and location of the legs is correct
If the orientation is not correct and you are not able to rotate the leg, you can try to unscrew, rotate, and screw the leg again - Fix legs to the desk with two 4x40 wood screws
- Put second table on top of the first one
- Secure all legs with 4x40 wood screws
- Unscrew M4x16 bolts
*Nuts in the top parts will fall lower when not secured with bolts, but they will get back to the correct position when you rotate the table upside down** - Drill holes into side panels (acrylic glass)
This part may be a more tricky
I've first marked holes while holding the panels in the correct position. Then I've drilled 2mm holes and verified the correctness while holding panels at supposed position. If some hole was a little off, then I've used 2mm drill bit again to enlarge the hole so the middle of the hole will be at the correct position. Then I've used 4mm drill bit to create the final holes. - Attach 50x50 panels to the correct position.
First, fix the bottom parts, then rotate the table (to move the nuts inside) and fix remaining parts
If your bolts have small heads (or you have drilled too big holes) you may need to use M4 washers - Insert M4 nuts into back sides of hinges
- Attach 25x50 panels to the hinges
If your bolts have small heads (or you have drilled too big holes) you may need to use M4 washers
If the door won't close completely because of printing or assembly imperfection, inserting M4 washers between a panel and the hinge can help
It's done!
Warning
There are small tolerances in this design.
Assembling doors 1 mm off can cause them to not be able to open more than ~80°, or to not close completely if doors will hit each other.
In such a case it should be possible to enlarge holes a little if needed.
Because of "elephant foot" some of my door panels didn't fit perfectly (doors wasn't able to close completely). Putting a washer between the panels and hinges helped (not bellow the bolt, but behind the glass). Post processing printed parts (getting rid of elephant foot) should help too.
Update 15. April 2021:
Added NutLock.stl to fix the nuts, useful especially for the top parts. If you would remove the glass panels and don't have nuts locked in place, they would fall down inside the parts and it would be hard to get them back.