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This is hilarious! Serious face: You'd have to replace the very lightweight particleboard legs with solid wooden ones for better stability and safety.

corty 6y ago
For "real" servers and anything containing HDDs, definitely. But for a switch, some 1U el cheapo half-depth server and a power rail, the particleboard is sufficient. But one-time use only, the holes you drill into it wear out when reused.
smiley1437 6y ago
You can use molly bolts to mount stuff into the hollow legs with reasonable stability (the article calls them 'cavity plugs' which isn't a term I recognized, might be a regional thing)
- Ensorceled 6y ago
  Thye are different things. Cavity plugs are the plastic plugs that go into the hole and expand once you screw into them. Molly bolts would definitely be better in this case.
  - smiley1437 6y ago
    See that's the weird thing, the link to a 'cavity plug' in the article (about halfway down) takes you to this page: https://www.fischer-international.com/en/products/cavity-fixings/board-fixing/metal-cavity-fixing-hm/519772-hm-5-x-37-s https://www.fischer-international.com/en/products/cavity-fix... That looks a lot like what I'd call a molly bolt I just googled a cavity plug and I'm not sure I'd use it in this application
Bluestrike2 6y ago
While I wouldn't choose to use particleboard for a piece of furniture myself (that's my inner woodworker rebelling at the thought), the bigger concern is how it's used. For the LACK side tables, the legs are attached with a single double-ended dowel stud that sits the middle of the leg. I suppose you could add some glue during assembly, but you're really just gluing exposed particleboard to a veneer, with very little--if any--added strength. It's truly ridiculous example of joinery, even by cheap knock-down furniture standards. Amusingly, the server mounts will do more to help stabilize the legs they're attached to. You can also use threaded inserts epoxied when attaching the racks to the legs, which will have still have significant holding power in particleboard. Just make sure to use inserts with coarser threads (depending on where you buy them, they may be labeled as softwood inserts), which will have greater holding power in particleboard. Just remember to drill a very slightly oversized hole (both in terms of depth and diameter, so it's just a hair wider than the exterior threads so the epoxy can fully surround the insert) for your inserts. To make install easier, cut a piece of tape around the end of the insert to keep the epoxy from covering the internal threads.[0] And if you have a file, file a groove vertically across the insert from the top to the bottom. The epoxy will get pushed up through those grooves, locking the insert down so it can't twist. Scrape off the squeeze-out, let the epoxy set, and you're good to go. There are also tapping inserts you can use without having to break out a file.[1] 0. https://www.woodmagazine.com/materials-guide/fasteners/tips-on-using-threaded-inserts https://www.woodmagazine.com/materials-guide/fasteners/tips-... 1. https://www.mcmaster.com/threaded-inserts/tapping-inserts-for-softwood-7/ https://www.mcmaster.com/threaded-inserts/tapping-inserts-fo...

corty 6y ago

For "real" servers and anything containing HDDs, definitely. But for a switch, some 1U el cheapo half-depth server and a power rail, the particleboard is sufficient. But one-time use only, the holes you drill into it wear out when reused.

smiley1437 6y ago

You can use molly bolts to mount stuff into the hollow legs with reasonable stability (the article calls them 'cavity plugs' which isn't a term I recognized, might be a regional thing)

Ensorceled 6y ago
Thye are different things. Cavity plugs are the plastic plugs that go into the hole and expand once you screw into them. Molly bolts would definitely be better in this case.
- smiley1437 6y ago
  See that's the weird thing, the link to a 'cavity plug' in the article (about halfway down) takes you to this page: https://www.fischer-international.com/en/products/cavity-fixings/board-fixing/metal-cavity-fixing-hm/519772-hm-5-x-37-s https://www.fischer-international.com/en/products/cavity-fix... That looks a lot like what I'd call a molly bolt I just googled a cavity plug and I'm not sure I'd use it in this application

Bluestrike2 6y ago

While I wouldn't choose to use particleboard for a piece of furniture myself (that's my inner woodworker rebelling at the thought), the bigger concern is how it's used. For the LACK side tables, the legs are attached with a single double-ended dowel stud that sits the middle of the leg. I suppose you could add some glue during assembly, but you're really just gluing exposed particleboard to a veneer, with very little--if any--added strength. It's truly ridiculous example of joinery, even by cheap knock-down furniture standards. Amusingly, the server mounts will do more to help stabilize the legs they're attached to. You can also use threaded inserts epoxied when attaching the racks to the legs, which will have still have significant holding power in particleboard. Just make sure to use inserts with coarser threads (depending on where you buy them, they may be labeled as softwood inserts), which will have greater holding power in particleboard. Just remember to drill a very slightly oversized hole (both in terms of depth and diameter, so it's just a hair wider than the exterior threads so the epoxy can fully surround the insert) for your inserts. To make install easier, cut a piece of tape around the end of the insert to keep the epoxy from covering the internal threads.[0] And if you have a file, file a groove vertically across the insert from the top to the bottom. The epoxy will get pushed up through those grooves, locking the insert down so it can't twist. Scrape off the squeeze-out, let the epoxy set, and you're good to go. There are also tapping inserts you can use without having to break out a file.[1] 0. https://www.woodmagazine.com/materials-guide/fasteners/tips-on-using-threaded-inserts https://www.woodmagazine.com/materials-guide/fasteners/tips-... 1. https://www.mcmaster.com/threaded-inserts/tapping-inserts-for-softwood-7/ https://www.mcmaster.com/threaded-inserts/tapping-inserts-fo...