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I once put a stool on a coffee table to put up a few curtains and the leg of the stool went through the surface of the coffee table. That surface is more or le

I once put a stool on a coffee table to put up a few curtains and the leg of the stool went through the surface of the coffee table. That surface is more or less paper mache by my book. Maybe the "paper" in the "mache" is not as finely ground and instead made of more granular wood chips, but its definitely made of a thin lamination of wood grounds held together by some adhesive. Its light as a feather though, so that's pretty nice.

rbanffy 5y ago
I find IKEA's materials work remarkable - their materials are finely engineered to be light and pretty enough, and, at the same time, being sufficiently strong to bear the loads it's designed to. I'm writing this on an IKEA desk with 4 big monitors and 2 laptops, plus an assortment of external drives and docking stations. It's certainly not designed to bear my weight on 4 small spots, however, so I wouldn't even try that. It's not made of solid wood, but the furniture-equivalent of an F-22 wing.
- mywittyname 5y ago
  I have these $5 end tables that are going on 10 years of use. They are just basic 4 post tables with square tops, but they are light enough that I can pick them up by edge with one hand while laying on the couch, but are still like 20"x20". They've all been relegated to shop use anymore, yet they are still perfect. All of my previous ikea desks are also spending their sunset years toiling away in the shop. The oldest one is 20 years old and I use it for assembling heaving parts because nothing sticks to whatever plastic coating they use on their desktops. Also, the obligatory note that Ikea does sell solid wood furniture. It's made of softwoods, like pine or fir, but if you put it together with wood glue, it will absolutely outlive you. I have a dresser that's survived six moves where I never bothered to unload it.
- aidenn0 5y ago
  I haven't bought IKEA in a while; the last time I did, they used a lot of MDF, which is rather heavy for its strength...
  - rbanffy 5y ago
    My desk is two thin sheets of MDF with a honeycomb-like structure inside. Thicker wall-mounted shelves are more or less the same, with supports anchoring the top and bottom sheets.
jakemoshenko 5y ago
I had to drill a hole for cables with a hole saw in my wife's IKEA desk. Imagine my surprise when it was basically laminate on top of corrugated cardboard strips arranged vertically with actual empty space between them! It might even be this exact one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vNRY6natiY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vNRY6natiY

rbanffy 5y ago

I find IKEA's materials work remarkable - their materials are finely engineered to be light and pretty enough, and, at the same time, being sufficiently strong to bear the loads it's designed to. I'm writing this on an IKEA desk with 4 big monitors and 2 laptops, plus an assortment of external drives and docking stations. It's certainly not designed to bear my weight on 4 small spots, however, so I wouldn't even try that. It's not made of solid wood, but the furniture-equivalent of an F-22 wing.

mywittyname 5y ago
I have these $5 end tables that are going on 10 years of use. They are just basic 4 post tables with square tops, but they are light enough that I can pick them up by edge with one hand while laying on the couch, but are still like 20"x20". They've all been relegated to shop use anymore, yet they are still perfect. All of my previous ikea desks are also spending their sunset years toiling away in the shop. The oldest one is 20 years old and I use it for assembling heaving parts because nothing sticks to whatever plastic coating they use on their desktops. Also, the obligatory note that Ikea does sell solid wood furniture. It's made of softwoods, like pine or fir, but if you put it together with wood glue, it will absolutely outlive you. I have a dresser that's survived six moves where I never bothered to unload it.
aidenn0 5y ago
I haven't bought IKEA in a while; the last time I did, they used a lot of MDF, which is rather heavy for its strength...
- rbanffy 5y ago
  My desk is two thin sheets of MDF with a honeycomb-like structure inside. Thicker wall-mounted shelves are more or less the same, with supports anchoring the top and bottom sheets.

jakemoshenko 5y ago

I had to drill a hole for cables with a hole saw in my wife's IKEA desk. Imagine my surprise when it was basically laminate on top of corrugated cardboard strips arranged vertically with actual empty space between them! It might even be this exact one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vNRY6natiY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vNRY6natiY