ikea-lack.md 4.0KB
title: Ikea Lack Table DIY description: Another iteration of the DIY Ikea Lack 3D printer shelves parent: 3d-printing position: 40 comments: true
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Concrete slab for noise and vibration dampening
Unfortunately, because the Ikea Lack tables are very lightweight and also hollow, they tend to amplify the sound coming from the 3D printers on them. But there is an easy solution to this: vibration dampening by increasing the mass. This can be achieved for example by simply creating a large concrete slab. In my case, it weighs about 17kg.
First, build a simple wooden frame to contain the wet concrete. I’ve used cheap 40x15x1000mm wood pieces and cut them to 555mm, screwing them together in the corners. For the surface below the frame, I’ve used an old cardboard box. I’ve “sealed” the surfaces of the cardboard and the wood pieces with clear flex-o-tape, to avoid the water wicking out of the concrete too fast, and to be able to remove the pieces easily later-on.
Then I’ve simply hand-mixed about one half of a 35kg bag of cement/sand mixture with 2l of clear tap-water. The resulting sludge can then be filled into the frame. Apply some vibrations to the edges of the frame using a hammer, and using your hand on top of the concrete, to get most of the bubbles out of the mixture and get it to settle properly. You should then use a piece of wood to really get the surface flat.
Also, be careful: avoid contact of the concrete with your skin, it burns after a while!
After about 24h, the frame can already be removed. Because of the large surface area and the low volume of our piece, it get’s hard quite quickly. And also, we’re not using it for large static loads, so we don’t have to wait the full 28-days specified by the manufacturer. The small parts at the edges where the concrete slightly got under the frame can just be broken off by hand.
And it works perfectly, the noise of the printer is greatly reduced!