Lack Hack stainless steel outdoor table

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Materials: Drona storage box, Ekby Mossby stainless steel shelves, LACK table

We really wanted a stainless steel square table for our outdoor “room.” I called around to various sheet metal shops to price out fabricating a 32” x 32” stainless table top. With estimates running anywhere from $300 to $550, I wondered what we could find at Ikea. Ikea does sell a stainless steel desktop of about 4’ x 2’. However, the dimensions didn’t really work for this project. Instead, we took the basic Ikea “Lack” table (a box on wheels) and glued four Ikea Ekby Mossby stainless steel shelves as the tablet top. (Shelves come in two lengths. We used the shorter, 31” model )

1. First, the Lack table was assembled completely, minus the tabletop itself, so it basically looked like a three-sided box on wheels.

2. Next, I marked the half-way point on top of the standing table sides. The table is 21 ½” inches long, so the line was marked at 10 ¾ inches on each table side. I also measured the overhang from the shelves and marked a line on the underside of the shelves (There should be about 4.81 inches of shelf overhang on each side of the table, but measure this out before you assemble).

3. I laid down a wavy ¼” bead of Liquid Nails (for metal) across the top of both table sides, then placed the first shelf right up against the 10 ¾” mark. Placed second shelf up against the other side of the same line, as well.

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Now that we had the two center shelves laid down, I checked underneath to make sure the table sides lined up with the lines I marked on the shelves. I then added the third & fourth shelves on either end, and lined them up with the first two. I placed heavy books on the table to make sure they didn’t fall (there are several inches of overhang, so the books literally held two of the shelves on the table. Liquid nails gives you 10 minutes to move things around. With the marks I made before starting, it was easy to line everything up, and just make tiny adjustments after the shelves were glued down.

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4. After drying/curing overnight and through the next day, we flipped the table (very carefully) and added two L-brackets to each side of the table, for greater strength.

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The table is essentially complete at this point.

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5. We also added an orange cloth Ikea storage box to store couch covers for our outdoor furniture (Ikea, of course).  The box wouldn’t quite fit inside the table, so I made four, two-inch vertical cuts at the top of the box at each corner, and just folded the sides of the box down a little….and voila! Totally cool stainless steel table of about 31” x 31”, with storage area that took an afternoon to make (plus overnight for curing).

Total cost, about $125. The Lack cost about $30, and each of the shelves, located in Ikea’s home organization section, ran up at $20 each. The storage box added $6 to the overall cost.

Have I mentioned we love it?! Needless to say, we plan to treat it gently. It feels very sturdy, but we don’t plan to rest our feet on the table or lift the table by the tabletop itself. The wheels do a great job of making it easy to move around, so we’re not anticipating any problems.