IKEA Lack - any good?

[MatthewEWS]

Hi all,

 

I’ve been out of the layout building game for a while and want to get back into it with a small micro layout. 
 

I’ve seen a few posts using the IKEA lack shelves as baseboards. I’ve looked online and they seem the ideal price and size for me.
 

Anyone recommend them? How easy is it to install wiring through them? Are point motors possible? Are they strong enough to withstand being stored away if possible?

 

Would love to hear your experiences!

 

Matt

[teaky]

NHY 581 is the master of Lack.  Take a look at any of his layouts.

 

I built a couple of layouts on 1.9m Lack shelves when our sons were younger.  I topped them with insulation board (very low density fibre board) and cut channels for wiring.  Points were hand operated but there's no reason you couldn't  hide a horizontal bar or wire-in-tube which could be attached to a point motor or operated by hand from the baseboard edge.  Mounting a point motor below would either mean the motor being a long way from the point or involve digging into the egg box structure of the shelf.  It is also an expensive way to operate a point that isn't very far away.

 

It is worth looking at the rest of the Lack range to see if the various tables give you any ideas for different sized layouts.

[LMSfan72]

I have used a hole saw to cut a 55mm from memory) hole in the bottom surface. Then remove the corrugated cardboard centre and you have a nice recess to mount (in my case a servo) point motor underneath the top surface

[THS92-GWR-NO]

I've just made one myself on a Lack, going to be doing more of them :) 

Diorama thread link coming her now: Mental Health on a shelf 

Edited October 17, 2022 by THS92-GWR-NO
Link added

[CloggyDog]

I've done a series of Lack-based layouts (see links in sig). All mine use the 110cm Lack as it comes - i lay 2mm eva foam down to form the trackbed, with channels cut for simple wire-in-tube point control through the front fascia of the ply display box I glue & pin around the Lack. This includes the integral lighting rig. 

 

Battens glued/pinned underneath in a V-shape at either end allow the fitting of folding ply risers to bring rail height up to about 4ft/1.2m on a standard trestle table. I operate seated and from the front. 

 

Recently, I've helped a friend add Lack fiddles to his Lack layout - there's enough 'meat' in the sides and ends to take pattern-makers dowels for alignment and over-centre catches either side to join multiple Lacks together. 

 

Another friend cuts away much of the underside and removes the card core to allow wiring runs, point motors, etc. The crossmembers (where the bracket slides on) are sufficient to maintain the structural integrity of the Lack. 

['CHARD]

I've always found the lack of an IKEA to be a great thing.

[Ruston]

On 17/10/2022 at 20:36, MatthewEWS said:

Would love to hear your experiences!

The last time I went to IKEA it cost me two hours of my life. It was like being lost in a maze. Then a long queue to pay, followed by having to trudge to a different building entirely to pick up the chair. And after all that I still had to put the sodding thing together myself!

 

Never, ever, again will I enter an IKEA. For the sake of your mental health, forget IKEA. Go to a builder's merchant and buy some wood.

[THS92-GWR-NO]

On 19/10/2022 at 13:45, Ruston said:

The last time I went to IKEA it cost me two hours of my life. It was like being lost in a maze. Then a long queue to pay, followed by having to trudge to a different building entirely to pick up the chair. And after all that I still had to put the sodding thing together myself!

 

Never, ever, again will I enter an IKEA. For the sake of your mental health, forget IKEA. Go to a builder's merchant and buy some wood.

 

Or just order online ;) 

[CloggyDog]

On 19/10/2022 at 12:45, Ruston said:

Never, ever, again will I enter an IKEA. For the sake of your mental health, forget IKEA.

 

Pre-owned Lacks regularly pop up on Facebook Marketplace, ebay, etc. 

 

For folk not confident in woodwork, Lacks are a cheap/easy/quick method to getting a strong and rigid baseboard. 

[HeeleyBridge]

On 21/10/2022 at 19:49, THS92-GWR-NO said:

 

Or just order online ;) 

Delivery costs more than the Lack shelf,  50% more. I bought a TV bench, at £40 for two 1200x350mm baseboards the £15 delivery charge was less painful.

[MyRule1]

These posts seem to answer most of my questions. Unless you use the IKEA lack wall mounting the Lack shelf seems to be a fairly expensive option over buying a wood shelf and some 1"X1" batons from a hardware store. Bearing in mind the an IKEA is at a three hour return trip.Also I cannot use the wall mounting as our house is over 100 years old and does not have any straight walls and wattle walls would not take the weight.

 

I am happy to listen to other thoughts.

[Solo]

It's worth bearing in mind that not only IKEA make 'floating' shelves of this kind; B&Q and Wickes, to name but two, also stock them, albeit to different dimensions.  I have used one of the B&Q ones (which measure around 118x23cm) before successfully, it was cheap and robust.  The great thing about these shelves is that - in my experience - they are very strong and completely flat/level whilst also being lightweight.  They are also very customisable; as long as you sand down the edges a little you can stick almost anything to them with a good wood glue.  I'm currently dipping my toes into 'O' gauge waters and the little layout-in-progress in the photo started life as a 'LACK'.  The rest is just offcuts of scrap wood I had in my junk box and foamex added to it.  I'd say the whole setup cost around £20 (LACK was a tenner I think), it is as straight as any traditionally-made baseboard I have had and can be lifted easily with one hand.

One thing to note is that when you pick up the LACK shelf (and others like them) in the store they often feel much heavier than they actually are because they have the metal bracket and fixings in the pack.  These can be discarded (providing you're not wall-mounting) and leave you with a useful little indent along the back face which can house wires/switches etc.

So yeah, travelling three hours to IKEA is a bit of a mission but if you're looking for a cheap n' cheerful baseboard I certainly wouldn't discount the idea of one of these shelves as a concept.

[melmerby]

12 hours ago, MyRule1 said:

1"X1" batons

Really? How much do they add to the integrity of the shelf?

 

[MyRule1]

7 hours ago, melmerby said:

Really? How much do they add to the integrity of the shelf?

 

I did not say how many I would use and how shelf would be supported. I have a small N gauge layout built this way and after 4 years and a house move shows no signs of distortion.

Edited January 16, 2023 by MyRule1

[melmerby]

3 hours ago, MyRule1 said:

I did not say how many I would use and how shelf would be supported. I have a small N gauge layout built this way and after 4 years and a house move shows no signs of distortion.

Yes, because the shelf is stopping the battens warping😃

[franciswilliamwebb]

11 hours ago, Solo said:

It's worth bearing in mind that not only IKEA make 'floating' shelves of this kind; B&Q and Wickes, to name but two, also stock them, albeit to different dimensions.

 

That's handy to know.  I'm excused IKEA, I've brought a note 😉