IKEA Glowforge Table Hack w/ Drilling Template and Leg Clamps

Try this

I have it in a 46" version.

Or this

A little lower but much longer.

Very cool indeed! What type of table is it that you are using to the left of the IKEA hack. I am interested. :slight_smile:

It’s a table top from the office section of IKEA with the A frame legs that they used to sell. I don’t know the names because I’ve had it for almost 10 years but if you look at the office section, you can mix and match tops and legs.

Thank you so much for making this design available. Built one for myself and it is fantastic.

1 Like

> A HUGE thank you from the UK!

Yes, I managed to replicate your plans with parts from the UK based Ikea stores.
Did mine with MDF discs as I didn’t have enough acrylic but it works and looks great!

I and my little helper thank you so much for this!




I’ve encouraged others I’ve come across from the UK to check out your video on Youtube.

6 Likes

always good to put your deputies to work.

Later on, they start doing things on their own.

came home from work the other day and my 14 yo daughter had assembled
this by herself.

I was a happy daddy. Now she didn’t attach the propane cylinder, so it is not seasoned yet.

5 Likes

Looks great! thanks for the great photos of the table too!

1 Like

fantastic! Indeed she’s certainly not afraid to get her hands on the tools! I hope my minion has as much enthsiasm!

much obliged!

just build up her confidence.

my youngest is 14. she is now suddenly 5’9" so she is now really tall enough to get enough leverage to do more things going forward. also quite strong for her age.

she has operated, circ saw, compound slide miter saw. table saw(catching the boards coming off only at this point) Router, orb sander, of course drill/screw guns, impact driver. for many things like catching off the table saw. I used to drop the blade so we could do a “dry” run to make sure it wasn’t too heavy to catch etc.

it was pretty funny. a while ago I was working on a project with another dad from church and his son. and I handed the tool to the son to make the next cut. the dad was like OH wait! I was stunned that Ben had never used that tool before. don’t remember what it was, now, but I was mighty surprised.

Really it is size and strength that makes it possible to use the tool safely. we have hair in buns, eye protection, and hearing protection, at ALL times no exceptions.

that exception is when you are motoring off to the ER to get something yanked out of your eye, and if you’re lucky you get to keep your eye.

besides, with so many boys that don’t know how to do anything these days. you want her to be able to build/repair stuff. :slight_smile:

1 Like

Absolutely- I’ll be encouraging all the way! She’s helping me out together a mini greenhouse this week, more that I’m helping her but I’m gonna let her try to do most of it herself. She’s only very slight at 7 so I’ll do the tightening!
Teaching our kids independence is vital now more than ever! So kudos to you!

2 Likes

even if she is small. you can still stuff her head with knowledge until she gets bigger :wink:

so you are on the right path for sure.

1 Like

I used to have that experience all the time when I would help out my kids’ school drama programs. Building sets & things it was often the case I’d b introducing the kids to the tools for the first time. My kids just grabbed the drivers or sprayers or saws and jumped in. I kept having to remember to do little training sessions for kids so they didn’t cant the circular or jig saw and end up with weird cuts. Even reminding them to get the stock firmly against the fence for the sliding miter - some kids just plopped the wood down somewhere on the table and pulled the saw down. :slightly_smiling_face:

The advantage of growing up poor was learning how to make or fix almost anything. The advantage my kids got was they were able to learn using the proper tools :grinning:

1 Like

years ago, my wife was part of a “club” of new mothers. they’d all be talking about this or that around the house that needed done. she would tell me about the looks she got when she said “Oh Chris would just build that or fix that”. they were just stunned.

it amazed me because my dad showed me a lot. and I just didn’t think there was any other way?

1 Like

My husband is the same way you are, and I’ve had many women say the same to me. I also let them know that my husband also helps cook, helps clean the house, etc. He is also very good at teaching me how to use different tools, especially since when I worked at Lowe’s, I was in Tools and Hardware. I learned a lot there, but of course, because I was in the store, never actually got to use them, like the table saws, nail guns, etc. So I’d come home and ask my husband and he’d show me. He still does when I have a project I want to do on my own. But I am always surprised how many men don’t have a clue how to do stuff. The same thing with women who have no idea how to cook, sew, etc. They simply don’t teach this stuff in school anymore, and so many parents don’t know how to do it so they can’t teach their kids.
So if you know the stuff, teach it! Not only to your own kids, but any other kids who might be interested.

3 Likes

yep that is why I had 3 little brothers in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program.

all three of them build stuff. :slight_smile:

2 Likes

For sure. I took Shop classes and Home Ec as well. Many schools don’t offer those anymore. Although it is encouraging to see schools, libraries and universities with some form of makerspaces.

When I was a senior in High School I won the local Betty Crocker award and then went on to the state & regional levels where I did not win. But two funny things happened - I couldn’t get a date for prom because the girls were mad that a boy had won and my girlfriend (now my wife) won her town’s competition. She went to the prom with me :grinning:

One of the best things my sons did was Boy Scouts - they learned a lot of things about self-reliance including how to cook. Our troop didn’t allow pop-tart or ramen meals so the kids would go “Top Chef wild” - chateaubriand with piped garlic potatoes and grilled carrots under the stars in the woods 10 miles down the trail is a dinner worthy of song. Unfortunately we couldn’t bring wine to go with it :grin:

2 Likes

I think it’s great you won a cooking competition! And I love the prom story!

I love watching the kids on the kids baking and cooking challenges nowadays. It amazes me how much they know and what they can do - some things I wouldn’t even attempt, much less know how to make stuff up off of the top of my head. Unless it’s something I make all the time, I still have to follow a recipe. When we were first married, I didn’t really know how to cook a lot of different things (except what I’d learned in school, many recipes which I still use). Because we were young and didn’t have much money, I figured if I ruined dinner, not only would we not have dinner that night, but many times we didn’t have enough to go buy more, so I didn’t experiment a whole lot. It wasn’t for many years that I got braver to try new things, and now I’m like, “Oh well, start again. Guess we’re having hot dogs for dinner tonight!”

1 Like

My youngest son took a semester course in cooking at SU so he could pad his credit hours :slightly_smiling_face: But he said it turned out to be one of the most useful courses he ever took. It was about core cooking principles, flavor profiles, techniques, etc. With those mastered you can create almost anything and it will taste good (as long as you follow the core precepts). The chef who taught the course said it was like the fishing aphorism - he could reach them how to make all sorts of recipes but then that’s what they would be able to do. Or he could teach them how flavors and foods go together and then they could create their own recipes and combinations.

My wife’s family was old school Italian (her mother’s Italian mother lived with them and cooked all the meals). I was allowed to marry my wife because I once made her grandmother an 11 layer cake with homemade chocolate whipped cream frosting. Grandma decided my wife would be safe with me - we’d never starve :grinning:

1 Like

What a great chef/teacher your son had. I may have to find an online course I can do to learn some of that stuff. I still kinda stick to the basics. But I totally enjoy cooking now, much more than I did even 15 years ago, I guess because I have more time to do it. Right now I’m trying to master angel food cake. The first few didn’t turn out too well, the last one was pretty good, but I used regular flour instead of cake flour. I think it would’ve turned out a little lighter with the cake flour. So I’ll be making another one this week - after I paint a rug on our new deck. :slight_smile:

Love the Grandma story!

1 Like