/diy/ - Do It Yourself

Never heard of that before, but it sounds interesting. Seems like a sturdy material if you can get enough compression on it when forming it. I would suggest adding an epoxy to the mix though for strength and as a binder, because I doubt you have the industrial presses necessary for it

>>326513
>another shitty wood particle system

God damn it.

>>326554

>>326582
Places like that need carpet bombed.

>>326583
y u mad tho? Ikea caters to people who can't afford solid wood furniture and/or don't have the skills or interest to build it themselves. Nobody put a gun to your head and made you shop there.

>>326583
why? I bought dirt cheap kitchenware there and I'm happy with it

>>326583
>carpet bomb a furniture store

>>326601
Places that make throwaway shit are what is trashing up our planet. They are the epitome of what is wrong with today's society.

>>326605
>perpetuating shitty business practices in the name of the almighty cheap buy

Kill yourself.

>>326618
If you think Ikea is what's wrong with modern society, you need to get out more.

>>326633
It is an earmark, like frogs with 3 hind legs.

>>326635

ITT, furniture is ruining the world.

>It is bullet proof when fired at with a vast array of weaponry, even a 50 calibre metal jacket bullet. Other commonly used building products, such as clay or concrete bricks and aerated concrete shatter even when using lower powered weaponry.

U wot m8?

>>326685
You know what I mean. Shitty throw-away fabrication is ruining the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence

Anything with particle wood is made to be replaced in order to keep them in business.

>>326726
errybody put on your tinfoil hat

planned obsolecense is usually bullshit and the company is just making cheap crap with cheap materials because it's cheap

you get what you pay for with Ikea furniture, nobody is ripping you off. Lots of Ikea stuff is great as DIY material. The $8 Lack side table is pretty sweet when you have no tools with which to build a table

>>326729
>errybody put on your tinfoil hat

You've obviously never worked in either product design or worked with roofing contractors. I've done both. I can't tell you the number of times I've designed something only to have to redesign it so that it will fail in x amount of time after the warranty runs out.

Oh, and the best way to make sure electronics fail just after warranty......use capacitors that are out of spec for what you are designing. Make sure their breakdown threshold is right around the level the circuit needs. Bonus points for using a heat sink that gives off too little heat for transistors.

>>326733

world wide bad design, poor margins, shit quality control, etc, are not new, and no conspiracy required. it's humans being cheapskates, short-sighted, ad nauseum.

just because you just noticed it doesn't mean it's new.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observation#Confirmation_bias

>>326741
I didn't just notice it. I was told to purposely change my designs so they would fail or I would be fired. So, I made them to fail. company policy and all that jazz. I even had to sign a NDA to work there.

Fuck you and your limited experience.

>>326743
>>326741
>>326733
>>326729
>>326726

Yes and no motherfucker, some companies plan for obsolescence to force the buyer to buy the same shit again. Others do it because they know that technology is going to kill that product in a few years, for example cellphones,

There is no sense in making a cellphone that can last 20 years if you are going to change it in 5, and the average consumer changes phone every 2 years (data out of my ass, but is just an example) so they wont put more money to make it better, also batteries wont las that long.

Other products like refrigerators and air conditioners make their products to last about 10 years, the warranty is for 5 years in the compressor (If it isnt dont fucking buy it) This machines can last for 20 years with no problem, but you are going to waste more money in electricity bills, because better refrigerators are supposed to be made by then.

Ikea products are not supposed to be permanent furniture, you cant expect to buy a table for $20 and have it for more than 5 years. Is ok for single guys, students, people that move a lot, when is cheaper to buy new than pay for the transportation, also poor people. If you want to buy all your furniture in IKEA, is not their problem if it brakes a lot, is yours for not buying something with quality.

And yea, i worked designing products too, my job was to make things as cheap as possible without compromising a minimal quality and looks, but we never design anything to break apart after a period of time.

Ikea is the paper plates of furniture.

You should feel bad for giving them your money.

Think it is "ok" because it is "cheap" and "just works" is a fucking terrible mentality to have. It is that mentality that is fucking us and the environment in the ass right now.

>>326777
If you want to go ahead with my boss and fix it for me to get earn a lot more money, I'll go buy some better furniture. Or you could stop being an elitist prick and realise not everyone eats off of fine porcelain at every meal.

>>326787
It has nothing to do with that. It is about making shit you throw away almost as soon as you got it. Learn to buy things you can reuse for a very long time without needing to buy something to replace it all the time. If you stop buying this cheap shit and bought one item that can stand the test of time you'll be voting with your wallet in what companies make in the future. You'll also save a lot of money in the long run for yourself and not be trashing up the environment nearly as much.

>>326789
It must be nice to never have to compromise quality for price. I live in the real world though.

>>326797
I live in the real world too. I also make less than $5k a year and live alone. I know all about cheap shit and quality shit. That is why I save up and buy quality shit, because it is cheaper in the long run. It is a really simple concept.

Pay $5 for a ceramic plate and cup once and use them for the next 20-30 years or pay $5 for 150 paper plates I can use 150 times at the very least then need to buy more of them.

Pay $30 for an Ikea table and have it last 5-8 years if lucky or pay $200 to buy a really nice one that will last a life time or make one for $50 in supplies and make one that will last a life time.

>>326800
I'm in Europe and there is absolutely no way you'll buy a high quality hardwood dining table that will last a lifetime for €200. More like 3 or 4 times that.

>>326830
$200 isn't high quality. Just medium quality, but it lasts and lasts and is hardwood.

>>326831
Yeah you'll probably pay more than that for an Ikea table here.

what the fuck, /diy/

>diy-socioeconomics

hey Op, I would just suggest sitting down with a normal formula for concrete and start adjusting. Make small batches and test-bricks like a proper experimenter and keep notes on your process, then come back and share.

>>326834
It isn't about the price. It is about the quality. Hell for $200 I can buy an old antique hardwood table with a marble top from a local antique store. It'll be from the 1800s too.

>>326853
Where the fuck do you live that you can find that for $200?

Also can we get back to the topic this thread started with, it seems really interesting.

>>326869
You can even get that sort of stuff on eBay pretty cheap. It ranges from under $100 to over $1500 depending on too many retarded factors to list.

>>326871

whatever you do DO NOT! EVER! visit the brand-named product's website: http://www.timbercrete.com.au/ where it says what is it made from.

tho OP does not deserve the particular venting of anon's opinions of various mid-grade furniture perveyors.

>i am really interestd in composite building materials as of lately, if anyone wants to reccomend some materials or talk, that would be sweet

The cement/wood particle ones (like the one in your post) are pretty good for siding and the block versions can be used in place of cement block in many applications. They insulate better than their cement brick/block counterparts but are also more expensive. They do sequester more carbon than typical cement products and do take less energy to produce, if that's something you care about; they do not sequester more carbon than wood construction. They do outperform unreinforced cmu walls in a good number of stress tests because they are relatively more flexible (something they are fond of mentioning) but you shouldn't be using unreinforced cmu to do anything where seismic activity would be an issue anyway. They are not "stronger" (at risk of getting yelled at for using a not-descriptive enough term) than properly reinforced concrete or cmu. Also--and this is no fault of the product--but some people seem to think that since they're waterproof they can be used as a waterproofing material, which is not the case (this is also what some people seem to think about cement backerboard.)

They are great if you want to use them for siding over wood framed construction or in place of red brick for a brick veneer. If you have the money to build a whole house with the block versions it would probably be better spent on a cmu wall with 304 ss rebar. Cement/wood also works great as ICF, but then again so does polystyrene and cement/polystyrene.

(continued)

>>326889

The wood/plastic composites that are commonly used for high-end decks are great for pretty much everything but structural work and high-end decks. They can get stained pretty easily, though from what I hear the newer ones are a lot better.

The best thing about them is that they don't rot and don't transfer any significant amount of water and can be easily used in place of wood in non-structural applications where water would be a concern (I use them for sole plates and sills and exterior trim.) Make sure the composite you get is at least 50/50 plastic/wood; with less plastic they won't be as rot-resistant and will transfer more water. More plastic is better. Their downside is that they are somewhat expensive, though not as expensive as 100% plastic.

I get them on the cheap by going to the stores that carry them and buying the ugly ones (that have large scrapes, scratches, dents, etc.) Since they're selling them to rich people that want perfect appearance they're glad to sell them to me for 50% off or more. If you can't by them on the cheap or you can buy the equivalent 100% plastic pieces for cheaper then they're not really worth it.

Fuck you, even the cheapest particle-board IKEA furniture is better than shit i was (or still are) using. Otherwise I'm still would've slept on a early 70s sunken coach i was conceived on.
My father is an alcoholic hillbilly that can't care for things. He just can't fathom not to scrub teflon appliances with a metal sponge or not to mount a fucking toilet (even after 30 fucking years).
Cheap throwaway IKEA stuff at least helps to live not like complete hobos.

Choosing to live poorly with poor quality goods is a choice like all others. I believe some of the people in this thread are trying to express the fact that purchasing high quality goods and taking care of them will provide more benefit to a persons life than purchasing quantities of low quality goods and that regardless of the source or the type of low quality good you are purchasing, you still are purchasing something you intend to throw away. You might as well throw your money away if your planning on throwing it away later. It would do you more benefit to save the funds you would have spent on more then one cheap table to save up and purchase a high quality table that will last you a life time.

>>326903
Sometimes there's no point in buying "quality" goods because they will be trashed just as fast, if not even faster than the cheap ones.

>>326903

What about style? I'll be damned if I had to live with that pale pine furniture I had from the 90's. The stuff was high quality and rigid as fuck. But I really wanted that new modern dark colored furniture without paying big bucks to replace everything. Some people, like my sister, treats her furniture like clothing styles. She changes it often.

>>326911

>The stuff was high quality and rigid as fuck. But I really wanted that new modern dark colored furniture without paying big bucks to replace everything.

If it was real wood you could have removed the hardware, sanded it down, stained it darker, and then sealed it again. Staining stuff darker than it is is pretty much always always a viable option. If you got a decent or better stain and sealant the furniture probably would have ended up in better shape than when it left the factory. If you wanted you could have replaced the hardware too.

>>326903
AMEN

>>326893
Ikea products exist to tell the rest of us not to associate with people like that. Kind of like how long hair, nails, and stench do for most people or pickup trucks do for others.

However, Ikea and those that buy from it do the world a disservice by using up finite resources and discarding them in an endless cycle of cheap fast trash. You are literally harming our world by perpetuating such abhorrent disregard for the environment. It is as ludicrous as electric hand lotion warmers.

>>326951
how hard are you using your furniture? my family has ikea shelves, chairs, and desks from the mid 90's that works great today with minimal signs of wear. it's particle board just like the contemporary stuff too

>>326963
I have friends that move around a lot. People that have parties and/or lots of kids. I've seen so much cheap particle pressed/glued wood furniture be utterly destroyed from the least amount of actual wear that can't be repaired properly because it was MDF or whatever. I've also seen my fair share of broken solid hardwood furniture and I've repaired most of it to fine working order which is really easy to do. I've even saved ones from the trash, repaired them and resold them for a good profit. That's something I can't do with particle board stuff. Perhaps it is my skill level and there's some way to repair broken MDF?