This isn’t really a think I like, but it is something I think is interesting.  If you ever have gone to Ikea, you are probably impressed by their prices and have a sense that the quality of some of the furniture isn’t that great.  The following story explains why Ikea can keep their prices so low.

A few days I was going to use the table top of an Ikea desk for other wood working projects.  The plan was to cut the table top into pieces, essentially making boards out of the table top.  However, I noticed the table top felt very light, even though it appeared to be made out of wood. 

To test it I cut off a corner piece of the table to see the wood inside.  I was pretty surprised by what I found.  As shown in the picture, the corner piece is particle board where the leg connects to the table.  Particle board is cheap, heavy and brittle but at least it is real wood.  The surprising part was what the rest of the table is made of.  As shown in the picture, the rest of the table top is plywood on the top and bottom with cardboard as the filler in the middle.  That’s right, the majority of the table top is made of cardboard! 

You can see in the photo the leg bracket which is support by particle board and the cardboard sticking out for the rest of the table.  I was pretty shocked, the table was more cardboard than wood.  I will probably still shop at Ikea but will be much more wary of the durability and quality of the products.