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Show HN: IKEA Complexity Index

ikea.greg.technology

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Re: Show HN: IKEA Complexity Index

#81

Post by adverbly »

jstummbillig wrote: post #37

Cool! I had codex have a go at calculating "effective price" on a few items, that prices in the assembly labor, and then also calculates the delta between price and effective price. Obviously very depended on how you value your time, but here are some items at $30/hour: BRIMNES storage bed + headboard, Queen $549 + 320 min labor = $709 (delta: +$160 / +29%) HEMNES 8-drawer dresser $380 + 236 min labor = $498 (delta:…

To be fair, a lot of these items are cannot really be purchased without assembly being required.

Or purchasing them in their assembled state can require even more logistical transportation overhead such as specialized vehicle rentals.

Your point stands though that furniture has a higher cost than the sticker implies.

Re: Show HN: IKEA Complexity Index

#82

Post by TacticalCoder »

jstummbillig wrote: post #37

Cool! I had codex have a go at calculating "effective price" on a few items, that prices in the assembly labor, and then also calculates the delta between price and effective price. Obviously very depended on how you value your time, but here are some items at $30/hour: BRIMNES storage bed + headboard, Queen $549 + 320 min labor = $709 (delta: +$160 / +29%) HEMNES 8-drawer dresser $380 + 236 min labor = $498 (delta:…

> Obviously very depended on how you value your time ...

More like how you approach life.

Assembling furnitures is a very fun and zen thing to do IMO. I know a least one surgeon who would gladly bill more $$$ but there are simply hours when the hospital is closed: assembling a furniture with your kid after a day's work is a cool and relaxing thing to do.

Friends of mine, about a year ago, asked me to help with some technical stuff on the first day they moved their startup in their new office. When I arrived, the desks hadn't even been assembled yet (they were late on schedule).

I helped them assemble the desks: I find that highly relaxing, gratifying and relaxing to do.

Many moons ago I did that too in southern california: physically building the desks, unpacking the PCs and monitors, hooking up everything (back when there were still, btw, people plugging the VGA cable instead of the HDMI one for monitors that came with both), running the ethernet cables, configuring the PCs, configuring the Linux server.

Doing it all. Then configuring the Linux servers.

It's like painting a place you move in's walls: it's got nothing to do with "how you value time".

I lived in four countries. We'll certainly move to a fifth one one day. I'm excited at the idea of going to the hardware store, buying paint and screws and nuts and bolts and whatnots and preparing the place.

And assembling furnitures.

Re: Show HN: IKEA Complexity Index

#83

Post by Imustaskforhelp »

microtonal wrote: post #13
kandros wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have nightmares of these, I’ll gladly pay someone else to do it next time

I hate building IKEA furniture, my wife loves building IKEA furniture. Problem solved :). Same with shopping at IKEA. I know all the shortcuts in our local IKEA so that I can exit the store as quickly as possible.

> Problem solved :).

Indeed, just need to get a wife now who would love building IKEA furniture now though :)

Re: Show HN: IKEA Complexity Index

#84

Post by throwaway2037 »

Wherever I have lived and shopped at IKEA, there is an option to pay ~20% extra to have your item assembled by professionals at your home. It is a steal! Unless you are genuinely interested to assemble a piece of furniture, save yourself the headache and pay for professional assembly.

Re: Show HN: IKEA Complexity Index

#86

Post by nicbou »

an0malous wrote: post #72
montroser wrote: post #71

One time I hired two different random guys on craigslist to assemble three IKEA bureaus. They didn't know each other beforehand, and I hired them separately to work together. They started by jockeying to see which one was going to be in charge, arguing about how to proceed, throwing shade, making claims of superiority. One guy wanted to follow the instructions, and the other guy just wanted to go on intuition. They c…

I feel like there’s a takeaway here for the male loneliness epidemic but I’m not sure what

Tinder for assembling ikea furniture. The service pays for itself by selling assembly services.

Re: Show HN: IKEA Complexity Index

#87

Post by xxs »

tclancy wrote: post #52
mschuster91 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and if you're using an assembly driver or not Not a good idea on modern Ikea furniture that's basically engineered wood and cardboard. Way too easy to strip out the threads.

I feel like this shouldn’t be down-voted. I insist on grabbing The Gun for anything more than a few screws, but have definitely overtightened or cracked boards when I don’t keep the torque low. Always remember the rule: a half-turn before breaking is how tight you want it to be

Well, don't use impact drivers (if that's "the gun", esp. an air tool). Like mentioned earlier, a drill driver with a low clutch setting is totally ok.

>a half-turn before breaking is how tight you want it to be

That feels super random, I would not think it allies to lots of fasteners - e.g. lug nuts, spark plugs, crank shaft bolts, or even deck screws (where another half turn would berry them too deep), or plastic self tapping screws. Perhaps some smaller ones like M4 bolts, or non-counter sunk wood screws?

Learning to use power tools (well any tools) should be considered desirable.

Re: Show HN: IKEA Complexity Index

#88

Post by hdjrudni »

montroser wrote: post #71

One time I hired two different random guys on craigslist to assemble three IKEA bureaus. They didn't know each other beforehand, and I hired them separately to work together. They started by jockeying to see which one was going to be in charge, arguing about how to proceed, throwing shade, making claims of superiority. One guy wanted to follow the instructions, and the other guy just wanted to go on intuition. They c…

I hired a guy to assemble a desk...he did a shit job. Won't be doing that again.

Re: Show HN: IKEA Complexity Index

#89

Post by otterpro »

I'm just an average guy, and I love assembling Ikea furniture. It feels like an adult Lego. But sometimes, I wonder if this is like an IQ test, as I need to sometimes figure out what the illustration is asking me to do. My feeling is that those who have higher IQ will do better. Anyway, now these days, it feels like Lego costs more than Ikea furniture.
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