Ikea Expedit LP book shelf $69 bargain

I would bring the Allen wrench and a rubber mallet to tap the pieces apart. A plastic bag for the pieces as mentioned above also.

When you reassemble the kallax,use wood glue on the dowels, wood joints, and even a dab on the screw threads before you install them.

 

That was my experience, about 15 minutes to take apart (the free 5x5 expedit unit via Seattle craigslist) on my own, and another 5 minutes to load the disassembled parts into a Ford Festiva hatchback with the back seat down.

I've since disassembled it once in my house to move from the main floor into an upstairs bedroom. That would never have been possible if the parts were glued together.

 

Thank you. We have come to the conclusion that glue on the dowels serves no purpose (none) so far as adding strength to the unit when the unit is assembled correctly with dowels holding dividers vertically.

 

Who is "we"?
The more times you reassemble the kallax,the more loose the fittings will be.
Wood glue is stronger that the wood itself in many cases.

 

Him and me. We've formed a committee of two. International Kallax Engineering Associates. Yep.

Joshing of course. I can see that glue may serve to assist a dowel to remain strait, but it's not going to do much to help with the shearing strength if a shelf is overloaded (or more likely, the density of the wood surrounding the dowel - when these things break it's likely that the dowels pull out) For that reason, giving up the ability to disassemble the unit by adding glue in the name of strength is not a trade off I'd be willing to make. If you really want to make these things permanently strong, one would have to scuff up the shelf ends and mating surfaces, and use something like 3M 5200 - a marine adhesive that actually works.

 

I have seen a lot of pictures on the nest with the Expedit or Kallax, mine is a Home & Garden version i bought on Amazon, display like i have it, with the equipment on top. Hope nothing happens, but i don't think it will, it's very sturdy enough and the 4 long screws seem to hold it together pretty well.

 

I'd wager you will be fine. Even in the horizontal position, and assuming the base has full support from the floor (not on DIY fabricated legs), the shelves in the middle will provide significant support between the sides. The strength of these units come from their rigidity, certainly not their density. Anchoring the unit to the wall does more than prevent a tip over, it prevents flex - a good thing.

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

*Sigh* ... There's just no easy way around this record storage thing, is there? I actually found a verticle IKEA unit that I like and plan on buying for LP storage, but now you guys got me wonderscared again. Has an Expedit ever crashed and burned that only had records stored in it? I plan to keep my Fisher 800C and Dual 1019 on a sturdy, old oak desk, so I'm not worried about that stuff, but I still need a solid solution for the LP's.

 

(said in my best Monty Python voice) Nooo, no, never. No. Ok, once.



Stolen from the internet. I think the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Use of multiple smaller units seems to be a better approach. Don't get me wrong, I love my Kallax - tremendous value and perfect size. But they are what they are.

 

This photo pops up all the time.
The shelve was not assembled properly.
If you do not follow the instructions, you have to live with the consequences.

The longer parts should be parallel to the ground. This was not done here.
So don't blame the manufacturer, when the customer is not able to read.

The greatest computer bug is always in front of the screen. ;-)

 

Wait a second. It looks right to me. The longer top and bottom boards ARE parallel to the ground.

 

Pretty sure he is referrng to the internal shelving, you can see all the dividers parallel with the ground. The long straight pieces are vertical.

 

Got it. I see that now.

I have mine as a kind of "room divider," so it's not attached to anything. Better be stable where it is. (Pics to follow.)

 

I'm relieved to finally have the problem with that setup explained. I've seen that picture before and I didn't look at how the shelves were aligned. I just assumed there were dowels or screws missing that somehow I wasn't picking up on.

 

That's what I tried to explain.

Look at a 4x2 and convert this to the 4x4 or 5x5 and you have a pretty stable construction.
Wood glue or or an anchoring to a wall will definitely prevent the pictured failure.

 

Has anyone used something like these single cubes with albums as speaker stands?

 

Ikea also offers Nornas (solid pine) and Besta units that hold vinyl well.

 

Plus use glue and add a back.

 

What you guys think of this one from Ikea..
NORNÄS Sideboard basic unit - - IKEA »

 

Like the raised frame a lot although I'd be nervous about support in the middle if every cube were filled with vinyl. Don't like that it only comes in an unfinished state and they don't offer any finish/color options.

 

In another record storage Kallax/Expedit related thread, a member posted his Nornas. He glued everything while assembling and found it to be very strong and stable. I doubt the lack of middle support would be an issue but that's easily fixable. IIRC, the member who bought one did a mod and had custom legs for his unit.

I've considered the unit but I think the base/legs are very ugly so I'd have to mod it and the finish isn't very good as it is, so I would need to paint of stain it. Unfortunately, I'm too lazy to do all of that work.

 

Got a question for you guys. The unit sizes I currently have are 2x4 and 2x2 so sturdyness and wall bracing aren't really an issue.

But I need some more storage and rather than buying more 2x4 units I thought I might just go with either 4x4 unit or a 5x5 unit. My problem is that I won't be able to brace either unit to a wall for a variety of reason*. So I'm a bit more worried about stability here.

If I put on a proper plywood backing that would help. But what I might do, to provide even more support, is cut out wood squares for the back of each cube. They would sit just inside so each shelf would also be resting on the wood in addition to the pegs (I'd glue those as well). This backing would be either glued or nailed to the plywood backing. Do you think that would be enough support?

Or would I be better off buying more 2x4 units and just putting those side by side?

* the house is very old and the walls don't have the standard stud spacing. I used to have a map of where the studs were but that has disappeared. The wall isn't dry wall either but plaster and lathe which isn't in the best of shape either. I rent and although the landlady is pretty lenient on what I can and can't do, I do have to make sure I don't make a mess of things. So I'm a bit hesitant with wall bracing.

 

I have 4 2x4 and 5 1x1 on top (all expedit)...
Do not ask why..
and I need another 2x4 in the foreseeable future. ;-)

 

There may be those here who would faint dead at this suggestion - but I have several 4x4 Kallax shelves. As long as your floors are level and you aren't rendering them top heavy (i.e. filling them from the top down or putting heavy equipment on top), and as long as you don't have pets or children prone to scaling furniture, you should be fine. I've never once had a problem with one of these shelves just going head over tail of its own volition.