Modifying Ikea Cabinets

[fRED mCnEILL]

I have been asked to make a modification to a friends Ikea kitchen cabinet to make it narrower.

Does anyone know what fastening system they use for kitchen cabinets and how you might fasten it together after cutting it. I presume the material is MDF or some other non-solid would product.

Thanks

Fred Mc.

[frank shic]

They're connected with KD (knockdown fasteners) which are VERY hard to bore correctly as you'll need an ACCURATE horizontal boring machine as well as a blum minipress or its equivalent. The other easier way to do it is to just use confirmat screws, CS Hardware assembly screws or Woodworker's Hardware ultimates screws or... drywall screws (drill then countersink then drive). Just make sure you drill straight either freehand or with a cheapy general drill jig. Biscuits will work as well.

[Jim Becker]

Frank is correct. The Ikea cabinets are very well made but use connector hardware that requires extremely precise boring. (They do it in a production environment on a single machine that does all the holes concurrently) The material is also nominally 1/2" thick, so moving to Confirmats (the desireable way to deal with butt joints for this job) is a little harder. Biscuits, RooGlue and some deep threaded screws that do not taper in pre-drilled pilot holes probably is going to be the easiest way to proceed if you really do need to modify the width. Contrary to Frank's post...avoid drywall screws if you can.

And then there are the doors....sure you want to do this?? ;)

[Michael Childs]

The Ikea cabinets are made of MDF, sometimes particle board, with a very thin veneer or paint. They look good, they're generally engineered well, and have lots of style for the buck. On the other hand, they can be very difficult to modify. It's best to trim the back, assemble it, and plan where to place screws where they can't be seen to substitute for the fasteners you'll be obviating when you narrow the cabinet down. I'd recommend long self drilling with countersinking heads. Don't sink them too far or spin them. In some instances, I'd use dowels and glue, and use biscuits to align pieces rather than for joining. Make sure everything is square and plumb or the drawers and the doors won't line up. Good luck.

[Dave Falkenstein]

There are two sizes of confirmat screws available from McFeely's. If the Ikea cabinets are 1/2" or so, the smaller size confirmat screws would work fine.