Although really simple tools are often included, for this project it's handy to have a hammer available.
So we needed storage space on a low budget, went to IKEA and returned with the "EXPEDIT".
The half version only has 1 package.
After opening.
All the little bits are hiding in a corner.
This is the contents of the bag. For this half-size EXPEDIT, all you really need are the dowels (wooden pins) and the long screws at the top. Use the (Allen) key provided to screw in the screws.The felt pads can be put underneath to prevent scratching. All other parts are used to attach the cabinet onto a wall. For horizontal placement this is not neccesary though.
These are all the wooden panels inside the package.
Before starting, if you have a very hard floor to work on, leave the cardboard so you won't damage the wood.
Start with gently hammering all the dowels into the panels. Only in the holes told by the manual.
Put together 1 corner to start with.
Fix them gently by screwing in 2 long screws. Do NOT screw them in all the way, they should be tightened only when the whole thing has been put together.
Place 1 of the smallest panels over the dowels on the "short" side of the cabinet.
Then take a bigger panel and put it over the dowels in the "long" side.
You then fix the panel you just attached to the smaller panel by putting 2 new dowels into the holes. After this, you attach all other panels except for the fourth small panel. We'll attach that one later because it's going to fall off when we put the cabinet up lateron.
Then attach the second sidepanel. This is a bit tricky because it has to be done under an angle. Be patient and gently push it onto the small panel at the end untill the dowels from the inner panels are infront of the holes in the panel you're putting on. Then gently push the two long panels towards eachother. Also screw 2 big screws in. Do not tighten them all the way.
You may have to tip the cabinet over on it's side and lean on it to apply enough force to attach that last panel. WARNING: Do NOT try to attach it using a hammer. The panels are hollow and you could hit a hole in it.
After it's squeezed together put in the final little panel and attach the other side panel. You can put the 4 remaining screws in now, too.
Put the cabinet into the position it will be used in and tighten the screws. You can tighten them so much that they blend in very nice with the surface of the wood.And voila, there is the Expedit!
12 comments:
I just bought one today myself! I got the black-brown one though. Anyway, it's 145am right now and I'm contemplating building it now or tomorrow. I wonder how long it takes. 30 minutes? 1 hour? 1.5 hours? I will have to find out. Good job on this post by the way. It seems you have a central theme on your blog. I'm still trying to figure out my own. Amazing that you posted this today. :)
I find it amazing that you found my blog! It's about half a day old LOL!
I was taking pictures in between and it took me a couple of hours. Also it's quite warm here (summer) so a lot of time was spend on whiping sweat ;-)
Let me know how it went!
We nearly got one of those.. They must be handy, only we didn't know where to stick it.
re last picture: You need an allen (hex) bit for your Bosch, mate! Driving them in with the flimsy Ikea allen keys is going to drive you nuts if you get much more Ikea stuff!
@ Mic: You can do lots of things with them. Could make a winerack in 1 space, drawers in a few etc.
I don't have an Allen for my Bosch :-/
Does anyone still have the directions and/or know how long the long screws are that hold it together?? We seem to have lost ours when we moved!
@ Anonymous: They are about 8cm long and 5mm thick. This is what I remember, I haven't measured or looked it up.
If you want to be really sure, why don't you go to Ikea and order them seperately? They might even have some leftover from broken sets.
I bought the large 5x5, comes in 3 boxes. Having trouble with the dowels which come in the 1st box with the 4 outside peices. They fit fine the the outside pieces but not in the shelf pieces in the other 2 boxes. They have a different proportion (longer, thinner) than in your picture. All the numbers on the boxes check out. But I wonder if they changed something over time and I've got a mismatch???
@ Rob: I only had one size dowels and they fitted everywhere though sometimes a bit tight. I would think that the big one uses the same but I can't tell for sure. So you think your dowels are thinner than the ones I had but they are still too thick? I'd need to see them and the panels to be able to say something sensible about that mate, sorry.
I think if you really have a problem, just call Ikea and explain your problem. I reckon they'll be helpful :-)
I wish I had read your post before building my 1,49 x 1, 49 shelf. It's never been that hard to assemble an IKEA furniture before! The wooden sticks were way too big (hence I used your technique with the hammer) and the main screws dead hard to fit in.
I wish I had laid the whole stuff on cardboard. The black-brown version scratches easily. Also I'd recommend to build this massive Expedit version with another person. When I lifted up not completely screwed, one of the wooden sticks ripped off its hole :( Not sure what I did wrong.
The thing is that the bottom screws on the sides cannot be screwed unless you lift a bit the shelf from the floor (placing a book under for instance) to allow the allen key to move freely instead of turning the whole thing upside down like I did...
HI! I am putting this together right now and having a really hard time getting the end screws to tighten. . .they actually keep pushing the wood apart instead of bringing it together.
Any ideas? Is this b/c I completely tightened on set already?
Hi, the only thing that I can think of that makes the wood part is screwing the screws in the wrong way around... Orrrr the holes are not deep enough which would be a manufactoring error. Sorry, no more thoughts. Good luck!
I'm having the same problem with the screws! Any new suggestions? Are the other screws not supposed to be tightened all the way?
Post a Comment