Ratty Cage By: Jules IKEAHacker

Materials: EXPEDIT 2×4 shelf, ANEBODA back panel, BENNO shelf leftovers, RILL small rolls, roof battens, wire rack, drill and additional part for drilling large holes, jigsaw

Description: We already had a large cage but it wasn’t as nice as a part of furniture so we decided to turn an EXPEDIT into a more stylish cage. Now we have only one ratty left but want to give another 3 mademoiselles a new home so it had to be big enough for at least 4-5 rats.

So we got a 2×4 storage unit and all additional stuff for a door and to make it moveable.

First we built one outside and the top, then drilled the holes, the ways from one ‘room’ to the other, and built it all together. When drilling the holes you should make sure not to drill it all way through but turn the board before it breaks and becomes chippy, as happened with our first hole.

Next we screwed the RILL rolls under the shelf and stuck the ANEBODA back with nails to it. We got all way round with the nails at the back, then measured where the boards run and stuck them too. Until now it wasn’t more than an hour to an hour and a half of pure work.

The door took more of our time.. We started with trimming the roof battens, which we screwed together with angular metal parts. There wasn’t the right wire rack at the hardware store, it was not wide enough, so we had to pick up another roof batten to make the wire fit. We put this part in the middle of the door, so we were able to make two rows of wire rack. Next it was trimmed to fit between the battens, by cutting it down to the right size there were really sharp edges which we bent down, beat them into the wood and fixed it with tiny cramps.

When the door was screwed on we screwed the BENNO leftovers into the cage and fixed them with nails through the back.

Finally we screwed little crotchets into the wood to fix different furniture pieces for our little ones.

We bought a deadlock to close the cage, but it didn’t fit in well so we had to improvise. We took a crotchet, a screw and a hairtie. The crotchet is screwed into the door, the screw into the storage unit and the hair tie holds the door in place.

Let’s hope their little castle will last long..

Total: 150$

~ Sacki

via IKEA Hackers http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Ikeahacker/~3/oR7Q8dj1l14/ratty-cage.html From Jules IKEAHacker

IKEA Besta with oak worktop By: Jules IKEAHacker

Materials: Ikea Besta and oak panels

Description: We take apart the desk and used the parts to measure the oak panels and made the drilling holes on the right spots. To connect the 2 oak pieces we used a lammelo machine and glued them together.

~ timmerwim, Netherlands

via IKEA Hackers http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Ikeahacker/~3/8JO2sVpnbsY/ikea-besta-with-oak-worktop.html From Jules IKEAHacker

Patio lights from plant pot By: Jules IKEAHacker

Materials: Plant Pot (Socker), Hemma cord set

Description: purchased 3 colorful Socker pots

Purchased 3 Hemma cord sets

Using hole saw we drilled holes in the bottom of the pots approximately 1/8 inch larger than the fixture on the Hemma cord set. Assembled the cords with lights inside of bucket. Hung them as a group of three, upside down from patio cover.

~ stacey zoyiopoulos, United States

via IKEA Hackers http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Ikeahacker/~3/bC-bH1sH3Fw/patio-lights-from-plant-pot.html From Jules IKEAHacker

How to fix Galant A-legs By: Jules IKEAHacker

Materials: Galant A-leg

Description: Having a couple of Galant style desks, with A type legs, I eventually ran into a problem that’s reported elsewhere: the leg cannot be “locked”. What happens is as follows:

1. One “unlocks” the leg by unscrewing it (anti or counter clockwise) to change the height.

2. The leg length is changed appropriately.

3. Attempting to lock the leg by screwing it clockwise results in it just turning and turning, and turning… And it doesn’t lock.

The chief culprit here is that the leg has been previously over-tightened. This aspect is most probably the least clear from the documentation, or the leg itself. How tight is enough? How tight is too tight? And no one wants a desk to fall down/over with a leg that is under-tightened.

(I can’t offer solid advice as to how tight is tight enough. However based on experience, once the leg grips, give it an extra twist – 1/4 – 1/2 rotation – by hand and that’s it. Don’t go further!)

So what to do when you have a “spinning leg”?

Step 1: Unscrew bottom part of leg, if necessary, and pull it out from the top part of the leg (Photo 1).

Photo 2 shows the two cones of the leg as it should be.

Photo 3 shows the two cones of the leg which suffers from this “spinning” problem. What’s happened is that the bottom cone has threaded itself onto the screw and so turning the leg results in the top part spinning as opposed to travelling down the thread. (To meet the bottom cone and then expand to lock the leg.)

Step 2: Grip the top of the threaded screw with pliers, but not the spring/washer structure, and unscrew the leg and bottom cone off the screw. You’ll know when to stop when the bottom part starts to spin on the screw because the thread only goes so far down the screw.

Photo 4 shows this done and it’s interesting to note that there’s a whole lot of plastic debris where the bottom cone has self-threaded itself onto the screw.

Step 3: Clear the debris with a knife or similar, see photo 5. Use super glue to lock the bottom cone to the screw, below the start of the thread. If necessary, also super glue the tabs of bottom part of the lower assembly of the bottom cone. (It’s not quite clear to me why this is free in the normal configuration – a manufacturing related design aspect(?) – but gluing everything results in a locked bottom part which is what you want.)

Step 4: With a knife, rough up both the surface of the bottom cone and the areas on the upper cone which contact the inside of the upper part of the leg. The whole leg works as a friction device and if the cones don’t grip – either to each other or to the inside of the upper part of the leg, then the leg won’t lock. (Indeed maybe this is a different type of spinning leg failure?)

I hope this helps!

Link:

autoresponse: colin.a.irwin@gmail.com

Name: Colin

Location: France

via IKEA Hackers http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Ikeahacker/~3/9jbvg0rcqdw/how-to-fix-galant-a-legs.html From Jules IKEAHacker

Rast Dollhouse By: Jules IKEAHacker

Materials: RAST Nightstand and HUSET Doll furniture

Description: I made a quick hack to house the HUSET living room by flipping the RAST nightstand upside down and angling the top. This required a pencil, a drill, a 1/4″ bit, and a saw. I began by putting the nightstand together as per usual but only screwing in the middle screws on the bottom shelf (now the roof of the house). Then I angled the shelf to the point I wanted and traced the line of the angle on the two sides with a pencil.

Then I took the whole thing apart again, drilled the other two holes on either side of the center hole just beneath the newly drawn line and sawed each side along that line. Finally I put it back toge ther and arranged the HUSET doll furniture inside. I wasn’t thrilled with the two holes that still showed on the sides so I put a balsa wood “beam” through them, but this is purely decorative. Voila, Ikea dollhouse.

~ Grace Lewis

via IKEA Hackers http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Ikeahacker/~3/uDrHcCSbwnY/rast-dollhouse.html From Jules IKEAHacker

Spicy wooden shoes By: Jules IKEAHacker

Materials: BETYDLIG curtain rod holder, HUGAD curtain rod, woodenshoes, spraypaint

Description: In the absence of a windowsill in our kitchen, I found another way to keep fresh herbs in the kitchen window I bought some wooden shoes, and spray painted them it some refreshing colors, and made a wire to hang them. I added a BETYDLIG and a HUGAD halfway in the kitchen window and now I have delicious fresh herbs in the kitchen.

See more of the wooden shoe herb garden for window.

~ Lynn ruisendaal-bosch, Nederland

via IKEA Hackers http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Ikeahacker/~3/WDWM2oYrRFI/spicy-wooden-shoes.html From Jules IKEAHacker

Aged in an Hour By: Jules IKEAHacker

Materials: Ordning Utensil Caddy, Modern Masters “Metal Effects” paint and patina

Description: My old stereo speakers were a lil’ too silver for me, so I decided to “age” them a bit for that “Vintage Industrial” look.

Since I had the paints out (Modern Masters “Metal Effects” reactive paint and patina solution) I decided to make a candle holder out of my old ORDNING Utensil Caddy.

I put bumpons on some cardboard so the caddy could resting above the work area.

I used a combination of the Iron, Bronze, and Copper reactive paints. I brushed them on, and went over again with a sponge.

I waited the few minutes the instructions said and than sprayed on the rust activator, than the blue patina activator.

I then sprayed on a matte finish sealer.

Add candle and . . . (O:

~ Michael McCleary, Myersville,MD

via IKEA Hackers http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Ikeahacker/~3/K5L0cl-YLls/aged-in-an-hour.html From Jules IKEAHacker

IKEA hacks in 182 sq ft Seattle micro apartment By: Jules IKEAHacker

Take a peek at Steve Sauer’s amazing DIY-crafted Seattle micro apartment. He found room for 8 different spaces in 182 sq ft of space.

His hacked IKEA projects include: cut-up shelves and tabletop serve as the frame for kitchen drawers; bed slats are both floor for the guest bed and a countertop has become floor to his cafe level; and in the kitchen, “Ikea hardwood shelving for drawer boxes, a table-top for drawer fronts, countertop planks for framing, and heavy duty drawer glides.

via IKEA Hackers http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Ikeahacker/~3/gZOkJjjiAvM/ikea-hacks-in-182-sq-ft-seattle-micro-apartment.html From Jules IKEAHacker