Skip to main content

Q: Need help with IKEA PAX crooked toe kick

How do I correct wrongly assembled PAX toe kick?

I have recently moved into my first own apartment and invested in a new IKEA Pax System.

It consists of two separate corpuses, 100cm and 75cm, both 227cm high. We have already built them, screwed the two together and added the doors.

Now to the problem: 

On the left PAX corpus the bottom front panel (toe kick) is crooked. We accidentally put the dowels into the second row instead of the first on one side. I am attaching photos where you can see the issue. 

I was wondering if there is an “easy” way to correct that, other than taking half the construction apart again?

Would it be possible to just lift the left side, push out the panel on the left side — breaking the dowels, without ripping/ damaging the panel?

Then taking out what’s left of the dowels, putting new dowels into the holes in the panel — very deep, so that they are almost completely in — and then pushing/ squeezing the panel/ dowels back into the correct first row holes? 

Do you think by doing that I would damage the panel? Would it be very likely that the dowels would break in a way that I actually won’t be able to take the broken part out of the holes in the panel? Would the right side dowels also break out inevitably?

As you can tell I don’t have too much building experience, therefore a lot of questions. 😀 

I know to many people this little crooked detail wouldn’t matter. But since I am just moving in, and investing a lot of money in all my new furniture, I just want everything to be right.  

This is the right corpus, where we did it correctly: 

PAX toe kick installed correctly

This is the left corpus, with the crooked PAX front panel (toe-kick): 

PAX toe kick installed wrongly
PAX toe kick installed wrongly

~ by Konig

***

Hi Konig

We’ve all been there — an assembly boo-boo. 😀

No easy way to correct crooked PAX toe kick

Your suggestion seems possible, but yes, you will run the risk of damage. After all, PAX panels are made out of particleboard — fine wood particles compressed together with not much flex.

PAX construction

You’ll first need to remove the backing board from the back of the PAX frame. Then, gently knock the left panel (preferably with a rubber mallet to avoid damaging the surface) loose from the 3 screws that hold the base panel. Hopefully that will open a large enough gap for you access the toe kick dowels and move them into the right spot.

PAX construction

However, making the effort to disassemble — at the very least the left half — and reinstalling it correctly is the best and safest way to go.

I understand how annoying the crooked bit can be. It’ll drive me out out my mind. And if you do land on a quick fix, do update us.

IH readers may have further suggestions. Over to anyone with a clever solution.

Happy hacking,

Jules

Hacking may compromise the structural integrity of the item, so please be aware of the risks involved before modifying or altering any IKEA product. Alterations and modifications will also void any warranties or return policies you may have received from IKEA. IKEAhackers.net is not liable for any product failure, injury or damage resulting from the application of suggestions, ideas and hacks featured on this site.


The post Q: Need help with IKEA PAX crooked toe kick appeared first on IKEA Hackers.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SKÅDIS: 5 ways to make the IKEA pegboard even better

IKEA introduced its own pegboard system, SKÅDIS, two years ago and I’d say it’s one of the best systems IKEA launched in recent years. I love how super customisable it is, with a growing range of accessories that help keep things organized. It works everywhere, in your wardrobe to bathroom . Probably anywhere you have a flat surface to hang it up. Photo: IKEA.com SKÅDIS pegboard system See it on IKEA.com But no matter how perfect a system, you can trust IKEA hackers to improve on the SKÅDIS. And they’ve settle these 5 issues you may have faced with the handy IKEA pegboard. Read on for their fixes. 5 IKEA SKÅDIS issues and fixes #1 Expensive hooks? You’ll need quite a number of hooks and accessories to fill up the SKÅDIS pegboard, and Kenyer was shocked at how quickly they all added up. So he figured he could make his own hooks to save cost. Photo: Kenyer Over at Instructables , he shows us how to twist copper wires into the SKÅDIS hook shape. It works s...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hackers Help: How to remake cam lock holes?

I want to put a 78.5” wide PAX configuration in a 77” space for a kids room . My plan is to eliminate the drawer on the right unit, then cut the shelves and rails to be 1.5” narrower. My question is, how do people attach two laminated pressboard IKEA pieces after they’ve cut off the cam lock holes? Related: See more Hackers Help questions and answers . Are they using drills bits and/or tiny hole saws to remake the cam lock holes? Or screws drilled in from the outside with wood glue? The outside pieces won’t be visible in my completed setup so I could go either way. I’m curious what other people are doing, either I haven’t seen this detail in past hacks or I haven’t been paying attention. ~ by Jenny *** Hi Jenny The best and tidiest method is to use the cut-off portion as a template to reproduce the same cam lock holes in the correct positions. The right sized drill bits and a  Forstner bit should do the trick. A Forstner bit will drill a flat-bottomed hole (...
Post a Comment
Read more

A beautiful design idea for the IVAR cabinet with doors

A wall of IVAR cabinets with doors engraved is astonishingly captivating. Because IVAR is real solid wood (unlike a lot of flat-pack cupboards), it makes a great blank canvas for CNC machining work and engraving. IKEA items used: IKEA IVAR cabinets in 30mm (12″) and 50mm (20″) depths. IVAR cabinet | IKEA.com Other materials and tools: CNC Router How to engrave the IVAR cabinet with doors: Build a wall of IVAR cabinets to your preference. It’s not too difficult to shorten some in order to fill a wall exactly. I shortened the top row to 695mm and reduced the depth of the middle column to 40mm to create a 50/40/30 sequence so that I didn’t block the window but maximised storage capacity. Take a drawing, trace it in Inkscape or Adobe Illustrator into a black-only flat design. You can simplify the path at this point to reduce the time needed to engrave. Chop up the drawing in Inkscape or Adobe Illustrator into door-sized sections. Save as an SVG. Import the ...
Post a Comment
Read more