Ikea Retrofit
My wife loves Ikea. Simple, clean, cheap furnishings that don't require a long term commitment to a particular decorating style. Well..... I suppose you could argue that Ikea is a decorating style but I digress.
We have a small hutch in the dining room to show case her collection of salt and pepper shakers. Then she over loaded the three drawers with linens and serving platters. Shockingly, the thin press board that makes the bottom of these drawers bowed and slipped out of the rabbit that kept them in place spilling pottery on the floor under the hutch. Bother!
Now, I could say "Well there's your problem right there. This is just cheap thin MDF, what did you expect?" which would result in my sleeping with the dog... Have I mentioned that we don't have a dog?
So, what to do? Normally I'd slip a 1/4" x 18" x 48" pine board into the dado along the bottom of the shelf but I don't have any wide pine boards. I do have some 3/8" aluminum U channel over in the scrap pile.
cutting them 1/2" longer than the depth of the drawer and trimming them to leave a 1/4" tab should provide enough stiffening to keep the MDF bottom from bowing until it falls out again. Note the hole drilled through the tab. On my first attempt I found that the back of the drawer was already bowed out and let the aluminum rail slip out. Also note that I filed the bottom of the tab to make it a bit sharper around the edge so that it cut into the dado that was only 3/16 deep.
Using a C clamp to keep the depth of the drawer stable I tapped the aluminum tabs into the existing dado. The sharpened tab cut into the pine nicely and ensured a tight fit.
A couple small wood screws through the hole ensure the front and back of the drawer don't bow out anymore keeping the bottom stiff and flat through the middle of the drawer. I probably should have put some brads through the left and right side of the drawer bottom but my brad nailer is on loan. If it falls apart again I'll just make some more of these braces, they really worked like a charm.
We have a small hutch in the dining room to show case her collection of salt and pepper shakers. Then she over loaded the three drawers with linens and serving platters. Shockingly, the thin press board that makes the bottom of these drawers bowed and slipped out of the rabbit that kept them in place spilling pottery on the floor under the hutch. Bother!
Now, I could say "Well there's your problem right there. This is just cheap thin MDF, what did you expect?" which would result in my sleeping with the dog... Have I mentioned that we don't have a dog?
So, what to do? Normally I'd slip a 1/4" x 18" x 48" pine board into the dado along the bottom of the shelf but I don't have any wide pine boards. I do have some 3/8" aluminum U channel over in the scrap pile.
cutting them 1/2" longer than the depth of the drawer and trimming them to leave a 1/4" tab should provide enough stiffening to keep the MDF bottom from bowing until it falls out again. Note the hole drilled through the tab. On my first attempt I found that the back of the drawer was already bowed out and let the aluminum rail slip out. Also note that I filed the bottom of the tab to make it a bit sharper around the edge so that it cut into the dado that was only 3/16 deep.
Using a C clamp to keep the depth of the drawer stable I tapped the aluminum tabs into the existing dado. The sharpened tab cut into the pine nicely and ensured a tight fit.
A couple small wood screws through the hole ensure the front and back of the drawer don't bow out anymore keeping the bottom stiff and flat through the middle of the drawer. I probably should have put some brads through the left and right side of the drawer bottom but my brad nailer is on loan. If it falls apart again I'll just make some more of these braces, they really worked like a charm.