Ikea Alex Storage Question

[astolat]

I use trays (clear plastic photo box frames) for my alex drawers. Allows me to lift/slide out stuff from the very back. Use them in my metal map/chart drawers, too.

I regularly check the thrift store picture frame aisles - usually find them for a buck for 8x10, and a couple bucks for larger (10x14, 16x20, etc,)

This sounds really helpful -- could you post a pic? would love to see!

[pacarat]

I use trays (clear plastic photo box frames) for my alex drawers. Allows me to lift/slide out stuff from the very back. Use them in my metal map/chart drawers, too.

I regularly check the thrift store picture frame aisles - usually find them for a buck for 8x10, and a couple bucks for larger (10x14, 16x20, etc,)

[Alarian]

Just picked up another 2 Alex's (up to 6 now thanks to KS5). And one thing I noticed about the 2 newer ones are the drawers come out about an inch to an inch and a half less than the older ones. Not a huge deal, but I was a bit disappointed as now even more of the drawer is difficult to get to and not quite as easy to just glance in and see what's there. I was figuring 2 would last me through KS6, but I've discovered the error of my ways considering I've filled 8 of the twelve drawers and I still have a ways to go.

[William]

That looks perfect for a spot between some of my metal shelves, Thanks marcoreds.

It is steel and has lots of parts, but the 11" width might just be perfect for my use. Woohoo!!
And I can get green or purple, even better.

[marcoreds]

Guys, has anybody tried this one? I think it came out recently.

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10251045/

0490648_PE624587_S5.JPG (21.37 KiB) Viewed 455 times

It's smaller than the Alex, but cheaper. It also comes in various colors, and had labels to mark contents.

It seems made of metal.

[pacarat]

You can certainly do wood from the sides and with white or grey Alex I would have done just that. Mine are black, so nail heads are not as noticeable. When my son eventually gets his grey Alex we will install wood slats from the side.

I would not recommend gluing anything - you want the materials to be able to contract/expand with temp/humidity changes.

[astolat]

looking at the link it appears those fit along the edges of a drawer?

how do they keep drawer bottom/panel from bending in center/middle due to weight? (which is where the weakness is, and where we saw initial sagging)

pacarat, I put them in at the midpoints of the drawer bottoms along each side. The small flat bit goes into the slot along with the drawer bottom panel and then the wedge shaped bit extends out under the panel. It keeps the drawer bottom pressed snugly into the slot, and the wedge also adds a small but strong extra support around the edges of the drawer right at the points where the panel would sag and separate. I would guess as a result they keep the weight distributed more evenly over the whole drawer.

I think honestly the wood glue is the most important thing, it really soaks in very effectively into IKEA stuff and makes a huge difference, but these are small and cheap and easy to install as you go, so I figured it was worth tossing them in.

Thanks for this suggestion, I think I might go this way instead of the wood stops, because it's easier for me and it seems it might do the job. So for the wood glue, where exactly do you put it? My drawers are all already put together, do I have to fully take them apart to apply the glue as you did it, or can I just slather some wood glue along the joints on the bottom of the drawer? I wasn't sure if I needed to remove the flat bottom part and put the glue in the actual slot that you slide the flat bottom into... if so, I'm not sure how to actually safely take apart the drawer to do that, because I had to hammer in those big plastic threaded nail things to keep the sides all together and I am not sure if they can be taken out and put back in safely?

I did it as I assembled, but honestly in your case I would just slather some on the underside around the edges, doing your best to get some of it in the cracks, shove in the little reinforcer wedges so they get held with the glue too, and see how it goes. The worst case is you see one of them is starting to sag and at that point you can reinforce with wood.

(If you did reinforce with wood, is there any reason you couldn't just get pieces going the long way and nail them in from the sides instead of front/back, so the nails wouldn't be visible from the front?)

[callahan09]

pacarat, I put them in at the midpoints of the drawer bottoms along each side. The small flat bit goes into the slot along with the drawer bottom panel and then the wedge shaped bit extends out under the panel. It keeps the drawer bottom pressed snugly into the slot, and the wedge also adds a small but strong extra support around the edges of the drawer right at the points where the panel would sag and separate. I would guess as a result they keep the weight distributed more evenly over the whole drawer.

I think honestly the wood glue is the most important thing, it really soaks in very effectively into IKEA stuff and makes a huge difference, but these are small and cheap and easy to install as you go, so I figured it was worth tossing them in.

Thanks for this suggestion, I think I might go this way instead of the wood stops, because it's easier for me and it seems it might do the job. So for the wood glue, where exactly do you put it? My drawers are all already put together, do I have to fully take them apart to apply the glue as you did it, or can I just slather some wood glue along the joints on the bottom of the drawer? I wasn't sure if I needed to remove the flat bottom part and put the glue in the actual slot that you slide the flat bottom into... if so, I'm not sure how to actually safely take apart the drawer to do that, because I had to hammer in those big plastic threaded nail things to keep the sides all together and I am not sure if they can be taken out and put back in safely?

I agree that these edge clips may indeed make connections along the drawer edges stronger, they will not stop heavy weight in the center of drawer from eventually causing a sag. The drawer bottom is just not that strong/thick.

Even with my wood stop supports in place, I place as much of the heavier pieces around the perimeter of each drawer as will fit. No sense in pushing the envelope more than I need to.

Thanks for the suggestion again, I appreciate all the discussion on this. I was wondering if you had heavier resin pieces, or all dwarvenite (or whatever some of the castle/city pieces that aren't exactly dwarvenite either are made from)? I only have the dwarvenite/city/castle stuff and no resin, which I understand means it's not quite as heavy as what some others have, do you think I need center support like from the wood stops you described in order to hold dwarvenite? Perhaps I'll do both the stops and the edge supports, but leave off the glue as I don't want to have to deconstruct the entire drawer.

I have a white alex, not a black one, though, so sharpie-ing the nail heads on the front of the drawer faces from nailing in the stops is not something I can do, is there another idea you might have as a suggestion for how to nail in the supports without defacing the front of the drawer facade?

[pacarat]

looking at the link it appears those fit along the edges of a drawer?

how do they keep drawer bottom/panel from bending in center/middle due to weight? (which is where the weakness is, and where we saw initial sagging)

pacarat, I put them in at the midpoints of the drawer bottoms along each side. The small flat bit goes into the slot along with the drawer bottom panel and then the wedge shaped bit extends out under the panel. It keeps the drawer bottom pressed snugly into the slot, and the wedge also adds a small but strong extra support around the edges of the drawer right at the points where the panel would sag and separate. I would guess as a result they keep the weight distributed more evenly over the whole drawer.

I think honestly the wood glue is the most important thing, it really soaks in very effectively into IKEA stuff and makes a huge difference, but these are small and cheap and easy to install as you go, so I figured it was worth tossing them in.

Thanks for this suggestion, I think I might go this way instead of the wood stops, because it's easier for me and it seems it might do the job. So for the wood glue, where exactly do you put it? My drawers are all already put together, do I have to fully take them apart to apply the glue as you did it, or can I just slather some wood glue along the joints on the bottom of the drawer? I wasn't sure if I needed to remove the flat bottom part and put the glue in the actual slot that you slide the flat bottom into... if so, I'm not sure how to actually safely take apart the drawer to do that, because I had to hammer in those big plastic threaded nail things to keep the sides all together and I am not sure if they can be taken out and put back in safely?

I agree that these edge clips may indeed make connections along the drawer edges stronger, they will not stop heavy weight in the center of drawer from eventually causing a sag. The drawer bottom is just not that strong/thick.

Even with my wood stop supports in place, I place as much of the heavier pieces around the perimeter of each drawer as will fit. No sense in pushing the envelope more than I need to.

[callahan09]

looking at the link it appears those fit along the edges of a drawer?

how do they keep drawer bottom/panel from bending in center/middle due to weight? (which is where the weakness is, and where we saw initial sagging)

pacarat, I put them in at the midpoints of the drawer bottoms along each side. The small flat bit goes into the slot along with the drawer bottom panel and then the wedge shaped bit extends out under the panel. It keeps the drawer bottom pressed snugly into the slot, and the wedge also adds a small but strong extra support around the edges of the drawer right at the points where the panel would sag and separate. I would guess as a result they keep the weight distributed more evenly over the whole drawer.

I think honestly the wood glue is the most important thing, it really soaks in very effectively into IKEA stuff and makes a huge difference, but these are small and cheap and easy to install as you go, so I figured it was worth tossing them in.

Thanks for this suggestion, I think I might go this way instead of the wood stops, because it's easier for me and it seems it might do the job. So for the wood glue, where exactly do you put it? My drawers are all already put together, do I have to fully take them apart to apply the glue as you did it, or can I just slather some wood glue along the joints on the bottom of the drawer? I wasn't sure if I needed to remove the flat bottom part and put the glue in the actual slot that you slide the flat bottom into... if so, I'm not sure how to actually safely take apart the drawer to do that, because I had to hammer in those big plastic threaded nail things to keep the sides all together and I am not sure if they can be taken out and put back in safely?