Thursday 24 November 2011

Ekby Shelves - Now in 3D!

IKEA Ekby St�tlig shelves

Materials: 4 odd bits of IKEA Ekby St�tlig shelves (pieces from 28cmx119cm), Circular saw, Biscuit jointer+8 biscuits, White glue, Clamps

Description: After having put up some IKEA Ekby St�tlig shelves in my bathroom I found myself with some shelf leftovers...I felt it would be a shame to throw the nice bits of solid birch wood...

So I came up with the hack idea to hack the (flat) Ekby shelves to a 3D cube - a solid, versatile piece which goes pretty much anywhere in the house - Use it as a side table, a stool, a shelf, or anything that's needed at your place!

IKEA Ekby St�tlig shelves

Here are the instructions:

1. Get some clean cuts with a little help from a circular saw. The aims is to get all 4 sides form a nice cube (hence, top and bottom should be the same length, as should the side pieces)...

2. Use a genius tool called a Biscuit Jointer, ideal for angled 90� joints. The jointer has a rotating blade that cuts curved slots into the material. It's essential that mating edges are planed straight for a tight joint.

IKEA Ekby St�tlig shelves

3. The biscuits will expand when in contact with fluids. This quality makes it ideal for jointing. Add some white water-based glue (intended for wood) on both mating sides of the biscuit.

IKEA Ekby St�tlig shelves

4. Lastly, clamp it up! The cube will be ready for action after 20 minutes or so.

Clamping IKEA Ekby St�tlig shelves

5. Ta-daa! The finished 3D version of the Ekby Shelf! - Enjoy!

The best part of the "Ekby-in-3D"-hack is that you can derive pretty much any solid cubical structure from it - So go cubistic and hack away!

See more of the 3D Ekby.

~ Filippa Malmegard, Stockholm, Sweden

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