ikea wardrobe door cut

evosteo

hi all, im just wondering has anybody here ever cut an ikea wardrobe door? im looking at buying a 300cm unit(100cm x 2 50 cm x 2), unfortunately the builders decided to build the room 297cm wide. so i need to shave 3cm off the end of the frame and one door (probably one of the 50 cm doors)

anyone any pointers? i have a table saw to do the cuts neat and i may use duct tape along the cut line to try reduce the edges splitting. i havent decided on which type of door yet but im keeping the cut in mend

paddy147

evosteo wrote: »

hi all, im just wondering has anybody here ever cut an ikea wardrobe door? im looking at buying a 300cm unit(100cm x 2 50 cm x 2), unfortunately the builders decided to build the room 297cm wide. so i need to shave 3cm off the end of the frame and one door (probably one of the 50 cm doors)

anyone any pointers? i have a table saw to do the cuts neat and i may use duct tape along the cut line to try reduce the edges splitting. i havent decided on which type of door yet but im keeping the cut in mend

Ikea units have holes drilled in specific spaces to alow the dowels and screws to be inserted.

If you want to cut 3cm off the wardrobe and door,then you will need to redrill these holes in new locations to assemble the wardrobe carcass.

You will also need a laminate veneer edge to suit the door type and colour (thats if you want to veneer the door edge where you cut it).

The interior shelves only cost 10 euro for a pack of 2,and are a piece of pi55 to cut down and fit in place.

Have a look at my thread which has pictures in it.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=78589923



Might be of some use to you.:)


PS-Masking tape along the entire lenght of the wood will minimize/prevent the veneer from chipping.

A skill saw or jig saw with an adjustable "straight edge guide" on it will also give you a perfectly straight clean cut.

paddy147

Some closer pics of inside the carcass and the various holes in the carcass and its base.

galwaydude18

paddy147 wrote: »

A chop saw or jig saw with an adjustable "straight edge guide" on it will also give you a perfectly straight clean cut.

A jigsaw? Ah paddy come on you can't be serious? You will never ever get a straight line with a jigsaw!! There only meant for cutting roughly to size and trimmed with a router etc. to the desired size after that.

Use a skil saw with a straight edge to make the cut. Make sure the front of the door is facing down when using a skil saw to minimise the chipping when using a skil saw to the face of the door then use iron edging to make the cut edge all pretty again

paddy147

galwaydude18 wrote: »

A jigsaw? Ah paddy come on you can't be serious? You will never ever get a straight line with a jigsaw!! There only meant for cutting roughly to size and trimmed with a router etc. to the desired size after that.

Use a skil saw with a straight edge to make the cut. Make sure the front of the door is facing down when using a skil saw to minimise the chipping when using a skil saw to the face of the door then use iron edging to make the cut edge all pretty again

Funny how I was able to get a perfect straight cut on a carcass,with a jigsaw that had an adjustable guide rail.:)

A 15 euro Parkside jigsaw with adjustable guide rail and lazer light.Worked an absolute treat too.

galwaydude18

paddy147 wrote: »

galwaydude18 wrote: »

A jigsaw? Ah paddy come on you can't be serious? You will never ever get a straight line with a jigsaw!! There only meant for cutting roughly to size and trimmed with a router etc. to the desired size after that.

Use a skil saw with a straight edge to make the cut. Make sure the front of the door is facing down when using a skil saw to minimise the chipping when using a skil saw to the face of the door then use iron edging to make the cut edge all pretty again

Funny how I was able to get a perfect straight cut on a carcass,with a jigsaw that had an adjustable guide rail.:)

A 15 euro Parkside jigsaw with adjustable guide rail and lazer light.Worked an absolute treat too.

And it was perfectly straight even when you sighted down it with you eye? Not one hump or hollow no matter how small? I find that very hard to believe. And you going to tell me it was a straight as using a table saw or skil saw with a straight edge.

paddy147

galwaydude18 wrote: »

And it was perfectly straight even when you sighted down it with you eye? Not one hump or hollow no matter how small? I find that very hard to believe. And you going to tell me it was a straight as using a table saw or skil saw with a straight edge.

Perfectly straight.

Slow steady hand and the carcass side firmly clamped down on a work bench.

I have a cheapy jig saw and a skill saw too.My mate had borrowed the disc blade out of my skill saw,so I was left with only the jig saw

In my situation,the cheapy jigsaw and its straight edge guide did the job perfectly for me.:)

saltandpepper10

no offence paddy but i think gd is working to a slightly higher standard than you.a jigsaw is a very limited tool and totally not up to this task be in parkside or festool

paddy147

Not a problem at all.No skin off my nose.:)

Im not questioning anyone here.

All Im doing is answering a person who asked me some questions.

3ndahalfof6

It would work out a lot cheaper if you build it yourself, buy the timber, paint it to your desired color, job done.

galwaydude18

paddy147 wrote: »

Not a problem at all.No skin off my nose.:)

Im not questioning anyone here.

All Im doing is answering a person who asked me some questions.

Fair enough paddy if you reckon so! I have a festool jigsaw worth a good few euros and I wouldn't even try cut a straight line with it. I guess my trained eye for detail sees what your untrained eye sees as straight and not straight.

paddy147

galwaydude18 wrote: »

Fair enough paddy if you reckon so! I have a festool jigsaw worth a good few euros and I wouldn't even try cut a straight line with it. I guess my trained eye for detail sees what your untrained eye sees as straight and not straight.

You asked me a question,I replied to you with an answer.

And now you do this.

Well done indeed...try to belittle me now.:(

I wont get involved in this anymore now,due to the nature of your posts.

paddy147

Evosteo..best of luck with it.

Let us know how it goes and went for you.

Regards.:)

galwaydude18

paddy147 wrote: »

galwaydude18 wrote: »

Fair enough paddy if you reckon so! I have a festool jigsaw worth a good few euros and I wouldn't even try cut a straight line with it. I guess my trained eye for detail sees what your untrained eye sees as straight and not straight.

You asked me a question,I replied to you with an answer.

And now you do this.

Well done indeed...try to belittle me now.:(

I wont get involved in this anymore now,due to the nature of your posts.

Right wel call a spade a spade so and leave it at that. I know what's right and what's wrong as I'm long enough doing what I do to to know what tools are and arnt capable of.

littleredspot

3ndahalfof6 wrote: »

It would work out a lot cheaper if you build it yourself, buy the timber, paint it to your desired color, job done.

I'd have to go with this answer. I'm all for Ikea furniture but the amount of work involved in cutting it down would be huge and there's no way I can imagine it coming out right. It's also often constructed strangely too, sections of corrugated cardboard for example.

paddy147

galwaydude18 wrote: »

Right wel call a spade a spade so and leave it at that. I know what's right and what's wrong as I'm long enough doing what I do to to know what tools are and arnt capable of.

You asked me a question,and I replied to you with my answer (twice).

So you didnt and wouldnt try it with your expensive equipement,fine no problem.

I managed to do it with a jigsaw that has a straight edge guide and lazer (as I have described above,and also for the reason above,blade missing from skill saw).


Why you couldnt just reply and say "fair enough" is beyond me.
Why then the attitude towards me and belittle me is beyond me??:(


"If you are going to ask a question,then accept the answer you are given,and not the one you want to hear".

Thanks and Goodnight.

chris445

Galwaydude is 100% right here. Never try to cut a straight line with a jigsaw. It is not possible. There will always be humps and hollows and in places the blade will cut off square. Now matter how slow and carefully you go there will always be movement in the blade. If you want a straight cut a circular saw or table saw is the answer as there is no movement in the blade.

BrensBenz

Just a thought that might help: I usually "score" the cut line with a blade and straight edge before cutting, then cut slightly to the side of the score line. Or, another way to explain it: leave your pencil behind your ear and use a Stanley knife instead! The chips stop at the score line. Works well on cuts across grain, melamine, etc., even with a hand saw or tenon saw.

galwaydude18

chris445 wrote: »

Galwaydude is 100% right here. Never try to cut a straight line with a jigsaw. It is not possible. There will always be humps and hollows and in places the blade will cut off square. Now matter how slow and carefully you go there will always be movement in the blade. If you want a straight cut a circular saw or table saw is the answer as there is no movement in the blade.

Thanks chris445! Your on the money there :-)

evosteo

BrensBenz wrote: »

Just a thought that might help: I usually "score" the cut line with a blade and straight edge before cutting, then cut slightly to the side of the score line. Or, another way to explain it: leave your pencil behind your ear and use a Stanley knife instead! The chips stop at the score line. Works well on cuts across grain, melamine, etc., even with a hand saw or tenon saw.

great tip, thanks.

where would i get the veneer finish for the cut edge? is it the iron on stuff?

i love to build one from scratch but i have time constraints at the minute with my mam been sick and need to get storage sorted for her ASAP.

thanks for the help folks. if i remember ill try take a few photos as im doing it.

galwaydude18

Is it veneer or melamine edging?

evosteo

galwaydude18 wrote: »

Is it veneer or melamine edging?

not sure, whats the difference? just the finish?

galwaydude18

evosteo wrote: »

galwaydude18 wrote: »

Is it veneer or melamine edging?

not sure, whats the difference? just the finish?

Well veneer is actual real wood edging that is usually finished with laquer after it has been applied. The melamine is a plastic type of edging.

evosteo

galwaydude18 wrote: »

Well veneer is actual real wood edging that is usually finished with laquer after it has been applied. The melamine is a plastic type of edging.

what do ye reckon would be the best on the ikea stuff? does it depend on the type of wood? not sure what the doors are made off yet, prob a type of chip board

galwaydude18

evosteo wrote: »

galwaydude18 wrote: »

Well veneer is actual real wood edging that is usually finished with laquer after it has been applied. The melamine is a plastic type of edging.

what do ye reckon would be the best on the ikea stuff? does it depend on the type of wood? not sure what the doors are made off yet, prob a type of chip board

I'd say chances are that melamine iron on edging is what you will require.

evosteo

top stuff, thanks:D

galwaydude18

evosteo wrote: »

top stuff, thanks:D

No hassle at all and please what ever you do don't use a jigsaw to cut it :-)

Joey the lips

Jigsaws are terriable for cutting straight lines and to be honest you will be sorry cutting the door.

Just bear with me but is there a possibility of notching the wall out to allow the door and carcus in. Its actually quite a common practice.

DublinDilbert

I personally would never try cut a door down to size. just too difficult. Also wardobes just won't look right if one door is smaller, the human eye is very good at spotting these things.

If you do decide to go down that route, pick a style of door that you can cut without it looking crap, eg the design on the front of the door. Some of the ikea doors have "lines" from floor to ceiling about 5cm's appart ( i have them myself), if you choose this style of door and just cut along one of the lines, it should work out ok. I would get someone with a table saw to make the cut for you, should turn out pretty ok then.

You can get doors in 50cm and in 45cm, so what I would do would be, buy the wardrobe frames in ikea and get the doors some where else. So get 4 x 50cm doors and 2 x 45cm doors that will bring you to 290cm. And trim down the 50cm wardrobes to 45cm's each, job done.

Is the room 297cm's in total, or is that an alcove with a chimney breast in the middle. If its too a chimney breast, it might be try lined with plaster board / batons. If this was removed you could fit the 300cm's of wardrobes in.

paddy147

Can I just say this (for the record).

I never said using a jigsaw was the right or correct way to cut the carcass down to size.

I said and posted that that I used a jigsaw with a straight edge guide rail,due to my skill saw blade being taken by my friend.

I also stated that "I managed" to do it with a jigsaw.

So it wasnt done the "correct" way,as per the professionals.



Thats all I have said here......even when questioned so much and my answer not just accpeted.


"I did it my way"...........:D