50
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Accepted
Should I tilt my DIY self-standing bookshelf backwards to prevent it falling down?
Use Screws Anyway
If it was me, I would quietly ignore "I am not allowed to secure it using screws in the wall." We are talking about a couple of screws here, which would leave ~ 1/4" ...
26
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Bend wooden bedframe back into shape?
A pair of screen door turnbuckles would work well. Mount them from below with stout screws piloted into the wooden rails, one from the headboard and one from the footboard at 45° angles. Start with ...
- 115k
22
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Ikea bookshelf is wobbly after assembly. How can I stabilize it?
That back panel is not decorative, it is a vital part of the structural integrity of the whole cabinet. Have you actually nailed it in? It is fiddly to do so, but it is what is supposed to stop the ...
19
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Should I tilt my DIY self-standing bookshelf backwards to prevent it falling down?
I haven't built anything into a recess like you describe so this is conjecture.
If you're fitting it into a recess and it is encased on all 5 sides (ceiling, floor, left side, right side, back wall), ...
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18
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Bend wooden bedframe back into shape?
For a slight bend (warp) like that you can try setting the board on blocks at its ends and weighting the middle. Overcompensate somewhat (weight to the point that it bends slightly the other way. Heat ...
- 167k
16
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Should I tilt my DIY self-standing bookshelf backwards to prevent it falling down?
It is impossible for the bookshelf to rotate forwards and crush anyone, child or not, the way you have drawn it. For it to fall on someone (who pulled on it, or climbed it) it would have to rotate ...
- 421
15
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Ikea bookshelf is wobbly after assembly. How can I stabilize it?
It looks like you may have damaged the side panel here:
That may make it difficult to tighten the side panel to the bottom shelf and leave the whole thing a little wobbly.
If you're very careful, you ...
- 37.3k
13
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How do I identify and replace unusual screws?
A well-equipped hardware store will have a drawer with many common fasteners used in this type of flatpack furniture.
I mean well-equipped. Home Depot is not a hardware store. ACE or better. ...
11
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Why is there open/deadspace under most wooden furniture
The main reason is that woodworking of old days, Joinery was more of an art than a mechanised given. The structure was designed to accommodate for wood settling and fluctuating due to weather ...
- 3,354
11
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How to put 5/8" oak dowels into holes which are just barely the right size?
Some 1/2" drills will allow the chuck to open to 5/8". If you can fit a dowel in the chuck, clamp it in the chuck, touch it to a file while the drill is running. Use the drill as a low tech lathe. ...
- 11.1k
11
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two-part fastener for right-angle wood connections
Good question! These aree common on DIY furniture.
It's a cross-dowel and bolt. One commercial name is a Veritas Knock-Down Fastener. A similar device, with a head to keep it level with a surface, is ...
- 5,072
10
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Changing loft bed's beam to diagonal braces?
I'm really concerned about the stability/safety of what you're proposing. The diagonals seem under-sized to me but even with heavier diagonals I don't think the bed verticals would hold up. A 12 year ...
- 8,567
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Unusual bookcase structure
Structurally dubious on the whole, but the back sheet of plywood is probably doing a large part of holding it together, evidently adequately. I do see top brackets to keep it from tipping over.
I ...
- 167k
9
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What is the name of this combination of screw and rotating metal piece that locks it?
That would be the cam lock nut and cam screw fastener.
They are commonly found in DIY assembly products sold by various retailers including IKEA. According to a recent post I've read IKEA may be ...
- 206
9
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Changing loft bed's beam to diagonal braces?
The lateral support on your bed mostly comes from the two connections at the top creating what is called a moment connection (think of lifting a long stick with both hands). The middle members do ...
- 5,631
9
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Bend wooden bedframe back into shape?
As @Ecnerwal says in the 2nd part of their answer -
Tie a bit of rope/twine/string to the hole on rail on both sides of the bed and use the twine to pull & prevent the sides from moving outward. (...
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8
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Stuck building craftsman style coffee table
You're cutting a mortise. The classic method is to drill a succession of overlapping holes, using a bit that's approximately the width of your desired mortise. You then clean it up/square it up with ...
- 2,551
8
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Join two 2x4" so that screws are not visible?
There are a lot of ways you could go here.
Conceal The Screws
If you just make a simple butt joint like you have in your picture, you can do as @AlaskaMan says in the comments - countersink the ...
- 24.5k
7
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How to put 5/8" oak dowels into holes which are just barely the right size?
Your best bet is to sand the ends of the dowels. A belt sander or disk sander however would not be the way to sand them. There would be way too big of chance of taking off too much or creating flat ...
- 63k
7
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Should I tilt my DIY self-standing bookshelf backwards to prevent it falling down?
In order for a bookshelf to topple forwards, it is necessary to have some force applied to the structure. Typically, that force is gravity. Gravity will not usually push a bookshelf out of plumb, ...
- 10.1k
7
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Ikea bookshelf is wobbly after assembly. How can I stabilize it?
By the bulge shown in the joint, you did not have the surfaces tight when you screwed them together and damaged the joint surfaces.
Not easy to rectify that now, except by adding metal angle brackets ...
- 24.2k
7
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Dining Table Chair Repair
This is a fairly common setup. The bolt is usually a double threaded one with a wood screw at one end and a machine bolt at the other end.
One such example is here (ad from google / walmart)
https://...
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7
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Dining Table Chair Repair
A lot of good suggestions here already - pack & glue in the cross-members being primary.
On the one where the bolt has pulled out completely, you will also need to pack & glue. You've ...
- 7,260
6
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Wood Species to replace small bed frame piece
For strength, hardwood is far preferable to softwood. Most big box stores have pieces of oak, often in the stair parts section. If nothing else is available, poplar would be preferable to softwood ...
- 33.5k
6
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Is spruce wood a good choice to make a bunk bed?
It seems like you are actually asking several questions here, so I'll break down my answer:
Is spruce appropriate?
short answer: yes. A softwood like spruce will be relatively inexpensive, and ...
- 551
6
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How can I find the centre of a round table?
I think this technique using chords with 90 degree lines is probably the easiest to do because it involves standard construction tools and can compensate for inprecise measurements.
You just need a ...
- 28.7k
6
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Need a hinge that pushes outwards as the door opens
I think this is as close as you are going to get, because of the width of your face-frame:
- 33.9k
6
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Bend wooden bedframe back into shape?
I'm really amazed nobody suggested the fix I had to apply. My rails would tilt outward towards the bottom and fall off, so when I got married my father-in-law came in and screwed the slats to the bed ...
- 22.6k
6
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Unusual bookcase structure
The verticals are probably set to the horizontals by dowels that run through all 3 pieces. Might be metal dowels - they make steel dowels with a spiral V-groove that helps it hold onto glue. Seems ...
5
votes
Accepted
What is type of screw is this?
These are usually a cam lock assembly. The insert needs to be turned about a half rotation to release it from the cam bolt.
Here is a picture of what one of these things look like.
- 63k
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