Do You Assemble Flat-Pack Furniture?

[MineralMan]

If you do, invest in a set of long metric and SAE ball-end hex drivers. You can get ones that look like screwdrivers, or square-drive ones that work with 3/8" ratchets and other square-drive tools. They are also available as longer drivers for power screwdrivers. Get both the SAE and Metric ones, because you never know which fasteners will come with your furniture.

A search for "ball-end hex drivers" will find them on Amazon or elsewhere. You want the ball-end style, because you can use them at a slight angle when clearances are too small to get regular ones lined up in the head of the fastener. This is how the pro assemblers do it, although they do use power drivers with them to speed things up.

I just put together a dining table and four chairs. I didn't have those tools at the time. I took one look at the parts and realized that that little allen wrench that comes with the stuff was not going to be much fun in deep pocket holes with the fasteners the assembly used. So, off I went to the tool shop, where I bought some of the tools I describe above. It saved me at least two hours of fiddling with that little allen wrench that came with the product. They're cheaper on Amazon, though.

This works with Ikea and almost any other furniture stuff that "You Assemble!"

You won't believe the difference those tools make. No frustration. No cursing. No muss; no fuss.

[Backseat Driver]

1. Good tip as dorm furnishings are often DIY flat packs.

DH's been assembling these DIY furniture with those tools for years, but the young and suddenly made handy will bless you, hehehe!

[MineralMan]

3. One thing's for sure - You'll hate Ikea less if you have them.

Here's what I don't understand, though: Bought in bulk, individual screwdriver-sized hex drivers would cost Ikea and the others who make things like that about $1 each. Instead of the crappy allen wrenches that come with the furniture, they would make assembly so much easier and improve customer relations dramatically. Why don't they supply the needed tool with the product? Idiocy!

That said, I hate the words "some assembly required." Not enough not to buy the furniture, but enough to curse the designer of it and the manufacturer for not supplying the proper tool for the assembly job.

In any case, I now have full sets of both SAE and Metric 3/8" drive ball-end hex drivers in my tool box. No more will I fear "some assembly required."

[Ocelot II]

2. IKEA's little allen wrenches have always worked just fine for me,

and I've assembled a lot of their furniture, since disassembled is the only way I can get anything of any size up the stairs to the second floor. There may be some oddball pieces where other tools would work better but I haven't encountered them.

[MineralMan]

4. I promise you that you'll understand what I'm saying,

the very first time you use the proper tools to do the job. I guarantee it. The right tool will cut assembly time to 1/3 of the time required with that little allen wrench.

I detest flat-pack furniture, by the way, but as you say, it's the only way to get stuff these days at an affordable price.

[Ocelot II]

5. I actually have some ball-end hex drivers, but it never occurred to me to use them

since the allen wrenches were working just fine. Next time I have to put some furniture together I'll try them.

[MineralMan]

6. Ooh, I can hardly wait for you to try them.

In the first place, the ball-end drivers are self-aligning. They will automatically find and insert themselves into the hex recess with no more than a sixth of a turn. That, in itself, makes them worth using. In tight spots, especially, aligning a small allen wrench to enter the hex recess is annoying.

Then, if a fastener is in a pocket hole or somewhere that is restricted in access, the ability to seat the tool and drive the fastener is so much improved it will shock you. I had a set of short pattern ball-end hex drivers already, but not longer ones.

I am a very impatient fellow. I get uber frustrated if it takes more than one try to get an allen wrench aligned. "I ain't got time for that now," as the song goes.

I use a 3/8 speed handle with a u-joint adapter with those things. It's faster than an electric driver most of the time, and offers enough torque to tighten things securely.

Pro Tip: If you use u-joint adapters, put some rubber surgical tubing over the u-joint to keep it from flopping. It will still work fine, but will be much easier to handle.

[hunter]

7. This is great advice.

Especially for people suffering arthritis.

Speaking from personal experience, those little wrenches included with flat pack furniture are painful!

[Hortensis]

8. :) Congrats on your new table and chairs in your new home.

I've used the little bit of metal that comes with bookcase kits well enough, but for sure my husband and son did not waste a moment with that thing while putting together an Ikea kitchen ten years ago.

[MineralMan]

9. Yes. The larger the project, the more time you'll save.

Tools. Gotta love 'em!

We love the table and chairs. Got them from Wayfair. Made in Malaysia of renewable rubber wood. Espresso finish. We needed a dinette-sized set for our open kitchen/dining/living room area. They look great and the color is reflected in our laminate flooring. My wife loves the look, for sure. I didn't mind assembling this set, although I usually cringe when I find out I have to assemble some furniture.

I converted our old, full-sized dining room table into a desk for my office, which is in an alcove off the lower level family room. It fits in that alcove perfectly, but wouldn't fit in our new dining area. We gave away the four Ethan Allen dining chairs I found at Goodwill, but kept the two 19th century Windsor-style dining chairs with arms ($6.99 each at Goodwill.) They're in the family room, paired together with a small oak table as a conversation area.

We did get our ancient, antique Queen Anne style buffet/sideboard into the dining area, though. It's quarter-sawn oak and just beautiful. It was my wife's grandmother's mid-19th century piece of furniture. Not stylish today, but our furniture is all pretty eclectic, and its color is also in the laminate flooring.

[Hortensis]

14. Sounds really nice. Hearing about friends getting settled in

in their new homes is always fun, and no work for those who live too far away. I'm gessing you were looking for a place for that wonderful old sideboard with each listing. My husband's used a table as his desk for some while, and I'm not sure I could get him to downsize to a desk after this. It is nice, but what a mess in his case. At least it's in his own room with a door.

[MineralMan]

16. No door on my office alcove.

So, I bought a three-panel Japanese-style screen. When we have guests, it will pull across the opening into the alcove. Still, I'm trying to keep a neat office.

[Yonnie3]

10. Yes!

Long ago I worked on production equipment in a factory. I have sets of T-Handle, L-Shaped and screw driver handle ball points. I wouldn't want to be without them even now in retirement.

They are so much easier on the hands and just slip in the screws.

Breaking free a seized screw can wring the tip off if too much force is applied so some caution is required, but this is not going to happen assembling furniture.

[MineralMan]

11. Yeah. I would always use a regular allen wrench to break one free

to remove it. Then, I'd switch.

[grumpyduck]

12. Been using them for years.

The right tool for the job makes it so much easier.

[MineralMan]

13. Exactly. Why the manufacturers do not

include such a driver is beyond me. Bought in bulk, single sizes would be really cheap and could be included with every piece of furniture that needs assembly. Customers would love it!

[grumpyduck]

15. Sometimes I think it's because the people

who make those decisions don't have to assemble the stuff.

I think the same of designers who create stuff that's just really weird, like some modern vacuum cleaners with all these twists and turns and hoses and accessories but a tiny little dust container.