Ikea ALEX organizer with shelves for storage boxes

First a word of caution, these shelf brackets are not engineered to hold any particular weight, though I have been using them since this this was posted in September 2018, and they have not fallen apart yet (see the pics). The brackets are not "engineered" or designed to bear any particular load. Additionally, there are may variables that could affect their strength,so what I am saying is, use them at your own risk, or don't use them at all.

For my organizer cabinet, I printed the brackets out using ABS, and used I think, 4 walls, with a high amount of infill (don't recall how much, may have been 40%). However, even with ABS, I cannot say how well they will hold up, or that they won't come crashing down one day and spill out my precious resistor and capacitor collection - that could take years to sort out. I like to live on the edge though...

I built the organizer cabinet (pictured) using two Ikea ALEX 5 drawer cabinets and some "KOMPLEMENT" shelves. The idea was to make it fit on top of a desk, and it just so happened to fit perfectly inside the existing hutch. If I get a larger space I may turn it into a free standing work bench by building a base for it and use it with a top such as the "GERTON" wood table top (https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50106773/), which is unfinished, but looks great with some General Finishes gel stain.

The goals I had for this project were:

• fit several Stack-on or Stanley organizers
• one sliding shelf to fit some Stack-on organizers
• use bolts for easy take down in case I need to move it

minimize cutting and use off the shelf parts (I missed this goal since I had to cut down the slide out shelf to 68.6 cm wide). Parts used:

I used two of these:
https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10192824/

and several of these KOMPLEMENT shelves (mine measure 28" x 22 1/2" but online they show them as 29 1/2" x 22 7/8"):
https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40277968/

I used these handles, which have some space to put a paper label card in - the "Ikea_alex-handle-cutout-template3.stl" was used to align the holes for these:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0713T75YD

I dont have the link for the drawer sliders but I got them at Lowes and they measure 22 1/2" when closed.

These are the storage bins I used (can hold 6 large or 12 small bins):

Stack-On DCY-10 Deep Cup Parts Storage Organizer
Stanley 25 Compartment box (Mfr #: 014725R)
Stanley 10Compartments box (Mfr #: 014710R)

The hardware that I needed was:

• M4x25mm bolts (I used countersunk bolts, since the holes needed to be countersunk so they don't interfere with the drawers)
• M4 locknuts
• "#8" x 5/8 wood screws to mount the shelves to the brackets (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M9E5WS8)

I used 6 brackets per shelf with one of the short ones in the middle of each side (4 long and 2 short per shelf). Tools I used:

cordless drill, with an assortment of bits and a countersink bit

• table saw with a fence (I could have used a circular saw or even hand saw with a guide since only one cut was needed cut the sliding shelf to 68.6 cm wide).
• Long clamp (not absolutely needed but helped during assembly of the shelves):
  https://www.harborfreight.com/hand-tools/clamps/60-in-aluminum-f-style-bar-clamp-60673.html
• metric tape measure (which has been really handy)
  https://www.amazon.com/Komelon-PG85-Metric-Gripper-Black/dp/B0064XJTFY The heights of the holes for the brackets used (not the shelves), are in the attached pic. The distances in that pic are measured from the bottom of the side panels prior to assembly so they do not include the 16mm or so for the base of the cabinets. Of course verify these work for yourself, before drilling ("measure twice, cut once", or something like that). I included them more as a starting point, but they are what I recall using on mine.

To assemble:

1. I openedjust one of the boxes for the cabinets and removed the side panels.
2. Then I measured for the bracket holes and drilled them in each side panel. That way, I couldn't accidentally drill holes in both left or both right sides. It was also much easier to work on the side panels and lay everything out with more precision, than if the cabinets were assembled.
3. Once the holes were drilled (and countersunk from the inside of the cabinet), I then assembled the cabinets without the drawers.
4. Next, I installed the brackets and drawer slider on the cabinets only.
5. I installed the feet on the cabinets and also put feet on the bottom shelf which just sits on the desk surface in my case. The feet just protect the surface of my desk and raise it a bit. The template for the feet has a large hole and a small one. I just used the existing holes and used the small hole for a pilot hole, then followed that with the larger drill (the feet require 2 holes each).
6. After that I just put the cabinets in position, with the bottom shelf between them, and squared everything up, and then installed the shelves using the #8 5/8" wood screws, drilling a pilot hole for them and working from the top down.
7. Finally, I added a stop on the back of the pull out shelf using the left over scrap from when I cut it down to 68.6cm earlier. I could have used another bracket for this or some scrap 1x2 as well, but something should be there to keep stuff from sliding too far back off the shelf. If this was going to be free standing I may have done this for all the shelves.
8. I also painted the raw edge of the sliding shelf with some dark brown paint since that was buggin me when I looked at it.

After I built the drawers I used the template to first mark the locations of the holes for the drawer handles and then (after checking they worked with the handles), drilled a small pilot and attached the handles with the screws that arrived with them. I did not use a cordless driver for this since the screws were small and would easily blow out if over tightened. In a related project, I made some dividers for the organizers that go into this cabinet, they can be found below:

Stanley 014725R organizer - large 3 compartment bin with lids plus 4 bins
https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/79588

Stanley 014725R organizer - medium 3 compartment bin with lids
https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/79589

Stanley 014725R organizer bin dividers
https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/79702-stanley-014725r-organizer-bin-dividers-with-step-f

If you find these models useful, please post a like or a comment with some pics of your prints. 

You can find the other things I'm working on at my blog here.  You can also follow me here on Printables to see what new stuff I post.  Thanks for looking!

Print Settings

Notes:

There are some areas which have a tight fit on these models, so calibration of esteps and material flow is a good idea to avoid problems.

The models uploaded have not been prepared or rotated to print with minimal supports, just fyi.

How I Designed This

This was designed with ViaCAD V9

Category: Organization