im new to diy and need some advice. i have a solid wood wardrobe that is 3-4 cm too tall for my room. it doesnt have normal legs, but rather it "sits" on the floor with all of its body if you know what i mean. basically it looks like pic related
i was thinking of trimming it down 4-5 cm. can i do it with a jigsaw or do i need a circular saw? i have a jigsaw sitting around somewhere but it looks pretty puny to be honest, and the wardrobe is solid wood. only about 3 cm thick though
how can i make sure to keep a straight line, i never worked with it
circular saw. clamp/screw/nail something straight to it and the saw will slide along it
Jig saw works for rough cuts only. Even with a straight edge as a guide, the blade wanders too much and will not leave as clean an edge as a circular saw. Consider that you will have to drill new holes for dowels and those cam inserts that hold the pieces together. Also you might have to relocate the hinges if they are set too high up. It also looks like you will have to do something about the inset style sides. ideally you should make a new one from scratch so that the sections look balanced, or you can just adapt it from what you have and call it a day.
Yeah you're just gonna ruin it
Go with circ saw. Even if you get the jigsaw 100% straight on the cut line the saw may decide to wobble wherever it wants to. Jigsaw parallel guides don’t work because the saw will be pushed/pulled sideways which makes the blade go diagonal. A hand saw and some patience will give you a better cut. If you are able to take the wardrobe apart then def do it, makes it lots easier.
first of all, thanks for the tips. i was seriously considering the jigsaw, but thankfully i asked here first and now i ruled it out
im not completely clueless, i dismantled a bunch of furniture, moved it to another place and assembled it. im somewhat handy so that sort of thing it is a piece of cake. i also have a table saw at my other home so i have an option of dismantling it, taking it to my other home and properly shortening it, but im just too lazy to do it
for those who asked, i cant take the photo right now because im not at that home, but design wise, this wardrobe unit is like the most basic model you can buy at ikea, like pic related. only, instead of being made out of cheap plywood it is hand made out of solid walnut wood. it's very nice and sturdy
the wardrobe sits on these big, fixed, side panels and small, thin piece of wood in the front. its footprints is U shape. the panels that open are about 10 cm of ground and i would only need to cut down 4 cm, so i wouldnt have to change hinges location or anything like that
i found this picture online and the bottom is pretty much the same. i added the red line on where i would make the cut
>A hand saw and some patience will give you a better cut
if i put the wardrobe on its side, clamp on a guide and do it with a handsaw, can i get a good result or is the dismantling and table saw the only way to go?
Just pull the board on the front off and cut the sides to match, you want it to have some head room anyway.
Ah, frick, OP. You post that other pic that shows intricate joinery with the insets and everything, and now you tell us it's an IKEA PAX?
Just chop it shorter and replace those god awful cam inserts with IKEA 100214 screws.
I do not recommend you tip IKEA furniture sideways as it puts a lot of stress on the tiny nails of the back panel. The whole thing risks shearing. Always tip it on its front (with doors removed) or on its back. You could then prop up the bottom and cut it with a handsaw as you suggested. You should know that it's a fairly hard wood, tougher than pine or plywood, so make sure you are using a very sharp saw, and rub some paraffin to help the saw slide better.
Also consider that tipping the piece will not be possible if the ceiling is too low — you will need to assemble it in-place.
the piece in the front is just to cover the hole
cut the 3 sides down then cut the front tocover the hole then you're done
PS ikea isnt really furniture
>solid walnut wood
>ikea
something's not right ...
wait IS THIS IS CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!?!
ikea ... made of good quality materials!?!?!
I believe that this is a tough project to do adequately with limited tools and experience.
Perhaps you could find a used furniture store and trade it for something smaller, even if it cost a little cash on top.
I am all for diy n stuff, but swapping it makes sense.
If it was your grandmother's and it is really nice and you really want to keep it, you could store on it's side until you move somewhere with higher ceilings.
Post an actual picture of the cabinet
Depending on the joinery, it may be easy it may be impossible.
you have to take it apart, cut 5cm off the height of everything and reassemble hoping you didnt frick up how its constructed which is probably a little over your head right now.
unless you thin you're capable of taking it apart, mking the cut then deciding the best method of reconstructing the cabinet.
this is whats considered a entry-mid level project to maybe a mid level project
One last thing: when tipping furniture, put something under the corner, like scrap wood or thick pieces of cardboard to prevent damage to the floor and to the sharp corners of the furniture itself. Best is to tape the pieces of cardboard to the furniture so they don't slide around.
it would be best to disassemble it, measure twice, and cut all the parts down, then re assemble it.
The simple answer is to reframe your house and make your room slightly larger