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The scary realization I had recently, is that compared to most other furniture that requires assembly, IKEA is quite easy. Also, I don't understand why hex bit

The scary realization I had recently, is that compared to most other furniture that requires assembly, IKEA is quite easy. Also, I don't understand why hex bits for drills are not a thing. My new measure of "wealthy" also switched to buying furniture that doesn't need to be assembled, or the assembly is included in the delivery.

Arrath 4y ago
Yeah I've honestly never gotten those jokey complaints, IKEA furniture is no more difficult, if not easier, than putting together a middling LEGO set1. 1barring the extra physical requirements for unwieldy pieces of pressed particle board
- wongarsu 4y ago
  I think a lot of the complaints come from people who never experienced LEGO and haven't heard of the idea that the manufacturer might include spare parts. So when they've got something left over, they feel like they failed.
  - Arrath 4y ago
    > haven't heard of the idea that the manufacturer might include spare parts. I see you've met my girlfriend, who I still haven't convinced that a spare peg or two doesn't mean I missed one when putting it together.
- rustyminnow 4y ago
  Some are worse than others. Every time I have to dis/re-assemble our IKEA bedframe, it's a struggle to figure out how the weird spinny locks work - which way to turn them, are they actually engaging? did I strip something? why don't I just go buy a real bed frame? The basic stuff like bookshelves, coffee tables, chairs, maybe desks are pretty easy. But I put together a metal filing cabinet from IKEA once, and it was like a 2 hour ordeal for a piece of junk.
  - Arrath 4y ago
    I'll concede that point, I've never worked with any metal IKEA furniture.
yamtaddle 4y ago
> The scary realization I had recently, is that compared to most other furniture that requires assembly, IKEA is quite easy. 1,000% this. I can only assume the people who complain about IKEA instructions and/or quality have never purchased a flat-pack furniture product from any other big stores. The assembly and quality-per-dollar are both almost always much worse. > Also, I don't understand why hex bits for drills are not a thing. You mean like Allen wrench heads? I expect they strip too easily, under the kind of torque even a very-tame electric driver delivers.
wiredfool 4y ago
They do make hex bits for drills. IKEA sells (or used to at least) a battery powered screwdriver/drill with all of the common bits for ikea furniture, including the hex ones. It’s pretty good quality for the price, even has an adjustable clutch for not stripping screws.
wongarsu 4y ago
> Also, I don't understand why hex bits for drills are not a thing Huh? In my experience everything that describes itself as electric screwdriver comes with hex bits in its bit set. IKEA's own drill (Fixa [1]) has a somewhat limited bit set, but also includes two (presumably the two you need to assemble IKEA products). I'd understand if drills without torque limiter would leave them out, after all the bits are already pretty close to round. But then again, why would those come with bits at all? 1: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/fixa-screwdriver-drill-lithium-ion-70232902/ https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/fixa-screwdriver-drill-lithium-...
r_klancer 4y ago
You absolutely can get hex bits for drill/drivers. Do yourself a favor and pick some up at the hardware store; I refuse to set up knockdown furniture without one. That said, be careful to set the torque fairly low. (Invest in a driver with a clutch if you don't have one!) It's way too easy to overdrive the fasteners.
m463 4y ago
> I don't understand why hex bits for drills are not a thing. It took me a while but I have created a good set for assembling ikea furniture: dewalt gyroscopic screwdriver: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00DL7QDS2 https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00DL7QDS2 This screwdriver is KEY to assembling ikea furniture. Not only does it have a clutch, but the twist action gives you the finesse to tighten without spinning the screw and stripping the soft ikea woodlike substances. I think it preserves your "mechanics feel"[1] you normally only get from hand tools. allen bits: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B085986848 https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B085986848 allen ball-end bit: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E7ZPUE https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E7ZPUE drivers: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/product/B08RS29QVS https://smile.amazon.com/dp/product/B08RS29QVS favorite phillips bits: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B003X4YSDU https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B003X4YSDU (don't seem to slip as easily) [1] "zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance" "There’s what’s called “mechanic’s feel,” which is very obvious to those who know what it is, but hard to describe to those who don’t; and when you see someone working on a machine who doesn’t have it, you tend to suffer with the machine. The mechanic’s feel comes from a deep inner kinesthetic feeling for the elasticity of materials." ... [read the book for more]
velosol 4y ago
Plenty of other people addressed the hex driver options - but if you mean the other way around (a drill bit with a hex base) those are also an option: https://images.homedepot-static.com/productImages/9ba9ebd6-8489-4a7d-b4f1-770c8d761498/svn/ryobi-twist-drill-bits-ar1860g-64_1000.jpg https://images.homedepot-static.com/productImages/9ba9ebd6-8...
cjcampbell 4y ago
> Also, I don't understand why hex bits for drills are not a thing. I haven’t attempted an IKEA build without my drill for many years. Search for a quick change or rapid load bit adapter, and then grab any set of standard hex bits.
gcanyon 4y ago
> compared to most other furniture that requires assembly, IKEA is quite easy Oh, absolutely. I've assembled other stuff where the parts didn't match the illustrations, similar-but-not-identical parts weren't labelled, and the order of operations led to impossible steps and I literally had to undo several to change the order. Nothing I've assembled has been as easy as IKEA. That said, my daughter and I (mostly her) just assembled a dresser from IKEA that took ~6 hours. It had something like 60 steps.

Arrath 4y ago

Yeah I've honestly never gotten those jokey complaints, IKEA furniture is no more difficult, if not easier, than putting together a middling LEGO set1. 1barring the extra physical requirements for unwieldy pieces of pressed particle board

wongarsu 4y ago
I think a lot of the complaints come from people who never experienced LEGO and haven't heard of the idea that the manufacturer might include spare parts. So when they've got something left over, they feel like they failed.
- Arrath 4y ago
  > haven't heard of the idea that the manufacturer might include spare parts. I see you've met my girlfriend, who I still haven't convinced that a spare peg or two doesn't mean I missed one when putting it together.
rustyminnow 4y ago
Some are worse than others. Every time I have to dis/re-assemble our IKEA bedframe, it's a struggle to figure out how the weird spinny locks work - which way to turn them, are they actually engaging? did I strip something? why don't I just go buy a real bed frame? The basic stuff like bookshelves, coffee tables, chairs, maybe desks are pretty easy. But I put together a metal filing cabinet from IKEA once, and it was like a 2 hour ordeal for a piece of junk.
- Arrath 4y ago
  I'll concede that point, I've never worked with any metal IKEA furniture.

yamtaddle 4y ago

> The scary realization I had recently, is that compared to most other furniture that requires assembly, IKEA is quite easy. 1,000% this. I can only assume the people who complain about IKEA instructions and/or quality have never purchased a flat-pack furniture product from any other big stores. The assembly and quality-per-dollar are both almost always much worse. > Also, I don't understand why hex bits for drills are not a thing. You mean like Allen wrench heads? I expect they strip too easily, under the kind of torque even a very-tame electric driver delivers.

wiredfool 4y ago

They do make hex bits for drills. IKEA sells (or used to at least) a battery powered screwdriver/drill with all of the common bits for ikea furniture, including the hex ones. It’s pretty good quality for the price, even has an adjustable clutch for not stripping screws.

wongarsu 4y ago

> Also, I don't understand why hex bits for drills are not a thing Huh? In my experience everything that describes itself as electric screwdriver comes with hex bits in its bit set. IKEA's own drill (Fixa [1]) has a somewhat limited bit set, but also includes two (presumably the two you need to assemble IKEA products). I'd understand if drills without torque limiter would leave them out, after all the bits are already pretty close to round. But then again, why would those come with bits at all? 1: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/fixa-screwdriver-drill-lithium-ion-70232902/ https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/fixa-screwdriver-drill-lithium-...

r_klancer 4y ago

You absolutely can get hex bits for drill/drivers. Do yourself a favor and pick some up at the hardware store; I refuse to set up knockdown furniture without one. That said, be careful to set the torque fairly low. (Invest in a driver with a clutch if you don't have one!) It's way too easy to overdrive the fasteners.

m463 4y ago

> I don't understand why hex bits for drills are not a thing. It took me a while but I have created a good set for assembling ikea furniture: dewalt gyroscopic screwdriver: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00DL7QDS2 https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00DL7QDS2 This screwdriver is KEY to assembling ikea furniture. Not only does it have a clutch, but the twist action gives you the finesse to tighten without spinning the screw and stripping the soft ikea woodlike substances. I think it preserves your "mechanics feel"[1] you normally only get from hand tools. allen bits: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B085986848 https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B085986848 allen ball-end bit: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E7ZPUE https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E7ZPUE drivers: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/product/B08RS29QVS https://smile.amazon.com/dp/product/B08RS29QVS favorite phillips bits: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B003X4YSDU https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B003X4YSDU (don't seem to slip as easily) [1] "zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance" "There’s what’s called “mechanic’s feel,” which is very obvious to those who know what it is, but hard to describe to those who don’t; and when you see someone working on a machine who doesn’t have it, you tend to suffer with the machine. The mechanic’s feel comes from a deep inner kinesthetic feeling for the elasticity of materials." ... [read the book for more]

velosol 4y ago

Plenty of other people addressed the hex driver options - but if you mean the other way around (a drill bit with a hex base) those are also an option: https://images.homedepot-static.com/productImages/9ba9ebd6-8489-4a7d-b4f1-770c8d761498/svn/ryobi-twist-drill-bits-ar1860g-64_1000.jpg https://images.homedepot-static.com/productImages/9ba9ebd6-8...

cjcampbell 4y ago

> Also, I don't understand why hex bits for drills are not a thing. I haven’t attempted an IKEA build without my drill for many years. Search for a quick change or rapid load bit adapter, and then grab any set of standard hex bits.

gcanyon 4y ago

> compared to most other furniture that requires assembly, IKEA is quite easy Oh, absolutely. I've assembled other stuff where the parts didn't match the illustrations, similar-but-not-identical parts weren't labelled, and the order of operations led to impossible steps and I literally had to undo several to change the order. Nothing I've assembled has been as easy as IKEA. That said, my daughter and I (mostly her) just assembled a dresser from IKEA that took ~6 hours. It had something like 60 steps.