Drilling new holes in IKEA PAX. Honeycomb paper. Load-bearing for clothes rail?

[Nomies]

In IKEA PAX, the pre-drilled holes are reinforced with particle board, and in other places, it consists of honeycomb if I understood the staff correctly. To me, that doesn't sound load-bearing at all, but the material didn't seem hollow at all when I tapped it; it seemed quite solid. Would it work to drill holes where there is honeycomb paper and put up a clothes bar where 10-12 sweaters/blouses/shirts will hang?

 

[Stefan N]

Isn't it usually just lower density on the chipboard instead of honeycomb?

 

[Nomies]

It's usually not honeycomb but just lower density of the chipboard?

I was there today and they definitely said honeycomb.

 

[f91jsw]

I think Ikea has changed the manufacturing of many of their board products. We have an old BESTÅ furniture piece made from solid particleboard that is heavy and sturdy. Now we bought a new one that is much lighter and I drilled some extra holes. It feels like there are a few mm of "masonite" and then air. When you handle the boards, you sometimes hear debris from the manufacturing rattling inside them, so there are definitely cavities in them. This applies to the thin boards of 16-18 mm as well. The thick boards of around 30-40 mm have probably always been partly filled with cardboard.

 

[Nomies]

I think Ikea has changed the manufacturing of many of their board products. We have an old BESTÅ piece of solid chipboard that is heavy and solid. Now we bought a new one that is much lighter and I drilled some extra holes. It feels like there is a few mm "hardboard" and then air. When handling the boards, you sometimes hear how debris from the manufacturing rattles inside them, so there are definitely cavities in them. This applies even to the thin boards of 16-18 mm. The thick boards of around 30-40 mm have probably always been partly cardboard inside.

Thank you for your reply. On the website, it doesn't say honeycomb in the content description for PAX, as it does for Bestå and other series, but three different employees at IKEA said that the website is incorrect.

When you drilled your own holes in a honeycomb frame, how would you say the load-bearing capacity is? Enough for a clothes rail with 10-15 shirts? How thick is the outer layer on the side of the honeycomb?

 

[pelpet]

Screw-glue some form of holder instead of just drilling. Something like this.

 

[13th Marine]

Doesn't IKEA replace the product if they start with honeycomb?

You should be able to hear the difference by tapping on the side; honeycomb sounds hollow.

It would be disappointing if they replaced PAX with that, it significantly reduces adaptability.

Honeycomb has, by the way, been used for a very long time; I dismantled wardrobes from '71 with honeycomb. I don't remember if the apartment's wardrobes from the '50s had honeycomb or if they were just empty between the Masonite.

 

[KnockOnWood]

Get a couple of pieces of thin plywood, 4 - 6 mm thick, about size 100 x 100 mm with a hole drilled in the middle to fit the clothing rod (25 mm?).
Glue these plywood pieces to the inside of the cabinet sides when installing the rod.
Rough up the cabinet side a bit first with 80-grit sandpaper.

 

[Nomies]

Doesn't IKEA replace the product if they start using honeycomb?

You should be able to hear the difference by tapping on the side, honeycomb sounds hollow.

It would be unfortunate if they replaced PAX with that, it would significantly reduce customizability.

By the way, honeycomb has been used for a very long time, I tore out closets from -71 with honeycomb. I don't remember if the apartment's 50s closets had honeycomb or if they were just empty between the masonite.

Definitely didn't sound hollow, but I can hardly believe they would claim the material inside is worse if it is actually better.

My thought is to screw straight through so the screw goes through two sheets of masonite(?) and thus does not "wobble" in the hollow space. Do not know how thick the sheets are, but it seems like it should hold for 15 shirts?

 

[Anna_H]

What's wrong with the clothing rods that come with it and fit in the holes that are already there?

 

[Nomies]

What is wrong with the clothes rails that belong and fit in the holes that are already there?

They are extendable rails attached at the back and hold about half of what a "regular" rail in the same frame would hold. The only downside is that hangers attached to a regular rail stick out a bit, but it's worth it.

 

[f91jsw]

When you have drilled your own holes in a honeycomb frame, how would you say the load-bearing capacity is? Enough for a clothes rod with 10-15 shirts? How thick is the outer layer that sits on the side of the honeycomb?

Hard to say how thick the outer layer is, maybe 3 mm? I think it would hold for 10-15 shirts. Winter jackets and coats are more doubtful. To be more certain, you could glue and screw brackets to the clothes rod.

 

[13th Marine]

If it's honeycomb, I don't think it's as much as 3mm, maybe more like 1-2mm.

Link to the rods instead, because I don't understand how they look and work

I think the people you talked to at IKEA have misunderstood something.

 

[Nomies]

If it's honeycomb, I don't think it's as much as 3mm, maybe more like 1-2mm.

Link to the bars instead, because I don't understand how they look and work

I think the people you talked to at IKEA have got something wrong.

http://www.ikea.com/se/sv/catalog/products/30256966/#/90256968

 

[13th Marine]

So you want to place it further out in a deep PAX frame?
Don't the middle holes work?

I remember putting a similar one (non-retractable) in a deep frame, just used the middle holes instead.