Ikea Helmer DIY Workshop Cart
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- Опубліковано 11 бер 2017
- I needed a cart that fit under my workbench for storing random stuff that didn't have anywhere else to go and always ended up on my desk. With a few simple modifications, the Ikea Helmer cabinet worked out great. For the money, it's not a bad little addition to a workshop.
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Ikea Helmer - www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/pro...
Ikea Antonius - www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/pro...
2" Swivel Caster - www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-2...
Monoprice Monitor Arm - www.monoprice.com/product?c_i... - Навчання та стиль
"La organizacion vence al tiempo" Gracias por tu tiempo! Soy un maker como tu y necesitaba justamente esto. saludos!
I bought one because of your video. For the money you can’t beat it. I have it under my Nova DVR drill press where it holds everything I need to support it’s operation. Thanks Again.
Great tutorial I’ve just completed something similar as a bedside table, used 3/4 red oak instead of the MDF, static legs from IKEA and upgraded the drawer pulls to richelieu hardware. Thanks for the inspiration!
The magnets are a brilliant idea! Thanks.
Seriously. Was looking for tips on how to make the helmer better...so simple yet so effective.
Double LIKE for this one, Robert. The magnets, the relocated stops, and the MDF bracing are superb - the icing on the cake is the divider liner. Thanks for sharing. Also the price tag & band aid.
That's really cool mate! And very well explained :) Great work, keep it up!
Thanks!
Thank you Robert! Very nice project, will be glad to see such "hacks" in the future!
Many thanks for these hacks - I have just assembled mine with the same adjustments - love the drawer stop idea - the screws are so much better than the fold-out tabs. And adding the MDF top and bottom ( I used melamine) to stiffen the structure and provide a better base for real casters is an all round excellent idea! I look forward to more of your IKEA hacks :-)
Thanks for sharing this! I'm going to do something similar for my dental office (but with a chemical resistant polyethylene top).
Simple yet really useful project! I just did this myself, but using a 83x50 cm pine IVAR shelf for the wood & a set of RILL castors, so I could source all the parts from under one roof (well except for screws & varnish).
This was great! I did two of these (and the magnets are my favorite part.) Thank you!
Gonna use the magnet idea! I use a lot of these for my RC hobby. They are great.
This was an informative video. I want to purchase the unit but I didn't know if it was sturdy enough and you hit the nail right on the button. All the other tips you gave were extremely helpful. Thanks for the video.
Great! It's still holding up well and is worth the money. There are better things out there, but for the price it's great.
Great modification. By coincidence, I bought that unit from Ikea yesterday. And today, I made your mods after I watched your amazing video. Greetings from Qatar.
That is awesome!
This is a really good idea for people that need small work benches
That is a sweet workbench. Maybe someday I can get some more space. Your Ikea mod turned out great! I love Ikea mods.
Thanks Jonathan!
one of the killers is when thing are out of sight that you don't use most of the time you forget about them but this draw system in quite good saying they are not commencal draws thank you for sharing Robert Cowan
This is perfect! Thanks for sharing your feedback and customizations you did an awesome job. This is a great value and efficient for the same scenario I’ll be using it for.
Glad it helped!
Thank you Robert, I watched your video and successfully modified my Ikea Helmer.
Nice work!
Great improvement!
Loved the magnet ideas! 😍
Robert,
A safety tip when working with a tablesaw: Never crosscut a piece of material that is wider than deep using the fence, Instead, use a crosscut sled. The safety issue a risk of the part rotating between the fence and blade, getting grabbed by the upward rovolving back of the blade causing a situation called "kickback". Be safe...I really enjoy your videos!
Mike
Michel Clavette He nicely did the hacks to the drawers by adding magnets and stop screws... You are right. Using a cross cut sled is easier and safest way. I'm too scared to use my DIY table saw which I made by inverting a skil saw so I bought a mitre saw instead and do cross cuts on that! It definitely has its limitations..
To see how I cut plywood, kindly see my channel for the latest upload
"How to cut plywood" ... Cheers from India!!😊😊😊
Yeah, don't push on both sides of the piece you're cutting. High risk of kickback. Only push on the side between the blade and fence.
Awesome tutorial thanks 4 sharing
Well done, i think i will buy some HELMER
Drawer , lots of storage for cheap. It would be a great addition to my workshop!! 🙂 🤗
Genius!
Bye from Italy!
Great video, good quality, but I wonder how much more it cost you to make all the modifications. It seems that you could have just spent that money on a better made product. BUT THEN...we wouldn't have this great video.
Great job buddy!
You're a legend. Very well explained.
You deserve way more subscribers
Thanks! You're more than welcome to share my videos on social media to help my channel grow.
Wow! Thank you a lot for ideas!
I think, you can also add a thin layer of rubber or fabric on the back to prevent extra noise from the magnets.
I'm trying to replace basic the metal rails with telescopic side rails, because the base rails makes a lot of noise.
The magnets don't make any noise. They're JUST far enough away that you can feel them grab, but they don't clunk against the metal.
Yeah, I might try a different material to line the rails to make them a bit smoother. But so far so good.
Oh! Now I understand, thank you!
Also suggestion Getting some foam cabinet drawer protectors you can get pretty cheap and will allow you to put stuff and not have things slide around.
Yeah, that's a good idea for sure.
Brilliant!
Excellent doctoring, thank you. I just finished building mine, via your method, and I can’t seem to get magnets to function as yours does. Then again, I purchased “super strong” refrigerator magnets, so that’s on me. Could you send a link for the ones you used? And how many per drawer, per unit? Thanks.
hello from Greece perfect video very good job :)
Thank you!
This is a great idea. It will work perfectly with a computer desk I have. Would a 1/4" of plywood on the back of the cabinet stiffen it up ?? Thanks for the tip. I didn't know Ikea had this.
I just ordered 4 of these. the Plano 3707 may fit inside too
I just finished more or less exactly this mod (except my HELMER is green). I used 2 slices of 1/2" plywood at each end (for a total of 1" of wood on the top and 1" on the bottom), and a pair of rotary casters at the front and a pair of fixed casters at the back to make it a bit easier to move around.
I found that 12mm of NeFeB magnets was a good balance between grabbing the drawer when it's all the way in and stopping it from being easily pulled out. I left the drawer stops off because I'll be storing projects in these drawers, so now I can pull a project out and put it on my bench, then pack it all away when I'm done.
I reused the sheet-metal screws that held the original caster-like-objects on to attach the back panel to the bottom frame, and ran a couple of them into each sideframe as well to stop the back panel being pulled into the body (the magnets for the drawers were pulling the sheet into a curve, which seemed non-ideal).
Thanks for the video and the inspiration, Robert. I expect I'll have a couple of these in my workshop before too long.
Additional: I tried PTFE tape on the rails to make them slide more easily, and it did, but it also peeled off trivially and slowly just ... came away in use. Is there a kind of PTFE tape available that isn't the kind used to seal plumbing joints? It seems to me that a sticky backing would help a lot here (but then you'd be trying to stick glue to PTFE, which is kind of designed not to be stuck to).
Have a look online for UHMW tape, that should make the drawers slide really well
Dan Summers hmm... plumbing PTFE tape doesn't take adhesive.
Good mods, I'm going to borrow some.
Brilliant
oooh it's good to see that these simple reinforcement do the drawers a lot of good in terms of rigidity! Might try buying them myself and hopefully inserting the mdf on the inside :)
I think they might be discontinued, this is an OLD video. :-/
@@RobertCowanDIY aaah they still sell them in australia where im from for some reason!! Not sure ill end up getting one cos i don't know if it's worth reinforcing it though hahahaha
@@RobertCowanDIY This is an old video, but I found it today when looking for info about the Helmer - so the content is still relevant. I'm most amazed that just six years later it costs $80 - twice what you paid for it!
I bought a very similar cabinet from IKEA in around 2004, it's construction is very different though.
It came in one piece (other than the handles) and it's all welded together, exactly the same size though.
It was I think £35, this one is now only £25...If you allow for inflation, this one is half the price of the old one.
Would you reccomend adding a washer between the screw and drawer to prevent too much stress when pulling on the handles? I noticed they are a washer-head screw, but I figured this might be a weak spot over-time - have you noticed anything with yours?
Thanks for the awesome vid! Youve earned my subscription & like! :)
awesome video, good work:)
I am really interested in a workshop tour and or learning of what you do outside of UA-cam
I may get around to a workshop tour. I still have a lot left to organize around the shop though ;-) But it might be good to have a 'checkpoint' so I can at least look back and see how far I've come? As for my day job, I'm the product manger for a small company that makes energy monitors (for solar, wind, etc). My job consists of dealing with the logistics of making and selling products (manufacturing, supply chain, product development, etc).
Nice video
I just bought one and I’m gonna try out some of your ideas. Looks like it turned out great.👍...Too bad they don’t offer that that red color no more
OH! They don't offer red? Bummer.
I mean these are cool but I wanna know more about that desk! :) i'll go see if you made a video on that already. Thanks for the great ideas to fix up the Helmer!
The workbenches? It's just a solid slab door on top of adjustable workbench legs.
@@RobertCowanDIY Sorry I meant workbench. Lol. I'd be using it as a desk in my indoor maker area is probably why I said that. Thanks for the response!
Target now sells bright room plastic drawer inserts that fit perfectly in these drawers
Oh nice, good to know!
@allysoncipollone890 Do you happen to know what size or model I should look for? Thanks!
@timhayes2317 I left a comment with details but it got removed for community guidelines
@@allysoncipollone890 wasn't me!
I have that same timer!!!
Hi Robert, great hack! I really apreciated the detailed explanation. I do want to ask if you recomend helmer as a desk support. Is it too fragile to handle a desk top?
Give it about 3 months and the paint wears off the bottom of the draws and friction goes through the roof on these. The draw handles will just be useful to pull the whole cart around with the, rather than opening the draws. Get yourself some 3M PTFE tape and add some pads every 3 inches to the bottom of both sides of all the draws.
not a bad idea. I have a stack of the Durham parts drawers that don't have ball bearing slides and they are holding up fine after 5 years of continual use. But I'll see and that's a good tip about the PTFE tape.
The harbor fright tool chests are nice - but $170. So I can see why you opted for these. Pro tip. If you buy two sturdy filing cabinets that are half height, and a soil core door at a home improvement center, it makes for a very cheap/sturdy bench.
I thought of doing that, but it takes up a considerable amount of space under the workbench. I have a lot of little things stored under my benches and the filing cabinets would take up too much room.
I can't find those storage trays anywhere in IKEA. What are they called?
Who makes the workbenches? They look really nice
I do? The tops are just solid core door slabs from Home Depot (around $65 unstained) and the legs are from Amazon, search for workbench legs. Each 7 foot long workbench is around $200 or so once you factor in the outlets and everything. It's not too bad. I just didn't want to spend $500 on each workbench considering I have 4 of these...
Hi, nice video. Did the metal top came already folded? Is there a reason why you chose to put the mdf out instead of in? I think it would be easier to clean if the mdf was in, except for the resemblance with your other drawers... A little cable management seams to be your next needed trick 😉
Yes, I didn't modify the top. I put the wood on top to match my other cabinets.
Good side down, Haha, such a stupid mistake, yet it still happens even after many years of experience. Good work on the improvement. =)
From 9:47 all I can see is that sweet desk. Just gorgeous. Do you have any videos how it's made?
Nope, it's pretty simple. They are just adjustable workbench legs and a solid core door slab from Lowes. Pretty cheap and simple to put together.
@@RobertCowanDIY thank you! Unfortunate it's a pain in the back to find this adjustable workbench legs in Ukraine. But I will try, cause it's awesomely cool! ;)
Anyone who's undertaken this - what size and strength of magnet has worked well for you?
What kind of lab benches are those at the beginning?
I bought this for my friend for his birthday as we just moved into a new house and he finally has room for a workshop. The bench was very easy to set up ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxyFZUPFEey-PuqsPMxqaykBhgA1LWxFHh They center support is a little difficult to snap in and out of place at first but at least then we know the bench is secure. It was a pleasant surprise when we saw it came with clamps. I apparently missed that in the description. My friend loves the versatility of the bench. Great starter bench for his workshop and easily transportable all over our property. I wish the bench was a little taller but the other features of the bench more than make up for that.
Where did you buy the magnets? That's a very helpful idea to secure the drawers
I think I just got them from Amazon. They have a decent selection of magnets.
Hi.. im curious to whether this cabinet actually fits the black folder you showed at the beginning of this video, cos it does look pretty slim. Love your video btw, very insightful xx
Yep, it's oddly deep. It's around 16" deep I think. There is not a problem with depth! I wish it was a bit wider though.
Robert Cowan Ah yes.. the width is what im actually worried about, was about to buy it for papers & folders, i guess it would pretty much bends wider folders or just simply wont fit.. thank you for the reply.. very useful information for me xx
It's surprisingly roomy though. That black folder fits in there just fine with room to spare.
Robert Cowan very curious indeed, its better i go to ikea myself and see if it fits what i need then, fyi i think the new ones now have wheels comes with it as well
Mine came with wheels, but I tossed them in the trash. They weren't adequate for what I wanted :-) I like nice casters.
Does anyone have any tips to permanently secure the drawer faces to the drawers? I’m tired of the handle and face coming apart when I attempt to open the drawer. I like to use this as in indoor tool chest, for indoor household lightweight tools.
I've had this thing for several years now and use it quite often and that's never once happened to me. I just tried, and I don't think I could get my fronts to come off if I tried (without tools). Check the tabs again and make sure they're all lined up and pressed down.
can it hold as a table stand? im planning to get 2 and use it as a table leg for my computer desk
that's what I'm wondering now - did you go through with it?
Where did you get CNC cabinet tool box and cost?
Thank you.
It's a Harbor Freight side cabinet. I think it's around $250.
What is the part or model number of the plastic trays?
Thank you.
I could have sworn it wasn't there when I checked before asking. Now, I don't know. Maybe.
Antonius by Ikea
What is the name of the drawer organizer you got from IKEA? I’d like to see if they still have them. Thanks!
It's no longer sold unfortunately.
Hi Robert,
If you still have this cabinet, I don't suppose you could tell me the internal drawer dimensions? I want to use a number of these cabinets as a small parts organiser and trying to find the dimensions before committing to buying any?
Thank you
I bought one yesterday and made the mods in the video today :)
The drawers' internal dimensions are 230mm wide, 375mm long, and 90mm deep. That's 9 inches wide X 14.7 inches long X 3.5 inches deep.
@@MohammadAlJammal Thanks for the reply. The dimensions are very useful
I like order the plastic organiser, but can't find right now, any help, looking in Poland IKEA...
The video is over 6 years old and they probably don't sell it anymore.
Hey Robert, just wondering if you'd share whether your Helmer unit have held together 7 years on? I'm thinking of buying these for under my workbench. Thanks
Yeah, it's held up just fine, but it doesn't get heavy use. I've heard they're discontinued though.
PSA: the IKEA Antonius has been discontinued
I built one of these a while ago, but today went to build another, but the Antonius is discontinued
BOO!
Why not put the MDF inside the cabinet instead of the outside?
You mean on the bottom? Most likely so it would be at a specific height.
Where did you get the monitor stand?
Oh, sorry, I'll add that link. It's from Monoprice, and surprisingly good for the price: www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=109&cp_id=10828&cs_id=1082808&p_id=15526&seq=1&format=2
The stand looks really nice, its far behind the desk, so you won't bump into the monitor stand with your keyboard or mouse
It's quite nice, I really like it. It's much sturdier than you'd think. It frees up a LOT of space and I should have gotten one a long time ago.
Did you ever end up reinforcing the drawers? I was thinking about converting one of these to hold 7” vinyl records, but I know the drawers won’t be sturdy enough as is.
I have been using these in my shop, garage, office, and bedroom. For heavy storage I laid a sheet of 1/4" ply in the drawer and haven't had any issue. Greasing the runners helps, since they're just metal on metal.
I can imagine what you would look like sitting at your desk after its raised 8 inches. You'd look like Ronnie Corbett sitting in an oversized chair... LMFAO. :-)
Ι am certain that Ikea's quality has gone down over the years. I have the EXACT same set of draws, same color and all, however mine is from 2009. The metal on mine looks a lot thicker and definitely not as "wobbly".
Bummer!
What size screws did you use?
For which part?
@@RobertCowanDIY the drawer
@@BIGSEXY123011 I'm not sure, but they look to be #8 sheet metal screws. It doesn't really matter, just anything that pokes out should work.
@@RobertCowanDIY thanks so much
The cabinets are now $70 bucks
Yeah, the video is over 5 years old, prices have gone on up on everything.
You can 3D print various inserts that fit perfectly, just look for gridfinity over on Thangs. Man, my comments get instantly erased and I don't even write anything offensive. Ugh.