Knock-down fittings

[Anonymous]

Hi everybody,

I'm investigating the use of knock down fittings so that I can build larger items of furniture in my shed and then dissemble them to transport them wherever they are going to live.

I am sure some of the "purists" will scoff at the use of such :shock: "flat-pack" techniques, but does anybody have any objective views on the use of "camlocks" and the like? I've built a fair few items of flat-pack furniture and it seems to me that camlocks, with dowel locators can provide a quick and easy assembly/dissembly mechanism.

thanks in advance
Chris

 

[sawdustalley]

In my opinion you can't build a good quality piece of 'Knock down' Or Flat pack furniture.

Mechanical fastenings just don't give the same ridgidity as proper joinery.

Maybe I am a Purist but hey.

 

[Anonymous]

James

I dont mean to state the obvious, but how do you fit a wardrobe measuring 2100x1100x700 (mm that is) through a standard doorway, and up a spiral staircase.
Believe me it happens.
KD fiting are sometimes the only possible way to go. Even for the highest class of furniture.
I think its just a case of screws for drivers. No self respecting cabinetmaker in their right mind would use 'cam and pin' methods to costruct drawers, but when was the last time you you saw the afore-mentioned wardrobe assembled on site with blind mitred dovetails.
I like to use the 'cam and pin' metod as a clamping method.
You can cut housings, or use bicuits to construct the peice, along with cams, assemble and finish your peice with the joints dry, and then re-build your peice on site with a little glue, using the cams as a clamping method.

Are you a purist james?
planer, biscuit jointer, chop saw, table saw.............??? Need I say more?

 

[sawdustalley]

 

[Anonymous]

looks like I may have started a religious war, but I think that doughnut caught the essence of my problem. My belief is that most problems with camlocks are to do with poor positioning, or the fact that in commercial flat-pack furnture, they are fixing veneered chipboard not wood

I firmly believe that a "proper" joint is superior to camlocks with positioning dowels, but my shed is 25m away from my house, so its easier to carry things in smaller pieces, especially with children & dogs running round my feet. Did I mention that I also have to cross a 3m bridge over my pond? :shock: (Yes true, my garden is bisected by a fish pond/rockery 7mx3m)

If that weren't enough, word has got round my family that I've embarked on this new hobby and requests are pouring in. Most of my relatives live 200 miles away, therefore flat-pack is the only realistic way of getting large items transported for final assembly & glue-up on site.

Ciao

 

[Charley]

I agree that sometimes KD furniture is the only way. It not just getting the a big item in the house it’s (as doughnut pointed out) getting it up the stairs or through a door which you didn't account for when planning: evil:

Chris have you ever heard of "beadLOCK" I've done a review on it here. You have to buy it from America but could be just what your looking for. All you have to do is drill the joints in the workshop and cut some tenon stock then once on site just glue the joints. Its quick and easy to do like dowels and camlocks but the finished joint will be as strong as a M&T joint. 8)

 

[Anonymous]

thanks I'll have a look at beadlock

 

[Scrit]

Has anyone thought about biscuit joints? Lamello (sold by JKO in High Wycombe) do make a KD system which is based on the standard Lamello (biscuit) joint. Doesn't require a Lamello jointer (an old Elu does just fine) but does require a special insert tool. There is another manufacturer in Austria but the name escapes me for now.

BTW I've used the biscuit joint to produce built-in solutions in buildings where the only point of access was a small second floor window - so forget about fancy joinery there. I also know of one beautiful Victorian display case (all glass an mahogany) who's owners have wanted to get rid of it for years on and off. The problem it is 10 feet high x 6 feet wide and it was definately glued-up on site!

 

[Anonymous]

Lamello stuff also available from Axminster