Broken IKEA part? Which ones can be 3D printed in Ireland, and what it costs
IKEA furniture lasts; the small plastic bits that hold it together do not. A drawer stop snaps, a slat cap splits, a shelf pin goes missing in a house move, and the whole piece is suddenly wobbly or useless. Most of those bits are a few grams of plastic and twenty minutes on a printer. Here is which ones print well, when to try IKEA first, and what to send us.
Ask IKEA first
IKEA keeps a spare parts desk in every store, and many fittings, from cam locks to shelf pins, are handed over free if you bring the part number from the assembly sheet. Their online spare parts form covers the rest. If the product is still sold, that is the cheapest route and the part will be the original.
Where it breaks down is discontinued products. IKEA drops ranges every year, and the fittings go with them. A MALM from 2012, an old EXPEDIT, a BILLY with the older pin size: the part is gone, and that is where printing comes in.
The IKEA parts that print well
- Drawer stops and drawer runner clips (MALM, HEMNES, ALEX): the little hook that keeps the drawer from pulling out. Snaps when a drawer is forced.
- Bed slat holders and end caps (MALM, LURÖY, LÖNSET): the plastic pocket each slat sits in. Printed in PETG at full strength, they outlast the originals.
- Shelf pins and supports (BILLY, KALLAX, BESTÅ, PAX): easy, cheap, and we can print a bag of them.
- Chair and table glides, and the caps on the bottom of legs (sofa and bed legs included).
- Curtain gliders and hooks for VIDGA and KVARTAL rails.
- Wardrobe hinge covers, door dampers' plastic housings, and the plastic cam lock covers that hide the fittings.
- Knobs and handles, including the ones from older ranges that no longer match anything in the catalogue.
The common thread: small, plastic, not carrying the whole weight of the furniture on its own. A drawer stop or a slat holder is fine; a metal bracket that holds a bed frame together is not, and we say so when we see one.
Found the model already?
Printables and Thingiverse are full of IKEA parts, usually under the product name: search "MALM drawer stop" and you will find three. Send us the link and we print it; how that works is here. If there is no model, photograph the part next to a ruler, give us two or three measurements, and we draw it: that adds €10 to €20 to the price, once.
What it costs
Most IKEA fittings are tiny, so the price is mostly the fixed part of an order: handling and An Post delivery, €11.65, plus a few cent of filament and a few minutes of printing. In practice a single part lands at the €15 minimum, and a set of four or eight of the same thing costs very little more, because the fixed part is paid once. Delivery anywhere in Ireland and Northern Ireland is in the price.
We quote from the sliced file, so the price you get by email is the one you pay. The guide rates are on the prices page.
PLA or PETG for furniture parts
PETG, nearly always. Furniture parts get pushed, pulled, sat on and slammed, and PETG bends a little before it breaks where PLA cracks. It also takes a warm room by a radiator without softening. PLA is fine for things that just sit there: a cap, a cover, a shelf pin in a bookcase. We pick the colour to match: IKEA white, black, the grey-brown of the dark ranges, or whatever you ask for.
What to send
- The product name and, if you have it, the part number from the assembly sheet (the six-digit number next to the drawing).
- A photo of the part, or of the one on the other side that is still intact, next to a ruler.
- Two or three measurements: overall length, the hole size, the thickness.
- How many you need.
Use the quote form. We come back with a fixed price, usually the same day, and the parts are posted within a few days of payment.
Questions
Do you have IKEA parts in stock?
No. Each part is printed to order from a model, either one we find online or one we draw from your photo and measurements. That is why we can do parts for ranges IKEA stopped selling years ago.
Are these official IKEA parts?
No. They are printed replacements made to fit. IKEA is named so you can find the part for your furniture; we are not connected to IKEA.
Can you print a whole set, for every drawer or every slat?
Yes, and it is the cheapest way to do it: the delivery and handling are charged once, so eight slat holders cost little more than one.