Better Than IKEA for $200 Less (with BUILD PLANS!) 

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I invested about 4000 in tools and built most of my furniture (and the extended family) myself; it's channels like yours that inspire, thank you!

Considering that the nearest Ikea is about 4 hours away... and shipping on these things is outrageous... I like the DIY approach. :)

The way you integrate your ad while continuing your build video is great. I wish more people did that instead of cutting into their video. And love the cabinet, of course.

I agree with your comments about the tools. I made quite a bit of furniture with a handsaw, nails, hammer and sandpaper. I was married probably 5 years before I could afford a circular saw and a hammer. We still have every piece of furniture that I made and it held up 40+ years.

Can you make that fit into a flat 12x 78 box? 😂❤

A couple tips for cleanly cutting and drilling melamine; for cutting on a table saw, use a high tooth count, sharp blade and make a short pass into the bottom side of the material before cutting all the way through. For cutting on a miter saw, I've found that using a knife to cut through the melamine layer first pretty much eliminates the chipout. For drilling, I start a little slower, mostly letting the drill do the work until i'm through the melamine. You can also use masking tape or zero-clearance jigs to help with any of these issues as well.

melamin chips way less if you do a scoring pass first. many tracksaws have a feature for that. basically, set your saw to a very shallow cut, so the top side of the melamin gets cut at a steeper angle, making it less likely to tear out. professional saws for melamin have a scoring blade on it, that cuts in the opposite direction, to pretty much get rid of tearout. Festool very recently even released a tracksaw that has a scoring blade that works lovely. it is pricy, but if you do a lot of melamin work, its worth it.

Sharpie doesn't really look like black. It has more of a dark purple tint to it. We used Mohawk stain pens at the furniture retailer I worked for. They cost a lot more but are worth it if you are doing a lot of projects.

As a programmer that predominately writes things in C, I completely agree about the cost of tools. Over time you build up your collection of tools until you have a complete workshop and over that period of time you'll do more and more projects. The cost is very much distributed across every project you do. In my case I write a lot of my own tools and the cost is my time, which has some value to me and a significant amount more to my clients. The one complaint I have with this project is the materials. Melamine coated MDF is basically glue and saw dust wrapped in plastic. All the stores around me show a price of around $40-ish per 4'x8' sheet, and for a few bucks more per sheet you can get hardwood plywood in a 1/2 inch thickness. While it would push the cost over the melamine coated MDF, I would also splurge for the glass. And stain instead of black paint would also look better.

Great job, I love the economics of saving $200 to store $5k in lego😂. I have similar problems😅

If you put some masking tape over the partical board where you're cutting/drilling, it will decrease the amount of chipping

Some people never understand that there's not only the satisfaction of building something yourself, but there's also the option of changing it exactly to your liking. Especially in those edge case situations, that's worth all your tools' weight in gold, because you just can't get what you need from a store, and having it custom made is probably more expensive than all your tools combined. Sure, if you build _exactly_ the same as what you can buy, you have to start wondering if it's worth it. If you enjoy it though, that's enough reason to do it. Other people pay to do the things they like, creators can actually save money doing what they like.

Great idea on the 3D printed retaining clip!

If you're doing something like this you should check with a local glass supplier (not a big box store), or even on-line glass companies. When I made my 3D printer cabinet I bought large (something like 24x34, might be larger) custom cut panes of tempered glass for way less (like less than half) than plexiglass. Maybe the market is different where Bob is but I've always found that plexiglass is considerably more expensive when compared to real glass (at least if you look in the right places). Plus, plexi scratches if you look at it wrong... glass is way more robust, especially for something like a display cabinet where you want a clear view.

Just did almost the same thing here, in fact today is final sanding and paint day. 3 "billy-bobs" (that's what I will call the home made ones). MUCH better materials (cabinet grade birch ply, poplar face frames). Not cheaper than normal Billy's but definitely much better! Thanks for sharing Bob!

Bro loves inhaling saw dust and taking hearing damage fr fr 💯 😅😅👆

If you exclude the doors, you can build this with a drill and and a tape meassure. Most hardware stores (at least in germany) will cut you your wood to the asked dimensions. For the doors you could use a router. Tablesaws are expensive (and scary) for beginners.

Perhaps you could paint the holes for the shelves black as well, so they're not as noticeable. I guess one way you could do that is to put down some butcher block paper, and secure it down with strips of masking tape. The masking tape should be in lines where the dowel jig is going to go. Then you cut the dowel holes through the masking tape, spray black paint, and voila.

Awesome build, another good thing to keep in mind with melamine is it's edges are super sharp.i used to work at a lumber yard and we always made sure to wear gloves when moving big sheets around since its slippery and the edges are like razor blades when freshly cut

I love that the algorithm-focused titles of these types of videos assume that your time isn't valuable at all and that the tools are free. I wish the creators didn't have to do that to maintain relevancy within youtube. The expertise and knowledge in this video is fantastic sans clickbait.

Going by your face during the tablesaw cuts, not only in this video, you should build a boom arm with a bladeguard including dust collection. Mask or not, this should help a lot.

FYI the black stuff on the board that likes to chip out _is_ the melamine. The boards you're using are properly called "melamine faced particle board".

Building furniture may occur at a far lower frequency than cooking but one could make the same argument that you can always almost order a single meal (or maybe even a few ) at a restaurant for less than it would cost you to buy all the kitchen equipment and ingredients and make it yourself. Most of us however think it is perfectly reasonable to invest in kitchen equipment where the cost is distributed across a long time. Making things is really no different. If you think you're only going to do it once then sure, the cost might not make sense but if it's going to become a lifelong pursuit, even if only a few times a year then it's totally worth it. Plus you have to decide how you want to value the feeling of accomplishment and the fact that when you need something, you now have choices that extend beyond choosing which pre-manufactured retailer you want to purchase from.

Bob, this was a really good project video. Being a professional cabinetmaker this a great way for a DIYer to get all the benefits without the added costs. Great job!

For people who complain about the tools, you can make money-saving projects from just a few cheap tools in invest your saved money on more tools and work your way up. I did and express version of this by saving over $2,000 installing my own kitchen cabinets with a few very basic tools. That paid for all the tools I use on projects after that.

Excited to see where life takes you Bob! Hearing that you're making adjustments to make you and your family happier is inspiring. Like david said, bigger better Bob. Or at least clear headed and happy? Haha This is a awesome build! Pro tip from a tinner here, when needing to remove sharpie from most solid surfaces, metal, kitchen counters, melamine etc. Wet on wet technique is essential. Directly trace old sharpie with new line and wipe off while still wet. Works like a charm!

Perfect opportunity to use the pocket hole jig to drill dowel holes with a normal/long drill bit. Also I loved your RBF without your mask during the Factor ad. Glad you mentioned it.

Particle board sawdust is specially bad for your lungs as it contains glues, use a respiratory mask when handling those cuts :)

I have a Billy bookcase and while assembling it thought "I could make this" lol... Home Depot has pre-drilled meline shelving too

I found as well if you apply some painter tape (paper tape) over the holes you want to drill, it helps quite a lot with the chipping problem.

Instead of using a Sharpie that can leave a sort of iridescence, use an india ink art marker. We used those in a frame shop I worked at to touch up black frames. It dries fairly matte and without that purple tint.

Nice to see Jimmy's ghost pop in to say hi at 14:34! Great project Bob!

Three tricks I learned from a cabinet maker for pocket holes in particle board is to dowel it as well, for the alignment mostly in that case but still for strength, set your drill depth a heavy 1/32” or 1/16” shallow, and use a drill driver to drive the screws. It’s a better way to ensure you don’t blowout the hole and impacts tend to over tighten pocket holes

Very nice, lots of good tips to create my own (in a smaller scale) for my home container! Thanks for sharing!

Your videos always bring enjoyment. Thanks for your creativity! 🥳👏

The only time I used pocket holes on particle board it was edge banded with the thick, 2mm ABS stuff. I had no problems with it. It was also the only time I chose particle board deliberately. I had it cut and banded at the local Hobby woodworking place, so I didn't have to deal with the dust. The visible edge needed to be durable, and I just had them band it all-around to keep the formaldehyde smell in as well.

Good stuff! Thanks Ya'll!

Hey! Love you videos! Instead of using a Sharpie to cover up small spaces of blow out, (it tends to have a purple-ish sheen) use a black whiteboard marker. It works a charm for all those little blowouts. :)

Have you tried putting masking/painters tape on top of the melamine before cutting or drilling? I've used it with worktop surfaces that are similar and it avoids the chipout. For doors that lack substantial bulk I'd be tempted to add a couple of small magnets on the handle side to keep them in place. That way they close more firmly, useful if you don't expect to open it that often since it will help avoid gaps at the top/sides where dust can get in.

Hey Bob, just wanted to say good luck with the changes going on. I always enjoy your content and podcasts. Best Wishes- Pip

Just note that IKEA particle board is not regular. It's specifically engineered for the parts, and has gaps and cardboard sections on the inside, to reduce weight and cost.

Looks great Bob!

Wanted a storage unit for my new office (wardrobe sized) - drew it in SketchUp and priced up the materials. Ikea version was exactly the same price, without needing to finish it with a durable paint. Melamine version would have been way more money. Saved hours of work so that's what I went for. Every time I look at it however, I know mine would have been better quality.....

Good to see a real practical build.

You did a great job on that cabinet. Very well done.

Great build once again! Melamine can be a pain to work with, especially for the chipout and the sharp edges that will cut your hands... well done!

Gotta love the security squint! 3:49

I noticed you used a laundry style iron for your stripping. Might I suggest you invest in a hobbyists' iron. It's used to put radio control planes outer wing covering on. It's smaller (so it's more maneuverable, to get into tight corners) and has an adjustable heat setting system so you won't burn the stripping material. Get a good one with a wooden handle, not plastic, and it should last for decades being used for projects like this.

Pocket dowels. Use a regular drill bit in your pocket hole jig. Pound in dowels with glue. Cut flush. The different color wood from the dowel adds a little style.

Love the "Gluey" glue bottle. 😂 I see that you are a man of taste!

2:24 You’re absolutely right about not needing the best tools to complete the job. I honestly believe starting with mostly hand tools and only using that for a while can make a better carpenter than someone who has thousands of dollars of tools but doesn’t know how to use them properly. I’ve built a lot of furniture back in the day with just a hand saw and a cheap drill.

On stuff like the melamin boards, tape the location where you drill with painters tape. that really helps with the tear out

Built two book shelves the same way. Came out great and saved about $270. Plus, I like to build stuff too! Love the look of the black with the big doors.

Anything that splinters or cracks easily on the surface, always reverse drill first before drilling in the right direction.

If you have a scrap piece of peg board laying around you can make a great jig for drilling the pin holes for a shelf.

I'm a soon-to-be homeowner for the first time, so the timing on this video is spot on! Haha. (Although, I've been watching your channel for years now). Nice one

2:12 Honestly, as someone who's used a circular saw in an apartment a few times, almost more important than the tools is having a shop. But yeah, tools are an investment, but even without all the tools or the space it's still possible to make stuff, just might take longer or not look as perfect

If I were to make a shelving unit this size, I would make a 1x2 frame and skin it with hardboard inside and out and paint the whole thing. It would give the solid appearance and not hold as much weight, but it would be vastly cheaper, and for just a display case, it should work just fine as long as you don't overload it.

Oddly, the billy bookcase that size in the uk is the equivalent of $450 and the backs are hardboard. I thought ikea furniture was identical worldwide, clearly not so!

Talking about the cost of tools. I know a lot of people bash it, but the best thing I've found is buy the cheap version of the tool at harbor freight, if you use it often enough that it breaks or shows signs of wear, buy the expensive version, if not the cheap version will do just fine for what you need. Don't need $20,000 worth of tools if you only use them once every 6 months and only spent $100 on it.

When you build this kind of furniture, it is because you love doing it, not because of the cost. If you add labor, it is probably more expensive.

The downside of acrylic is that it will scratch over time. For example, only cheap PC cases use acrylics, the better ones use only tempered glass because you need to dust off the screen and acrylics will scratch.

When drilling into the melamine have you tried reverse drilling? I use it to drill into tile. Start by reverse drilling to create a punch, then forward drill to pass. It’s helped me out a few times.

Those are some pretty awesome Lego sets Bob! I've been thinking about making something similar for some of the sets I have built over the years!

IKEA seems to be in a race to the bottom on the quality of the panels they make their stuff from - thinner, less dense, generally crappier. It - used - to be quite good quality, in some parts of Europe people rent bare apartments and are expected to provide even the kitchen cupboards and fixed appliances - IKEA kitchens used to be able to be dis assembled and moved to a new place at least 3-4 times without needing to replace major parts. Now you are lucky to get the things together, out of the box without some panels having failures around the fastening holes, corners and grooves, let alone being able to take them apart and re assemble them. Look at the descriptions - the panel coverings are now listed as 'foil', not Melamine, and there is a definite difference. Of course, this was when IKEA made their stuff largely in Europe rather than 'off shoring' it to some small Asian country where labour and environmental standards don't apply. I still buy stuff from IKEA, but its increasingly metal and plastic items, not wood related products.

This is exactly what I needed rn! My partner just moved and he plans to get a new bookshelf just as big! We can make it instead!

as wonderful as it is you could have also made to bench like cupboards and sit them on top of each other by adding 1 extra sheet of wood that way in the future you could split to two to ground level which then would great a long bench top for more display items

Did something similar recently on my channel with a desk and I don’t have fancy tools! Grateful for what I do have. You can do it too 😁

Hello Bob, my name is Nikola. In Europe, we make almost all of our furniture from Melamine. So in the future you don't want to have a problem with chipping. You should use a different type of blade. Do not use a standard wood blade. And the blade should have at least 84 teeth. If you work with this material in the future, write to me, I will help you. Have a nice day

Love the video how did you integrate the lights into the bookcase without showing wires

The Gluey bottle is top notch, well done

Beautiful project I need to buy the Alex drawer set from IKEA and they don't ship that specific item to my area. If you could do that one next I'd buy those plans for sure!

Saturday mornings with Bob - yay!!

When sawing or drilling into Melamine or formica use low tack tape and drill/saw through that. It cuts down on blowout and chipping dramatically.

Edge banding before assembly is easier to clean all ends and edges. I personally prefer billy doors because opening them does not require much space. I have a double wide and a single wide billy bookcases, both with glass doors. Billy book case is kinda expensive mostly due to the glass doors. Case only is not a lot. Liatorp bookcase with glass doors is so much nicer. I have a pair of white and a pair of grey ones.

If this is a one-off thing -- that is, you're only ever going to build a single Billy-like thing -- then time and materials don't make it worthwhile. But if you embrace this as a learning experience for future projects, then it becomes very valuable.

Awesome build!

I would use roo glue, used it years ago when assembling cabinets in the shops I worked.

You can also rent most tools and get large pieces of wood precut if buying isn’t an option for you at the moment or if you’re not sure if projects like these are your cup of tea

Poster board behind batwing. Dark blue or something to stand it out subtly. Cloudy night sky.

You have a knack for coming out with videos about the things I just purchased a week prior XD. Great work though!

There's one aspect is that I can bring the Ikea version home in a small Toyota Corolla or similar "commuter car", as there's no 4x8 sheets that go on my roof that you hope don't rip off on the drive home

That Lego Batwing in the back of the case though......💥er ❤

if you run the drill bit on the shelf pin jig backwards first it will eliminate that blowout

Nice build

There is really no way that the savings in material offset the non-chargeable cost of doing the work, but what is factual is that you got exactly what you want at no reduction in quality, and that's worth something for sure. In fact, it's the major advantage of DIY. Design is almost always a compromise. Ikea limits what you can have to what they designed. You don't have that limitation. Any complaints I may have about your final product are a reflection of my bias, not of your accomplishments. Justifying the project on the basis of cost is a non-starter. You did a lot of non-recurring effort ( procurement, prep, repair, transportation of materials at a nominal $1/mile,, etc.) that by rights should be costed for comparison of these alternatives, and there are other costs.). However, you got exactly what you wanted and the VALUE of that exceeds having to settle for something that isn't quite what you want. I recently did a large picture window for a Victorian house and used acrylic, too, which has dozens of times the impact resistance, fractions of the weight, a ton more safety, better clarity, and no tendency to yellow over time. It's superior to glass in every way, and to boot, makes installation vastly easier due to reduced weight and the zero danger of having it fall during the process due to the weight being so much less. Great material for these apps. There's a tendency to scratch and some restrictions on cleaning fluids, but it's a great alternative. Good job on the cabinet and great job on your video. Was enjoyable to watch.

Hi Bob. Great project. I love the AR stuff with your 3d models youve been doing. Are you able to share how thats done. Thanks. Keep up the awesome content.

Great video again as always. And I wish Factor was in my country...

"i couldn't find my mask" made me think "you should build something fancy to keep your safety equipment at reach"

Wow those Billy bookcases got expensive. I used 2 of the white ones in my house and made in the wall built in bookcases out of them. They weren't even close to that price back then.

would painter's tape on the drilling/cutting surface help prevent chipout of the chipboard?

Any tips on how you'd color the inside of the (empty) pin holes, so they're not as visible against the dark color of the material? Some sort of light sanding of the exposed particle + regular paint?

Nice remake, Bob~! I don't work with melamine much, but was wondering... When drilling your shelf pin holes, would running a strip of tape along the line of where the holes are going minimize chip-out? I've used tape when using my Skilsaw the few times I've cut down melamine pieces, but have never tried it when drilling holes. Thanks for the project~!

Thank you for bringing up tools! It’s an investment into your ability to build nearly everything you need as far as furniture and cabinetry goes and even house projects. It’s far more worth investing in tools (under most circumstances) which range from inexpensive to professional but offer a wide range of options and again, you keep them and build more things. IKEA uses the lowest grade of materials and is mass produced which only gets thrown out after a while and “upgraded” to the next newest design so it’s great for ppl starting out that need inexpensive furniture fast but it’s not quality that lasts or gets passed down the generations. I began collecting and using tools years ago which allowed me to start building anything I or family, friends needed and these were cheap Ryobi tools. Right now I’m building a solid hickory vanity with bridle joints, half laps and other joinery methods and used more homemade, scrap plywood jigs than actual tools to do so. Online vanities are outrageously priced for crappy particle board made to imitate hardwoods which good luck finding anything in hickory but also knowing I built something that’ll last decades or centuries and not just years or months means something. The main tools I’ve used so far is of course a table saw where I used several jigs to cut out bridle joints and half laps, chisels to refine and a router for the rabbet that fits the back panel and a sander. So get yourself when you can a tablesaw, router and sander and you’d be shocked at what you can do as you begin building things and upgrading your skills rather than more ikea furniture

11:03 "Gluey" 😙👌

Using a laminate blade and some brad point bits greatly reduces the chipping when cutting melamine.

use tape, do scoring cuts, use a proper blade for melamine, or at least set the height correctly, this will prevent most of the chipping, it is a bit finicky, but it's worth it in the end.

Great work and good savings 💯💯💯👍

Ikea sells the hardware to join boards very cheaply. Good alternative to pocket holes.