Framing Ikea PAX with MDF

[OverflowIssues]

I've just measured between the wall and the side of the carcass where I'd be putting one of the MDF panels for the "fake" wall. It's 84mm wide at the bottom and 73mm wide at the top...which I think is from the uneven wall as from what I can see with a spirit level, the wardrobe itself looks upright.

The means I'll probably have to cut my panel 71mm which leaves a 13mm at gap towards the bottom. Split in two that's ~7m which was more of a gap than I was expecting. Rather than one long piece of wood, should I split into many smaller pieces?

Any recommendations here?...what would you fill this gap with? Wood filler on the carcass side and caulk on the wall side?

 

[StephenStephen]

I'm confused - why not cut the single panel to fit the space?
Why would you cut it narrower than the widest measurement?

 

[OverflowIssues]

It's not a rectangular shape. 84mm bottom, 73mm at the top. When cutting I always do a couple of mm shorter to allow for measurement/cutting inaccuracies, which would leave me at 71mm.

71 -> 84mm is quite a large gap.

Note: I am a very new DIYer, so I might be "doing it wrong"

 

[matlob]

Just cut the piece of wood at an angle rather than straight. Are you using a table saw?

If walls are not straight you may be best scribing in and cutting with jigsaw.

 

[thomp1983]

As above, cut your wood so the edge against the uneven wall is at the correct angle, mark your 73mm from the straight edge of the wood at the top, 84mm from the straight edge at the bottom, use a long straight edge or level to draw a line between the marks then either use a jigsaw to cut along the line or use a circular saw.

You can also attach a straight edge to pass the tool along using a couple of clamps you just need to know the distance between the blade and the foot plate.

I wouldn't take any off your measurements as if you cut on the line the thickness of the cutting blade will leave you with a slightly undersized workpiece.

 

[foxhole]

Scribe both sides to fit or bring forward to overlay the walls meaning both sides are equal and any discrepancies in wall are hidden behind the mdf frame.

 

[opps]

When I used to work for a cabinet maker, we would cut the panel return to wall wider than it needs to be. Then pin it to the carcass (level), ensuring that it is touching the wall at the thinnest gap . Then measure the distance from the inside face of the carcass to the pinned return and add the thickness of the of the carcass board. We then cut a length of 1"by 1" to the above calculation.

Let's say that the 1" by 1" is 50mm long, you then run it (horizontally) down the wall, with a pencil at the non wall end to leave a scribe line to cut to.

If you are using a jigsaw to cut the pencil line, run a Stanley knife along the line first. The cutting upstroke of the jigsaw will rip a tiny bit of the face of the MDF if you don't knife it first. Do not cut on the pencil line, cut to the wall side of the pencil line (because of the thickness of the jigsaw blade).

If the above doesn't make sense Google "how to scribe".

 

[StephenStephen]

It's generally regarded as good practice to cut long to allow for inaccuracies, not to cut short.
As opps suggests: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=h...IAEGLEDGMkDGMcBGNEDugYECAEYCg&sclient=gws-wiz