IKEA Tornviken Filament Shelf Storage

The IKEA Tornviken, although marketed as a kitchen island, also serves as an excellent table for desktop-sized 3D printers. In Germany, it's available with a 72x52cm footprint, making it an ideal base for the Core One printer. It features a wide drawer for storing 3D printer tools and accessories, along with two shelves. The upper shelf is open at the back, while the lower shelf has a wall and is only accessible from the front.

This Project

This project aims to convert the lower shelf into a filament storage compartment capable of holding approximately 20 standard 1kg spools. By adding a vertically-opening hinged acrylic door, we create a storage solution that maintains the Tornviken's style while visually connecting it to your printer. When closed, the door covers your filament spools discreetly.

The project requires sourcing an acrylic sheet, hinges, magnets, and a few screws. Printable parts include a handle (designed to resemble the original Prusa Core One design language), a backplate, a stopper, a helper for positioning the hinges and a helper to bore the holes for the handle.

Important Notes (Please Read First)

These instructions and parts

• are exclusively for the 72x52cm version of the IKEA Tornviken. The combination of acrylic sheet thickness and hinge tension may not work on wider Tornviken versions without modifications.
• require hinges with the same dimensions as specified:
   

General Notes

• Assemble your Tornviken first and measure the opening of your lower shelf then order the acrylic sheet. Subtract 2mm from the measured width and height to allow for approximately 1mm of space on each side. This calculation is a suggestion; comments on appropriate spacing for wood and acrylic expansion are welcome, the vendor's acrylic expansion seemed a bit large (at least for my stable environment).
• The original plan to seal the compartment and control humidity was abandoned for reasons discussed in a later section.

Prerequisites

• You know how securely handle an electric screwdriver and how to drill holes in general
• You know how securely handle superglue
• You know how securely handle hinges. Seriously, keep your fingers safe! Even the small hinges here pack a punch!
• You measure twice and drill once.

Parts List / Bill of Materials

Additional Tools Required

• Electric screwdriver and a 3mm drill
• 2x M3x12 (or M3x14) flat or round head screws for the handle
• 8x M3x10 screws for the hinges, heads will be visible from the outside, customization possible.
• 10x M3 nuts, 8 for the acrylic-to-hinge and 2 for handle-to-backplate connection
• Pencil to mark holes
• Ruler or measuring tape
• Superglue to fixate the magnets in the backplate.

(Wood screws for the hinges were included)

Optional Tools 

• WD-40, dish soap or any kitchen oil as a lubricant
• WD-40 to remove superglue stains on the printed parts
• Acetone to cleanup superglue residue from the magnets
• Double-sided sticky tape or similar for stopper alignment

Print Instructions

• Use 3 perimeters for the handle
• I used a 0.2mm layer height with default speed profile for hinge- and handle-helper, stopper, and backplate.
• I used a 0.2mm layer height with default structure profile for the handle (brim might be required for some materials depending on your setup but should be avoided if possible).
• Print two copies of the Hinge-Helper (one for each hinge).
• Filament material: PETG was used for all parts, but PLA or any other sturdy filament should work as well.
• A plated setup with 0.2 default structure profile and 3 perimeters for all parts is supplied here as 3mf and .gcode to calculate the estimates. I suggest you slice the parts to your liking, only the handle should have 3 perimeters

Assembly

Small-scale model of the setup with a 2.5mm thick acrylic sheet:

I. Install magnets in backplate and stopper

1. Keep 2 of the magnets together in pairs. 

2. Sand the side of the magnets you want to apply glue to. 

3. Split the magnets into 4 single magnets. 

4. Mark the connecting sides with a non-permanent maker. 

5. Apply glue to the sanded side of 2 magnets, place 1 each in the slots of the backplate.

6. Apply glue to the sanded side of 2 magnets, place 1 each in the slots of the stopper.

II. Drill holes for the handle

1. Unpack the acrylic sheet and inspect for damage. DO NOT REMOVE the protective foil just yet. 

2. Mark the center of the long thin side of the acrylic sheet with a pencil (or anything NON-PERMANENT), put the handle-helper on it and align the two triangles with your marking like so:

(The picture is showing a 2.5mm acrylic sheet.) 

3. Mark the holes and drill them. Tips:

• Clamp the sheet securely to prevent movement during drilling
• Use a drill bit designed for plastic if possible
• Use a lubricant like dish soap, vegetable oil or WD-40

III. Attach hinges to the acrylic sheet, drill more holes

1. Position the acrylic sheet flat on your workbench on a flat piece of scrap wood, measure 130mm from each side to the matching side of both hinges. 

2. Set them flush with the edge of the acrylic sheet pointing away from you like this:

3. Mark the elliptical holes of both hinges on the acrylic. Because we are very close to the edge of the acrylic and thus at high risk of cracking, please consider this:

• Clamp the sheet securely to prevent movement during drilling
• Use a drill bit designed for plastic if possible
• Use a lubricant like dish soap, vegetable oil or WD-40

4. Drill the marked holes, aim for the center. Again, apply light, steady pressure and let the drill do the work - pressing too hard can crack the acrylic. 
Aim to bore a hole with 2 complete retractions of the drill. If needed, remove the acrylic from the tip and reapply the lubricant before continuing.

5. When done, connect the hinges with M3x10 screws, M3 nuts and adjust the position if needed then drill the remaining holes. Keep the hinges attached.

IV. Connect hinges to Tornviken

1. Place the Acrylic on top of some spools etc in front of your Tornviken 
 

2. Roughly align it, put the hinge helper in place like this:

(Picture is from my finished assembly)

3. Align your setup, mark the elliptical holes and secure the hinges with wood-screws. 

4. When the hinges are installed, lift the acrylic slowly a bit and and remove both hinge-helper. 

5. Try to close the door and check your alignment.

6. If OK, use more wood screws to fasten the hinges with the screws if you like.

V. Install stopper
 

DO NOT CONTINUE unless the magnets are fixated and the glue is dry.

1. Unscrew the acrylic sheet from the hinges.

2. Remove the protective foil from both sides of the acrylic.

3. Install the handle using the M3x12 screws and nuts to connect it to the backplate. 

4. Connect the acrylic sheet with the hinges using the M3x10 screws and nuts.

5. Click the stopper to the backplate with the magnets

6. Slowly close the door and mark the horizontal position on the tornviken with a (non-permanent) pencil.

7. Open the door, remove the stopper from the backplate, align the stopper horizontally to your markings and vertically flush with the back of the Tornviken beam.

8. Use 2 wood screws from the hinges to fixate the stopper. 

And that's it. Well done! 
I hope you enjoyed this project.


 

Additional Notes
 

Humidity Control Considerations

While initially planned, active humidity control was not implemented due to potential noise issues (with active pressure control using a pump) and the time-consuming nature of changing desiccant regularly. Instead, all spools were vacuum-sealed in bags with included humidity sensors. 

Active vs. Passive Drying

Maintaining a controlled environment for filament storage can be challenging, especially when the door is frequently opened. Active drying systems (using heat or dehumidifiers) can be effective but may consume significant energy and potentially degrade filament over time. Passive systems (like desiccants) are quieter and less energy-intensive but require regular replacement or regeneration.

The main challenge with both systems in this setup is the rapid humidity exchange that occurs when the door is opened, potentially negating the effects of the controlled environment. For this reason, individual spool protection (like vacuum sealing) was chosen as a more practical solution for this particular setup given that my printer is located near our ‘open kitchen'.

Here's the data for a week from within the compartment: