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I bought and assembled an Ikea sofa bed (asssembly instructions here). I'm moving soon and want to take apart the couch to make it easier to lift.

Some of the screws needed for the assembly come in 2 parts: the head and the threads. You screw the head onto the threads and then use that on the couch. Here's what that looks like:

Screw head and body

How do I remove these screws? When I try to unscrew them only the head comes out, leaving the thread part in the couch. I have a lot of extras, so would using a screw extractor work? I don't mind if the screws currently in the couch get ruined/tossed.

The way these are assembled means that the parts they hold together remain together even if the head is removed. It effectively becomes a pin on two sides of a box and prevents the box from being slid off the pin. Shown in step 13.

EDIT: My plan now is to unscrew the screws in step 14 of the assembly guide and then use a thread locker/screw extractor on the back screws in step 7. This should hopefully allow me to split the 2 sections of the couch albeit with the armrest/back still attached.

Freiheit
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J. Yee
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6 Answers6

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I would apply a high-strength thread-locking adhesive (e.g. loctite 270) to the inside of the head, reattach the head to the threaded rod (AKA stud), wait many hours, remove bolt.

LOCTITE 270 is a high-strength threadlocker for maximum efficacy in the securing and sealing of bolts, nuts and studs to prevent loosening due to vibration. The product serves to permanently lock assemblies which must not come loose. It works on all metals, including passive substrates such as stainless steel, aluminium and plated surfaces. It is proven to be tolerant of minor contamination due to industrial oils, e.g. engine oils, corrosion prevention oils and cutting fluids. Can be disassembled by heating to 300°C.

Other brands and products are available

From studying the assembly instructions, it seems to me it is also possible (perhaps even likely) that your furniture can be disassembled without fully extracting the threaded studs - so long as all the heads are removed.

enter image description here
With the head removed, the clearance hole allows the parts to separate

After disassembly you can use the two-nut trick or locking pliers (vise-grip, mole-grip etc) on the centre of the stud to unscrew the studs.

RedGrittyBrick
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I have that exact same couch, and the solution is pretty simple: Just ignore it at first. I had to take it apart as well - I didn't even notice that some of the heads came off until I got further down the line in taking it apart. Just follow the instructions backwards - The first time you will run into those screws is at Step 13. Take all those out, and if only the head comes off, it doesn't matter. The head is what's holding it together, now that you've removed it, you can do step 12 in reverse - you'll just have the two rods sticking out of that thing you just took off, whatever it's called. They can generally be taken out/unscrewed by hand - worst case scenario, you'll need a wrench, but it shouldn't be necessary. The same then goes for step 10 - take it off, and if only the heads come off, you'll have the two rods sticking out, again, take them out by hand. The same then goes for steps 7 and 6 - although here, you will need to reverse the steps starting with step 7, then jumping to 4, and then back to 6. Then everything should work without a hitch.

trainman261
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I'm not sure why you need to remove them but I suspect if you screw two nuts together on each screw, tighten them against each other, and then put a wrench on the lower nut (the one closest to the wood) and use that to turn the screw out it should work.

Or wrap a few layers of electrical / duct tape or similar around the shaft to keep from damaging the threads and then grab it with pliers or vice grips...

PaulBinCT2
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enter image description hereYou need to start with undoing step 12, that is slide the shortest armrest along the threaded rods. Same goes with step 4. It seems that the heads you've removed are the only thing actually holding the frame together. There might be some resistance because of threads created in the wood, I marked them with X, but imho it should be overcame with force.

Agent_L
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You can most likely simply use pliers to grab and turn the threaded part counterclockwise until it loosens. Then proceed to use your fingers for the rest.

I think I disassembled the very same couch recently and it worked with no trouble.

Simon
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First, get some liquid nitrogen, then create a powerful electromagnetic field generator. No need to get fancy, 50 Teslas ought to do it. Then get back to me.

Seriously, though it does seem like you could leave them in, maybe tape them in place and reuse, as long as they're that solidly in place.

The ones that you do need to remove seem like good candidates for the old needle-nosed vise grip pliers. You might roach them getting them out of there, but as you said, you have replacements.

Michael Spurlock
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