Klaxxon Vinyl Drawer Production SNEAK PEAK

After years of designing, building prototypes, and more test rigs than I care to admit, the first Klaxxon Vinyl Record Drawer production samples landed on my doorstep. I've spent the last couple of weeks putting them through their paces, and I wanted to show you what I found, answer some of your biggest questions, and give you an update on where things are at.

TL;DR: They work great - better than I expected - but there are a few minor production kinks that need to be worked out before we move into full production.

For now, here's what I found, and the answers to the questions a lot of you have been sending in.

Will it tip the Kallax over?

My biggest fear was a fully loaded, fully open drawer tipping the whole unit over. So I built the worst case I could think of: one drawer, loaded with vinyl, opened as far as it goes, sitting in an otherwise empty Kallax.

As you'll see in the video, it only just keeps its balance. But the moment there's a second drawer in the unit, even an empty one, it doesn't naturally tip. With two fully packed drawers in there, it doesn't move at all, and you can pull any drawer out and it stays completely upright.

To be clear: that single-drawer test is an extreme example and I'm not recommending you try it. I was just genuinely surprised it held.

Here's the safer setup. The drawers are designed to work with IKEA's official anti-tip brackets, the ones that came in your Kallax packaging that you've almost certainly thrown out or buried in that drawer full of cables. If you don't have them, you can grab replacements from an IKEA store or order them online. We've left enough room for the drawers to work with those brackets installed, so take the plastic caps off, keep the metal brackets in, and anchor your Kallax to the wall. Between the weight and the balance, that's the stable setup you want.

So, will it tip? If you're using the brackets and you've anchored to the wall, no. Everything's designed to keep it in place, and even in the worst cases it stayed up. Treat your setup well and it won't tip.

Will it fall out?

My second biggest fear: a drawer falling out, ruining my collection and damaging the floor. This is where the Catch & Grab system comes in. It's the same concept I first developed for The Bale Vinyl Record Drawer, now refined and working far better.

There are three parts to it:

1. The Top Bumper is a broad, flat felt strip applied to the steel back of the drawer.
2. The Nubs are hard, round, felt-covered guides at the back and bottom of the steel base.
3. The Side Runners are industrial-strength felt pads applied to the side walls of the Kallax with a super-strong self-adhesive.

The side runners act as a block for the drawer fronts, stopping them sliding too far back and keeping the front flush. They also catch the nub at the back of the drawer, which stops it falling out. When the weight shifts to the front of an open drawer, the top bumper starts to bear the load, and together with the locked nubs and side runners the drawer wedges itself into the Kallax frame. That's Catch & Grab, and it works really well.

The real test is whether it holds for a long stretch. So I loaded a drawer with as many records as it could take, opened it as far as it would go, pushed the records forward to pile on the weight, and left it open for 24 hours. Nothing moved. The records didn't slip, the drawer didn't shift in the frame. Exactly what I was hoping for.

How do I install it?

Installation is simple, and everything you need is in the box. The first one might take ten minutes; after that it's about five per drawer.

Using the included Allen key, connect the back to the base. Attach the circular nubs to the frame, using the countersunk (flat-head) screws. Fit the drawer front to the base, and the drawer's done.

Next, the side runners. Bend the felt spacer tool over, place it against the bottom lip of the Kallax, peel the back off a side runner, line it up with the curves facing the top, and press it firmly to the side wall. The spacer tool keeps everything aligned so each drawer face sits flush.

Then face the drawer up, move it back into the unit, and once the nubs have passed the side runners, lower the drawer and slide it into place. Done. Start filling it with vinyl.

What's the divider for?

A divider is included with every drawer, and it does a few things:

• Keeps your records at the ideal 7° flipping angle.
• Distributes the weight across a larger surface area for extra support and protection.
• Keeps your records presented at the front of the drawer as your collection grows.

If you're just starting out, position the divider at the front so your records stand up and stay visible, then move it back as you add more. For a full drawer, keep the divider in the final position: it holds everything at the right angle and spreads the weight properly.

What's the trade-off?

There's one small trade-off I thought would be a bigger deal than it turned out to be. Because of the Catch & Grab system, the back of the drawer sits inset by about 6cm, sometimes a bit less, roughly up to the knuckle on my finger. That means the last few records at the very back aren't fully exposed.

I worried it'd be a tight squeeze to get them out, but there's plenty of room, vertically and to the side, to loop your fingers behind and flip them forward. In practice it's a non-issue.

A drawer of records is heavy. Will the Kallax support it?

Let's be honest about weight. We've all seen the photos of a Kallax that's collapsed under a big collection. The reality is the Kallax was never designed to hold that much, and many of you are already over its official limit right now.

IKEA officially rates the Kallax at 13kg per cube. A drawer full of records is more like 25 to 30kg. But here's the thing: if you're already storing vinyl in your Kallax stacked spine-out, you're past that 13kg figure today. The Klaxxon is a hack. It's doing a job the Kallax was never built to officially support, so loading it up always carries some risk.

Full disclosure: I'm not a lawyer. I'm just a guy who had a problem, built a solution for my own collection, and figured others might want it too. So nothing here is legal advice. Read IKEA's official documentation, know that storing records in a Kallax carries risk, and that using the drawers adds to it, and make your own informed decision.

That said, The Bale Record Drawer, the original version I made over five years ago, is still going strong. In my own home it hasn't damaged the Kallax, collapsed, or fallen out. That's my personal experience, not a guarantee. There's a full risk and usage rundown on the product page worth reading.

How many records does it really hold?

Around 80 with a typical mixed collection. Here's the maths, because collectors always want it.

The usable depth works out to about 28cm once you factor in the 7° lean that keeps records displayed and supported. If your shelves lean vintage, you'll fit closer to 100. If you collect mostly modern 180g reissues in heavy sleeves, expect nearer 65. Eighty is the honest middle for a real-world mix. It's roughly 20% less than cramming records spine-out, but a world easier to flip and browse. For crate-diggers, that's an easy trade.

Does it work with outer sleeves and dust jackets?

Yes. I've tried a range of sleeve types and they've all fit. The harder polypropylene covers are a touch snug but still go in. The inside width is about 326mm, so if you run thick outer sleeves, measure your worst-case ones to be sure.

Where things are at

The samples showed me what I needed to see: the design is sound, the engineering holds, and using it feels exactly like what I set out to build.

The original plan was to open pre-orders by the end of May, and that assumed the production samples would be perfect and ready for manufacturing. They weren't quite there. There are still a few tweaks I want to make before they're 100%, which means another round of samples before we start production. If I don't trust my own collection in them, I can't ask you to trust yours.

So I'm not committing to a timeline right now. I'm working hard to get the next samples in and these out the door. Pricing's the same story: world events have logistics, supply, shipping and tariffs all over the place, and until the design is locked I can't finalise wholesale cost, which sets the retail price. I'm doing everything I can to keep these affordable, and I'll share more the moment I can lock it down.

One reminder: only the waitlist gets pre-order access and the pre-order discount. If you're not on it, head to the Klaxxon announce page join the waitlist, and you'll be first to get the details when they're ready. That page is always the most current source of truth on timing and pricing.

Thanks for sticking with me on this. It means a lot.