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This is my first time posting in this forum but I wanted to get some help from y'all regarding removing a bolt from my bed frame. I bought a used bed frame and I need to dismantle it to shift it into my room. Here is an image of the bolt.

Could you please tell me what tools I would need to remove this screw (the silver nut on the left) as well as how I should go about doing it. Thank you, I really appreciate the help from this community :)enter image description here

Machavity
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Mantej Singh
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    Could this be an XY problem? Don't most bedrails remove from their respective headboards and footboards by merely lifting up on the bedrail. Sometimes they are stuck fairly well and upward blows with a rubber mallet or dead-blow hammer will help. – Glen Yates Jun 03 '20 at 13:24
  • You don't say, but I'm assuming that there is no visible/usable head to this bolt? – MikeB Jun 03 '20 at 16:15
  • @MikeBrockington Those bolts don't have a head. One half is a bolt, the other is a screw. Basically, you screw the bolt into the pre-drilled panel and thus have a headless bolt as a result. – Mast Jun 04 '20 at 07:24

2 Answers2

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Looks like an IKEA bed to me - something like the MALM or the HEREFOSS.

You first remove the metal rail, then undo the nut. The manual depicts a wrench (ikea part 113453) but a regular metric 13mm wrench reportedly works fine. From the assembly instructions:

IKEA MALM bed image

mjt
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    I've got one next to me here, recently dismantled as we need an office not a spare room. My normal double-ended spanner of the right size worked, though even my smallest adjustable didn't. You only need to use the spanner for a turn or two, then you can slip out the plastic spacer shown and finish removing the nut with your fingers – Chris H Jun 03 '20 at 11:00
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    I can say from personal experience that's definitely a MALM. I also know from personal experience the chance of managing to put it back together again succesfully, without damage, is less than 50% with a used frame. Build them once and they'll last for years, right till the moment you take one apart. – Mast Jun 04 '20 at 07:21
  • This misses the first step which is to remove the rail as mentioned in the answer by DrMoishe Pippik – tar Jun 04 '20 at 14:39
  • @Mast Sorry to hear about your bed. Reason I said 'something like' is it could also be a HEREFOSS which has a different headboard but is identical in terms of everything visible in this photo. It disassembles the same way, of course! – mjt Jun 05 '20 at 07:34
  • @mjt it turns out mine is actually a Herefoss too. I just thought they'd omitted extraneous detail on the headboard in the illustration; the method really is identical. – Chris H Jun 05 '20 at 08:02
  • Definitely an ikea bed. Maybe I have been lucky, but mine has been taken apart and re-built at least half a dozen times and it's still rock-solid. Tightening/removing those bolts is a pain in the neck every single time though. – Simon Jun 05 '20 at 08:13
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  1. Remove the metal rail.
  2. In the opening, you now have enough room to insert an open-end wrench.

The wrench has a slight angular offset. Push down on the wrench as far as it goes, remove it, flip it over, reinsert it into the hole and repeat ad nauseam.

Alternative: access the bolt head from another place.

DrMoishe Pippik
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    The ideal tool for bolts with limited access like that is a ratchet spanner - https://www.kmart.com/craftsman-5-pc-wrench-set-offset-ratchet-metric/p-9990000032009511P# – Robin Bennett Jun 03 '20 at 12:59
  • @RobinBennett you might get one of those in, but I wouldn't bank on it. Clearance behind the bolt is minimal – Chris H Jun 05 '20 at 08:04