System 32 (furniture)

System 32 is a furniture construction and manufacturing principle used in the production of Ready-to-assemble and European-style custom cabinets and other furniture. The system is in wide use globally, partly owing to IKEA using some of its elements (principally the 32 mm shelf support holes) in its furniture. Characteristics are the columns of 5 mm holes on 32 mm centers. In addition to the system 32, there are other but less frequently used systems (System 25, ip20 etc.).

It is claimed that the system was developed after the end of World War II in order to help speed reconstruction of the vast number of buildings destroyed during the war, that the spacing was decided upon because that was the closest that multiple drill bits on a line boring machine could be placed, because of the size of the gears then available. Various sources state the name of this system is "LR32", which is short for the German "Lochreihen" and "System 32" ().

Multiple vendors sell drilling templates and routing machines that can be used to build System 32 cabinets, including:

The system was developed by fitting, machine and furniture manufacturers, and serves to standardize both component dimensions and production processes. The design features are:

The system includes matching fittings, with which furniture sides can be secured to floors, walls, and adjacent cabinets. Other fittings are available for doorbands, drawer guides, clothes racks, floor racks, and other features, and typically mount into one or more of the 5 mm holes otherwise used to support shelf brackets.

Advantages of this system include:

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