[TrailMixRaisin]

The article links to the Billy disassembly instructions (https://rabbitholeprodorch001.blob.core.windows.net/plugins/...)

I thought this a great idea until I have seen step 5. This step is exactly the reason why I opened the document as every other step is straight forward. "Just magically remove the 18 nails that you hammered into the back." If you have ever tried to do that you have noticed that this is hard to do without damaging yourself or your furniture. On the same level the instructions could tell me to remove the glue or unweld a seam.

The disassembly instructions are not more than the assembly in descending order.

[baldeagle]

Unwelding is just grinding out the weld and maybe some of the other heat affected zone. It isn't super uncommon. Perhaps you didn't have the right tool to remove the nails, or they had just been freshly installed. Their grip strength in particle board / chip board isn't that strong, and with just a little play it is easy to slip a small pry bar under the head. Something like the little one here will help a lot: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Dasco-Pro-7-5-in-Ultra-Bar-II-wi...

[anamexis]

To be fair, those are just little brads that just hold the backing on, which is a step above cardboard. I think it wouldn't be too hard to remove them with a nail puller while keeping the front unblemished.

[formerly_proven]

Just use the backing as the nail puller, soft kick from inside the cabinet does it just fine.

[nemetroid]

Haven’t done this with a Billy in particular, but in my experience flimsy backings give out before the nails do.

[jandrese]

Slip a putty knife between the backing and the nails and use it to pry.

If the backing fails then you can remove the nails using a pair of pliers but you'll need to find a new backing.

This of course assumes the person who assembled the furniture originally didn't use glue on all of the joints like I do. I've found that if you glue all of the joints in a flat pack when building it the expected lifetime can be improved by an order of magnitude or more, especially if you're moving it around regularly. Seriously it is night and day between the wobbly one you only followed the directions on and completely solid one that's fully glued.