Baby Furniture #3: Selecting and Preparing Stock

All those little spacers.

-- Kevin, Wichita, Kansas

Kevin – sure looks like you’ve put a lot of thought into this project. I hope it goes well for you. The stock you have looks great.

How are you going to fasten the gate that opens to slide out the mattress? Wondering how you are going to make that safe for the “I’m big enough to stand up and push on the sides of my crib” stage. Just curious, I’ve never been in the market for a crib and not sure how that all works out.

thanks for the post, looking forward to watching your progress.

Oh and—- don’t forget those safety glasses – you’ll want those eyes to gaze on the new little one! :-)

-- You can't get a hug from Facebook.

Love seeing the progress photos!

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

Betsy,

I think I’ll use a piano hinge on the one side and a couple latches, one at top and one at bottom for the other side. I don’t think you can tell in the drawings, but the upper & lower rails on the left side are actually two pieces. One half stays put and the other half is part of the gate.

The other thing my wife and I wanted was to be able to take the crib apart to store it. So, the back of the crib and the front brace will be attached with bolts. The sides will be mortise and tenon joined to the legs and will not come apart.

Bring on the questions, I like it. Makes me think about what I am doing from another perspective. Surely if I can come up with answers to all the great questions here, my design will stand the test of time.

Thanks Betsy

-- Kevin, Wichita, Kansas

Good work. The one thing about crib building is that there are A LOT of parts. It looks like you’ve got things well organinzed, and I’m with Betsy, that’s some really nice wood you’re using. I’m looking forward to watching the progress.

-- Working at Woodworking http://www.VillageLaneFurniture.com

Kevin,
It looks like you found some nice lumber.

-- Ed - Milan, IN

Organized? That took place on day two. Got a few boards milled down and then realised I didn’t know what they were all for. Now I am sticking some painters tape on each piece and labeling it both for size and location on the crib. Seems to be working out a lot better.

-- Kevin, Wichita, Kansas

Kevin – always glad to help with questions. Sounds like you’ve got this really thought out.

-- You can't get a hug from Facebook.

Here are some guidelines you may want to keep in mind. I highly doubt it is comprehensive, but you said you wanted something to challenge your own thought process. Maybe this will help.

Thanks for the guidelines, they are included in the set I have from the ASTM and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. If anyone else is planning on building a crib, these two publications are basically the standards that manufactures are judged by and are quite helpful. Google it.

-- Kevin, Wichita, Kansas