Well, we are basically finished. There are a couple spots that we still need to put some more Poly on, but the crib is basically finished. Enjoy.
Well, that pretty much doesn’t for the crib. I had a lot of fun (and frustration) on this project and am looking forward to the next. There was a lot of lessons learned in this one that is for sure. This was, after all, my first piece of furniture since I was 11 years old. And much more challenging than that one was.
I definitely learned that a good plan is only good if you stick with it. Once you start changing things, you ought to stop and make a new plan. It is too easy to forget to account for all the changes later in the game.
My wife and I also learned from a lot of finishing mistakes. Next time I am not going to spend so much time sanding up front. I think I’ll wait until we are ready to put it together. We spent a lot of time sanding things that just had to be sanded again later.
If you look closely, you can find some flaws, but my wife is happy with it. And as you know, that is really the only vote that counts.
This project also provided me with the opportunity to try new things: Inlay, mortise and tenon joints, detailed design in Sketchup, and best of all a chance to justify the tool purchases. Ha Ha
Thank you to all that provided encouragement and advice along the way.
What’s next???? Work on the shop some more and get it to where I don’t have to trip over cords and hoses as much.
-- Kevin, Wichita, Kansas
11 comments so far
lazyfiremaninTN
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528 posts in 851 days
posted 483 days ago
Beautiful. It’s lots of fun pushing our limits, isn’t it.
-- Adrian ..... The 11th Commandment...."Thou Shalt Not Buy A Wobble Dado"
jeanmarc
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1751 posts in 614 days
posted 483 days ago
very nice good job
-- jeanmarc manosque france
Randy Sharp
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198 posts in 570 days
posted 483 days ago
Great job Kevin! An heirloom for generations to come. You just can’t buy this kind of quality any more.
-- Randy, Tupelo, MS ~ May I become more like the Master Carpenter every day.
Russel
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2063 posts in 837 days
posted 483 days ago
Very nicely done sir. A beautiful crib that sure to be an heirloom.
-- Working at Woodworking http://www.VillageLaneFurniture.com
aussiman
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25 posts in 631 days
posted 483 days ago
great looking crib I like the lettering how did you do it?
Kevin
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294 posts in 856 days
posted 483 days ago
In the interest of time, we “cheated” on the lettering. I didn’t use a knife and chisel like the “old” pros would suggest. I used a router and inlay bit. Basically it is just a small router bit with a collar, then there is a bushing that you put on when cutting the background (walnut). Pull the bushing off and cut the foreground (sycamore). This worked pretty good. You cannot make a square corner or really small inlays, but it worked fine for what I was doing.
Oh yeah, I just used the inlay bit for the outside edge. For hogging out the material I used a combination of 1/2” router bit and a good set of chisels.
-- Kevin, Wichita, Kansas
HokieMojo
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1142 posts in 626 days
posted 483 days ago
Kevin,
You’ve answered a bunch of my questions so far, but I’ve gota few more. I remember you said that you changed hardware midway through the project. What did you go with and are you happy with it?
Also, the mattress looks somewhat high. I know the front gate is down in the photos, but is this a normal height? Can the mattress be lowered when your kid is big enough to stand?
I’m so glad you saw this blog through to the end. I’m amazed to see someone that says they haven’t done much woodworking make such a great project. I really enjoyed following along with such an ambitious undertaking.
John Gray
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1754 posts in 783 days
posted 483 days ago
All it needs now is a KS Wildcat. ;-)
-- Only the Shadow knows....................
Kevin
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294 posts in 856 days
posted 482 days ago
The mattress is on its highest setting and the front gate is lowered in the pictures. The mattress does drop down lower for when they can stand. These measurements were set according to the Federal government standards. I’ll have to find them again and post them for you all.
As far as the hardware goes, my original plan was to use this hardware from Rockler. http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=1408&filter=crib
Then I decided that I didn’t want to see the gate hardware at all. It some searching, but I finally found a place to get hidden hardware. If anyone is thinking of building a crib, or already has one, these guys have a lot of replacement parts for many different types. Also very good customer service. http://www.productsamerica.com/ I used this hardware: http://www.productsamerica.com/page58.html
I also bought some longer bolts to bolt the back together. I used bolts so I could take it apart and store it.
This wasn’t the cheapest way to go by far, but it does give you a crib with no visible gate hardware. For some reason that was important to me.
-- Kevin, Wichita, Kansas
Kevin
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294 posts in 856 days
posted 482 days ago
I thought about a Powercat in the back instead, had some really purple looking honey locust, but we went with the name.
-- Kevin, Wichita, Kansas
Beginningwoodworker
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4217 posts in 571 days
posted 315 days ago
Nice looking crib.
-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker