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10K views 19 replies 9 participants last post by  MOJOE 
#1 ·
Baby Steps

Well, like all proud woodworkers we share in the joy of our projects. For the parents out there, or soon to be parents we also take a certain joy in making something special for our loved ones. This project takes on that special joy as my wife and I are happily expecting our first this June. We are expecting a little boy, Logan, who is currently sticking his feet into my wife's ribs. I spent many hours searching high and low for plans for that perfect crib. I knew I wanted a sleigh style crib, and the material would be obvious, solid cherry the entire way. I finally found a plan that my wife and I both liked (Image below)



The next stop was obvious, I can't possibly begin to make until the trip to the local lumber store was made. Living in KC, Schutte Lumber is a great and friendly place to get lumber for projects. It is a bit of a drive but it's a good place to go without waiting for a craigslist post to offer up someone's unwanted lumber. The other main reason was the need for 8/4 rough stock so I could resaw into the required 1 1/2 inch thick stock for the 4 main legs. The top shelf of my lumber rack is the cherry that will eventually become my son's new sleeping quarters. This is also a good view of my "shop" which is my "half" of the garage. The lumber on the lower racks is a lot of white ash I purchased over a year ago at a cabinet shop auction that was closing their doors after many decades.



The only part I have worked on (as I have been in and out of town and continue to attempt to get the house ready to sell so we can build our new house) has been the legs out of the 8/4 rough stock. I laid out the full size templates which came with the plans and used my brand new Grizzly band saw to cut out the pieces. I LOVE THAT BANDSAW!



The pieces are cut out, but need sanding after the initial cuts. More pics to come in the following week. We are expecting warm weather this weekend (thank god because KC hasn't seen a 60 degree day since October) and a lot of progress should be made. Stay tuned!
 
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#4 ·
Also a KC guy, and as it turns out my wife and I just had our 2nd, Noah, after several trips to Schutte's birch pile, I also built a crib. However, my wife and I could not agree on a published pattern so I attempted to create a design on the fly. Eventually it came together, but it took a while longer then I expected. Oh well, Noah's dresser went together quick and things have been great ever since….Congrats on the upcoming joy to your life (it will forever be changed) and better stockpile a little extra slee
 
#5 ·
Measure, cut, repeat as necessary

All I can say is I love Spring. It's about time the warm weather entered KC. It allowed me to get some more work accomplished with my son's crib. He is expected to join the family in June so I still have 3 months to get this finished, but I am very motivated to finish soon. The legs have been cut out, sanded down and the edges have been rounded over with a 1/8" round over bit.



I have also started cutting out the slats for what will be the foot board and the bottom rail. I started on the mortises but daylight ran out and I found a good stopping point. I would have got more accomplished but a prior project (Drill press station) needed to be finished. The one part of this project that is getting repetitive is the slats with the mortise and tenon joinery. I quickly realized that the most important part here was to make sure my mortise attachment on my drill press was setup properly to ensure the best result.



As I continue the project I try to set some goals for what needs to get done. This week I'd like to get all of the slats cut out. In addition I'm needing to work on the top rails of the footboard and headboard. I am trying to find a dowel that measures 1 1/2" diameter so if any of you readers are from KC and can send me in the right direction I'd appreciate it. Otherwise I'm going to have to turn my own and I'm not a good on the lathe yet.
 
#6 ·
I will be following this blog with great interest. I need to be making a crib and dresser for my first grandchild from my only daughter. She is due the first part of July and I am planning on starting the middle of April. Looking forward to your progress. Congratulations on your expected son.

God Bless
tom
 
#9 ·
Productivity gone south

There is nothing like catching a cold and having sinus headaches and coughing and sneezing all week to put a speed bump in your woodworking projects. Not to mention the daylight savings took away an hour in the shop. My goal was to get all of the slats measured and cut this week. Mission failed. I did finish all of the mortises on the front bottom rail and got the slats dry fitted.

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Finished the day by cutting out the side rails and worked on the top front rail. Since this is a sleigh style crib the trick with the front rail involved ripping with the blade tilted at a 4 degree angle and ripping three 1 1/2" wide pieces and gluing up to create the curve. Will add a 1 1/2" dowel rod to complete the sleigh look. Will also have to repeat the entire process for the back top rail as well.

Photobucket
 
#10 ·
Lookin' good…..can't wait to see the next installment. Hope your illness clears up soon….nothing like a few nice days followed by a crappy rainy day to really make people's health take a turn for the worse.
 
#11 ·
Stairway to heaven

Was able to get quite a bit accomplished despite a major setback. Back on my 1st blog I showed how I was working from some plans I purchased which offered full size templates for the legs. I have learned a very valuable lesson from this and to my fellow LJ's I hope you learn one as well. DOUBLE CHECK THE DIMENSIONS! Found out the "full size" templates were not exactly to scale. The legs I cut on the band saw were about 2 1/2" shorter than they should have been. After using the slats mounted to the top and bottom rails I found out the top rail was going to exceed the height of the legs! This was awful and I stopped work that night to refocus, relax, and plan on what to do. I contemplated making new legs but at 1 1/2" thick cherry that was going to be expensive. The simple solution was to drop the location of the bottom rail thereby correcting the height problem. So I have a few holes to fix on the front legs. I'll get out the plug cutter and fix as best I can. I also went to town making the slats for the sides and back. Finished all of the slats and worked on making the second top and bottom rails for the back of the crib. Progress as of today is below (back section clamped up and finished front is leaning on wall):

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Should be able to get the legs on tomorrow and that should leave the side rails and the mounting for the mattress. As I continue to work on this project I know that I am getting closer to the greatest day in both mine and my wife's lives, hence the title of this week's blog (also have been listening to Led Zeppelin in the shop all this week).
 
#13 ·
Nearing Completion

Well it's been about 5 weeks since my last post. Life got a little crazy after we put the house on the market. The woodshop (garage) became the dumping ground for a lot of stuff as we cleaned house to stage it for showings. I finished up the side rails, top and bottom, and due to some poor math I'm 2 slats short of completion. I'll cut those tomorrow. The top rails for the sides proved to be challenging. Initially I cut out for the sleigh profile and made sure it lined up properly. Once I was happy with the fit I then cut out the mortises for the slats and then cut out the profile. I made sure the profile was the last thing I did at the band saw to make cutting out the mortises a lot easier.



I decided to make sure before final assembly to get some knockdown hardware so I'm able to take this apart and move this big thing through doors. I was able to to get the one side totally assembled this evening. So far this is where I stand:



I've already ordered the mattress spring and should be here next Thursday. The mattress was purchased this past Sunday as well as the bedding. As of right now I'm still debating internally on the finish. It's all cherry but don't know yet how to finish. At this point I'm open to any advice from my fellow LJ's to weigh in on my options.
 
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