9fingers
Established Member
Ever since it was announced that I was to be a great uncle, I've been thinking about making a crib.
It was either to be a family heirloom to be passed around nephews, nieces, son (perish the thought!) if it turned out well and if not to become firewood for the next hard winter we get!
I should have started sooner and it would not have been such a rush - that is my excuse for not WIP photos just the end results.
The stand can be dismantled for storage/transport and is held together with traditional style wedges.
The basket swings on custom made mounts incorporating miniature ball races for silent smooth rocking.
The male bearing on the stand just hooks into a keyhole style mount in each end of the basket. Both fittings made from 1.5" diameter solid brass to suit a 35mm Euro hinge bit I already had.
A last minute thought about the rocking part was to limit the swing range. Custom made hard plastic blocks - almost invisible when fitted limit the swing to +/-4 degrees and will hopefully prevent baby from being ejected over the side :shock: Should save a nasty family dispute at some stage in the future :lol:
The timber is American black walnut. I ended up with quite a few different shades once it was planed up so it has been slightly stained with Van Dyck crystals at 100gms per litre and then finished with the new Chestnut Hard Wax Oil.
I'm not sure about this finish as it dries to a very high gloss - too much like a varnish layer to my taste. I have cut it back with 00000 wire wool and waxed it for a slight more matt finish which I prefer to be honest.
I don't know if all such finishing wax oils are like this as I've not used other brands either. The project took about 3 weeks after I had planed and precut the timber and let it settle before final dimensioning.
Apologies for the photo quality but SWBMO has waltzed off with my (hers actually
) camera for the weekend so I had to resort to a phone cam to capture this project for posterity as it was to be collected this morning by a very pregnant niece (1 day overdue at the time of writing). Still she is pleased with it which is all that matters!
With luck, if the rest of the family mate in an orderly and coordinated manner it will get passed around without any arguments (or me having to make another :lol: )
One tip for budding crib builders - do buy the mattress first and then make the basket to suit. This was passed on by someone who did not and ended up paying for a custom one to be made specially!!
Hope you like
Bob
It was either to be a family heirloom to be passed around nephews, nieces, son (perish the thought!) if it turned out well and if not to become firewood for the next hard winter we get!
I should have started sooner and it would not have been such a rush - that is my excuse for not WIP photos just the end results.
The stand can be dismantled for storage/transport and is held together with traditional style wedges.
The basket swings on custom made mounts incorporating miniature ball races for silent smooth rocking.
The male bearing on the stand just hooks into a keyhole style mount in each end of the basket. Both fittings made from 1.5" diameter solid brass to suit a 35mm Euro hinge bit I already had.
A last minute thought about the rocking part was to limit the swing range. Custom made hard plastic blocks - almost invisible when fitted limit the swing to +/-4 degrees and will hopefully prevent baby from being ejected over the side :shock: Should save a nasty family dispute at some stage in the future :lol:
The timber is American black walnut. I ended up with quite a few different shades once it was planed up so it has been slightly stained with Van Dyck crystals at 100gms per litre and then finished with the new Chestnut Hard Wax Oil.
I'm not sure about this finish as it dries to a very high gloss - too much like a varnish layer to my taste. I have cut it back with 00000 wire wool and waxed it for a slight more matt finish which I prefer to be honest.
I don't know if all such finishing wax oils are like this as I've not used other brands either. The project took about 3 weeks after I had planed and precut the timber and let it settle before final dimensioning.
Apologies for the photo quality but SWBMO has waltzed off with my (hers actually
) camera for the weekend so I had to resort to a phone cam to capture this project for posterity as it was to be collected this morning by a very pregnant niece (1 day overdue at the time of writing). Still she is pleased with it which is all that matters!With luck, if the rest of the family mate in an orderly and coordinated manner it will get passed around without any arguments (or me having to make another :lol: )
One tip for budding crib builders - do buy the mattress first and then make the basket to suit. This was passed on by someone who did not and ended up paying for a custom one to be made specially!!
Hope you like
Bob
