Well, I have finished - sort of - the main pieces of baby furniture that I've been working on. These consist of a crib, cradle and *temporary* changing table. I saw temporary, because I initially intended, and still plan to finish, to build a nice chest of drawers/cabinet style changing table made of solid ash, but I have been having a terrible time getting the panels to stay flat and since SWMBO is due this week, I figured I better whip up a changing table of some sort so that we had something, albeit simple.
Here's a brief description of each piece. And the link to the pictures:
The finish is another story - I really can't stand it. My wife didn't want anything "dark" in the nursery, but she doesn't care for lightly colored wood finishes, so she asked (and you know what that means when it's a pregnant SWMBO) that I do a pickled finish. She further instructed that I "distress" the surface. I used 2 coats of General Finishes "Whitewash" EF water-based stain. I basically flooded the surface, waited approx. 5 minutes and wiped off the excess. I honestly didn't have any idea what "distressed" was supposed to look like, so I moved stain around, and got a little overeager when I sanded, as you can see. But, SWMBO initially said she liked it, so I put 3 coats of General Finishes EF Polyacrylic Blend water-base finish on the surface. This product was a dream to use. It didn't really build up very much, but it really is crystal clear and was extremely easy to apply.
Crib:
This is also built from plans, this time from Woodsmith for the Heirloom Crib. I bought the plans, as well as the hardware kit. This was probably the easiest woodworking project I've every built. There were no glue-ups to deal with, so other than regular milling of the rough ash, stock prep was a piece of cake. The design is extremely easy to build. There was a discussion in the rec a little while ago about cutting a groove for mortises with a dado blade and then using spacer fill blocks to offset slats. That's how this design was built (as was the cradle). It definitely saves time, but I wasn't very happy with the results. For the "majority" of spacers the fit was just right and little to no gap is visible, but for a few, after the glue dried, some small gaps appeared. Probably due to my not using enough glue, clamping pressure, etc. The construction of the crib is very solid, and I like the simple design. The hardware kit was complete, and went together fairly easily, although there is a little resistance when raising and lowering the sides, so I have to wax up the guide rod or something.
The finish was exactly the same as the crib, except this time SWMBO and I decided not to distress the surface. I think the result is much more pleasing. I won't say I actually "like" white stain, but at least the finish looks pretty uniform. This time around I made sure I thoroughly raised the grain with some distilled water before starting the finishing process and sanded with 320 grit before starting with the stain. I paid more attention to getting even coverage with the stain, and I didn't sand at all between coats of stain or the polyacrylic finishes - just a light sanding with 320 grit after the final coat was applied.
Changing Table
This one was copied from a picture in a catalog SWMBO showed me. The construction couldn't be simpler. I think the total for materials used was about $50. The base frame is made of poplar and is held together with mortise and tenon joinery. This was my first chance to use my Jet mortiser (purchased after the crib and cradle were done, darn it) and it was great. It is just a simple frame, all 90 degree joints. The shelves are 1/2" MDF and the top and guard rail are 3/4" MDF. To support the shelves I glued and nailed poplar support strips along the entire lower edge of the corresponding rails. I used my new (I've been on a shopping spree hehe) Senco 23-guage pin nailer. What a joy! The top was attached using pocket hole joinery vertically through the upper rails and glue. I was very happy with how snug this got the top and there were really no gaps anywhere between the top and the rails/posts. I used a multiprofile router bit to decorate the top edge of the table and a cove bit on the underside of the top, to reduce the thickness of the edge. I overhung the top on all sides by 1". Finally, I mitered and glued the guard rail together. No biscuits here, I couldn't find the manual to my porter-cable plate joiner and I didn't want to mess with changing out the blade to do face frame biscuits. I just used a bessey strap clamp and the miters came out just right. I then biscuited into the bottom of the frame and into the top of the table and glued the frame in place. I found out that it is a PITA to try to clamp things in this fashion using cauls. I really needed some large capacity (and many of them) cabinet clamps. I ended up putting a big piece of 3/4" MDF on top and putting a big pile of ash on top of it. It worked pretty good, but I wasn't able to wipe up the squeeze out inside the frame. The finish is a coat of latex primer and only one coat of Benjamin Moore Ivory (?), I think. It is the same as the trim in the nursery.
That's it!
Sorry for the long descriptions. I've been working on these things for a few months, so I figured a few words about them would be helpful.
Any feedback is greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
Mike