Newbie woodworker and gonna be Dad needs advice

[booger]

Just found out last week that we're expecting a bundle of joy. In my excitement, I've already gone to Rockler's website and ordered the transitional crib/toddler bed plan, hardware kit and fastener kit. I've got a bunch of 100+ yr old pine ( 8/4 X 6, 4/4 X 6)salvaged from an old store in town. Here's the questions. Any problems with using the pine? Going on the premise that a lot of early american "poor man's" furntiure was pine in the South, I was thinking it would be perfectly ok. Second question. What do I need to use as finish that will be 100% safe? I was planning to leave the wood "natural" with no stain and NO paint. Poly?

[Andy Jeffries]

Many, many congratulations.

I'm a fairly newbie woodworker too, but a lot of the furniture still sold in the UK is pine (and my 6 month old daughter is currently having a nap in her pine cot/crib - handed down from a friend 3 years ago for son).

It's got a good couple of coats of poly on it and is fine. The only issue I'd say is that as they get older they chew on the rails, so maybe getting one of the plastic rail protectors might be a good idea (our cot is against a wall so son didn't chew on the wall side as it would squash his head against a wall to do so).

Cheers,

ANdy

[Bob S]

Some pine has been known to age as hard as rocks and is difficult to work but certainly not impossible. I had a small project once that I used some recovered pine stock that was once used as roof rafters. Exposed to heat and cold for over a half century and when I went to use them, I could barely get a new drill bit thru them. May want to test cutting some before you finalize your plans.

Bob S.

[Pop]

Not as long as it's not painted, or you fully remove any finishes on it. REmember, toddlers & infanst suck/chew on anything/everything. Should be fine.

Going on : the premise that a lot of early american "poor man's" furntiure was pine in : the South, I was thinking it would be perfectly ok. Second question. What : do I need to use as finish that will be 100% safe? I was planning to leave : the wood "natural" with no stain and NO paint. Poly?

Use shellac. Non toxic, looks good but not as hard as poly, etc so you get to re-furb it now & then to keep it looking great. Once he quits "eating" everything, you can put tougher finishes over it.

If you use poly, give it plenty of time to cure and finish outgassing; about a month I've heard. Shellac's easier and actually looks better.

HTH,

Pop

: :

[Andy]

Congrats! I'll second (or third?) the shellac - easy to use and definitely safe, even while it's drying. Theoretically, any finish is safe once it totally polymerizes, but shellac is easy, and easy to apply additional coats at any time, without the hassle of sanding between coats (unless you want to to smooth it out). Have fun! Andy

[Mike Berger]

[booger]

Thanks for all of the feedback. I guess I should have mentioned that most of this is old growth pine and is really clear, as in not a lot of knots to have to work around. The Lord provides when we least expect it and bountifully.

I'm setting up the 12" Delta planer and running a bunch of stock through this weekend weather permiting, so we'll see just how rough this stuff is when it comes to machining it. That is the only thing that I'm concerned about.

Thanks again !