
Just finished off my daughter Serafina's new crib. It's the Wood 3-in-1
crib with only minor mods. Firstly, I didn't make a curved top because of
time. Secondly, it's solid walnut. No plywood. The end "panels" are slats,
not ply panels. Lastly, their plans also call for gluing up 3 3/4" thick blanks to
make the legs. I did that, but I also cut my own veneer from the same stock
to cover up the exposed edge grain.
I'm not going to make the toddler bed portion and will skip right to the full-
sized bed. I will make those long bed rails in a year or so.

The wood is walnut from a Craiglist score. There IS a difference between air
dried and kiln dried. You can see it between the slats and the main body of
the crib. Some slats came from a commercial purchase which had been kiln
dried. The CL wood was air dried. I like the color in the air dried A LOT
better! It doesn't really show in the picture but it is.
It's finished with sprayed on coats of shellac (for color) followed by several
coats of water based lacquer. All noticeable VOCs are gone after a week of
drying. She's not going to be in this crib for at least 1-2 months so I think
it will be safe by then. If Serafina's first words are not "orange peel", I'll be happy.
Paul
Edit:
The plans are from Wood 173, November 2006. I never build from plans and I had a
tendency to jump ahead in the plans. I almost shot myself in the foot twice because
of this. There is a method to their madness. For example, there are a lot of holes that
need to be drilled in specific locations. It would have been a lot easier to drill them using
my drill press BEFORE I glued everything up. Here's the link:
http://www.woodstore.net/3bedforallag.html
I bought the crib hardware from Products America. You have to call in the order. I also
suggest you buy the hex driver. You can also use a standard hex wrench to screw in
some of the threaded inserts but the driver in an electric drill or drill press makes it easier.
I paid $72 including S&H for the kit.
http://www.productsamerica.com/wood3-in-1.html

DAMHIKT Be cautious of the gummy rails covers they sell, they use an adhesive and I don't know how that would react with your finish. Plus the babies get frustrated with them and try to rip them off, they like the hard pressure of biting on wood. Just an FYI for things to come 


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