[Baco Xtath]

As a carpenter of 17 years let me say excellent job. I've got two little girls myself and all I've built is a cubby box and a playhouse, nothing as intricate as your crib. Fine work. What you did requires a touch most don't have. You should be proud and hopefully, one day, your grandchildren will sleep in what you built and they will pass it on to their children telling about how their grandpa built it. Undoubtedly, it will be cherished.

[Tattersail_]

Macros, on 19 January 2011 - 06:28 PM, said:

Holy shit temp that's awesome!
I assume you have the full rack of tools then, im gonna have to seriously raise my game. Aa router is on the shopping list though, hand saw, planer and sand paper can only take me so far.

started the desk last night, made the two pieces for the top, they don't match together perfectly, bit I'll be damned if im gonna take the time to try and get the joint 100% with sand paper.

@temp, I don't know the proper names for the fancy joints, but what did you use to taper in the ends so they slot together for, I assume, gluing?

I supply all that stuff. I work at a wholesale company providing hardware stores. I could do you a quote

[Macros]

with shipping costs to Ireland?

[Tattersail_]

Macros, on 15 March 2013 - 10:32 AM, said:

with shipping costs to Ireland?

funny you should say that, we are about to launch our retail site, so I think it could be possible. I'll linky it for you when it goes live.

[cerveza_fiesta]

Baco Xtath, on 15 March 2013 - 01:33 AM, said:

As a carpenter of 17 years let me say excellent job. I've got two little girls myself and all I've built is a cubby box and a playhouse, nothing as intricate as your crib. Fine work. What you did requires a touch most don't have. You should be proud and hopefully, one day, your grandchildren will sleep in what you built and they will pass it on to their children telling about how their grandpa built it. Undoubtedly, it will be cherished.

Thanks! It's a little rough when you look at the details. Corners don't fit perfectly and the tenons required probably more glue than they would have with a tighter fit, but it was the best I could do given the tools at my disposal. All done with a 90yr old benchtop bandsaw, a shitty tablesaw, a cheap japanese-style pull saw, a few auger bits and a collection of sharp chisels. It also helped that it's ash, which tends to be very straight-grained and is more compliant to tooling than most hardwoods.

The "for the grandchildren" plan is definitely what I had in mind. I wanted it to be absolutely nuclear-blast proof and designed to meet the strictest safety regulations. I plan to hand it off to my sister (should she decide on kids), or possibly my sister in law, or any friends that want to save the money.

I got some SERIOUS nay-sayers at the start telling me "oh there's too many rules to comply with" and "how can we be sure it's safe", etc etc...., not least of which the objections from my wife. I fucking hate when people nay-say my ideas worse than just about anything, so I sat down and read the regulations and found out it's surprisingly simple to build a safe crib. Most of the regs are designed for people *producing* cribs for sale. If you're just building one yourself then you need to make sure it includes:

• Safe materials
• safe paint
• secure fatseners
• Bombproof mattress support (if height-adjustable)
• sides high enough to accomodate a child standing on the mattress such that the top rail is no lower than neck-height, for the oldest (read: tallest) child you plan to leave in it
• Slat spacing no greater than 2-3/8"
• corner posts no more than 1/8" taller than one of the connected top-rails
• No greater than 1" clearance around the mattress when it is pushed into one corner of the crib.
• No drop-sides (they are in the process of being banned)

About the hardest part of compliance with that code is estimating how tall your child will be at 1.5 or 2 years old. The rest was just math, some quick internet research and delivering a massively satisfying fuck-you to the nay-sayers before beginning construction.

This post has been edited by cerveza_fiesta: 15 March 2013 - 11:53 AM

[HiddenOne]

Tattersail, on 15 March 2013 - 07:28 AM, said:

Macros, on 19 January 2011 - 06:28 PM, said:

Holy shit temp that's awesome!
I assume you have the full rack of tools then, im gonna have to seriously raise my game. Aa router is on the shopping list though, hand saw, planer and sand paper can only take me so far.

started the desk last night, made the two pieces for the top, they don't match together perfectly, bit I'll be damned if im gonna take the time to try and get the joint 100% with sand paper.

@temp, I don't know the proper names for the fancy joints, but what did you use to taper in the ends so they slot together for, I assume, gluing?

I supply all that stuff. I work at a wholesale company providing hardware stores. I could do you a quote

Do you export to the States? Cause I am in the business too Maybe we could build an international conglomerate that would make us all wealthy

EDIT: I'm picturing board room Mafia games with golden pitchers of draft beer, better get a hold of myself

This post has been edited by HiddenOne: 15 March 2013 - 11:59 AM

[cerveza_fiesta]

oh, and to test it I put the sucker on its corner and bore down on the opposite corner with all my weight. Also flipped on its side and had me bouncing on the slats, at 190lbs.

It bends but is nowhere near breaking. Makes me sad ash is going the way of the dodo because of a stupid beetle. It's such a lovely material to work with and has excellent strength properties.

[Tattersail_]

HiddenOne, on 15 March 2013 - 11:57 AM, said:

Tattersail, on 15 March 2013 - 07:28 AM, said:

Macros, on 19 January 2011 - 06:28 PM, said:

Holy shit temp that's awesome!
I assume you have the full rack of tools then, im gonna have to seriously raise my game. Aa router is on the shopping list though, hand saw, planer and sand paper can only take me so far.

started the desk last night, made the two pieces for the top, they don't match together perfectly, bit I'll be damned if im gonna take the time to try and get the joint 100% with sand paper.

@temp, I don't know the proper names for the fancy joints, but what did you use to taper in the ends so they slot together for, I assume, gluing?

I supply all that stuff. I work at a wholesale company providing hardware stores. I could do you a quote

Do you export to the States? Cause I am in the business too Maybe we could build an international conglomerate that would make us all wealthy

EDIT: I'm picturing board room Mafia games with golden pitchers of draft beer, better get a hold of myself

I am not sure on that one. It's a good question. I'll ask it.

[cerveza_fiesta]

Macros, on 15 March 2013 - 01:02 AM, said:

that's ace CF! I love it when people build stuff like this for themselves over buying, if you facotr in the time and effort involved it surely costs more, but to me theres just sucha great personal connection when you can say, "yeah, I built that crib for her myself!"

Time and effort maybe puts it over a bought item, but solid wood furniture (not just cheap wood veneered to look like solid wood) is very expensive. Even a veneered "solid wood" crib from one of the major department stores was in the 500-800 dollar range.

This was about 175 bucks worth of ash (including milling labour -- I don't have a jointer or thickness planer). Hours-wise, probably 60-70 hours of my time. Not sure how to value my own hours since I'm not a particularly effective or efficient carpenter, but I figure I came in pretty even when you consider that my crib came with a sizeable chunk of personal pride.

[Acorn]

@ Cerveza - I love the crib. It looks as good, if not better than anything I see in any of the stores I walk through.

And you're right - 90% of the safety restrictions and laws in place are to manage the mass production of cribs. The only thing most people ignore (sadly) when getting cribs from second-hand stores or friends/etc is the safety issue of the drop down fronts and such. Even the ones that swing out (down and out like a tailgate on a truck) are pretty dangerous when the child gets big enough to start pushing on it...


@ everyone else, odd request.

I just bought a solid wood Tractor from hearthsong.com (amazing kids toys there) and plan on repainting it. It's a really rough cut of wood, and even though it's painted (green) it's not smooth in the least.

So I'm going to sand it up real smooth, take it apart and paint it red with some accents and so forth. My question is simple..

What should I use as a last coat on the paint to make it shiny but still safe for the kid to gnaw on (he'll be 1 year old in April, I'm painting and adding onto the tractor to emulate his favorite TV character Tec(wyn) the Tractor.)

Any help would be nice. It's only about 12" in length so won't take a lot of anything to paint and seal and coat it, so $$ isn't a big deal.

[cerveza_fiesta]

Acorn, on 03 April 2013 - 05:35 PM, said:

@ Cerveza - I love the crib. It looks as good, if not better than anything I see in any of the stores I walk through.

And you're right - 90% of the safety restrictions and laws in place are to manage the mass production of cribs. The only thing most people ignore (sadly) when getting cribs from second-hand stores or friends/etc is the safety issue of the drop down fronts and such. Even the ones that swing out (down and out like a tailgate on a truck) are pretty dangerous when the child gets big enough to start pushing on it...


@ everyone else, odd request.

I just bought a solid wood Tractor from hearthsong.com (amazing kids toys there) and plan on repainting it. It's a really rough cut of wood, and even though it's painted (green) it's not smooth in the least.

So I'm going to sand it up real smooth, take it apart and paint it red with some accents and so forth. My question is simple..

What should I use as a last coat on the paint to make it shiny but still safe for the kid to gnaw on (he'll be 1 year old in April, I'm painting and adding onto the tractor to emulate his favorite TV character Tec(wyn) the Tractor.)

Any help would be nice. It's only about 12" in length so won't take a lot of anything to paint and seal and coat it, so $ isn't a big deal.

I did a lot of research on this. Paint is toxic when it's wet more or less universally. Some oil paints stay toxic when they cure and usually aren't recommended for something that will be chewed on. Acrylic finishes aren't as durable as oil finishes in general, but small amounts are non toxic once cured (it's just plastic, really). Little bits that might get gnawed off just pass right on through to the diaper/toilet. Paint will be listed as "zero VOC" or "low VOC"...which means Volatile Organic Compounds (fumes). Those with fewer VOCs are less stinky during use, but once cured the original VOC content is irrelevant to the finish's toxicity.

Hippie / naturopath websites will convince you your kid will grow a second set of genitals if you don't use their $100/gallon + shipping "special" paint, but I consider that to be overboard for a gallon of paint no matter how "safe" they tell you it is.

Best conclusion I could come to after judicious research is that acrylic enamel provides the most non-toxic, affordable, durable coating you can apply. It's not a true enamel but does cure up pretty hard. The paint store guy recommended that I go semi-gloss or full-gloss because the surface is smooth and easiy to wipe clean. The satin or flat finishes look nice but the micro texture of the surface traps grime and will look crappy before long if it is a bright colour.

Also, most of the paints in this range are sold as "self priming". Never, ever believe that load of crap unless you're putting it on freshly sanded wood. If there is even a hint of a smooth surface underneath, the acrylic enamel will not stick to it. The problem is most easily solved with a proper primer applied underneath your finish coat(s) or a thorough sanding to completely roughen (120 grit is fine) the wood.

Last, I find the acrylic enamel paints thin and they don't apply nicely unless you do it with a roller and at least 2 coats. A small tray, microfiber (or cotton) mini roller and handle is cheap, and if you thoroughly rinse the rollers after use and freeze them in a baggie, they can be reused several times. The low/no VOC paints will tack up very quickly once you roll them out, and over-rolling an area can make it messy & textured. It's best to cover an area and leave it even if you don't get perfect coverage right away. Most times a second coat will hide whatever the first coat didn't.

All of my wooden baby furniture (bought at yardsales) was finished with a sandpaper roughening @ 120 grit, acrylic primer, and 2-3 coats of the enamel, depending on the darkness of the original finish. The crib was done without the primer since there was no original finish to cover up. All of it is holding up very nicely.

[Acorn]

Great information, thanks Cerveza! - I'll be working on it here and there for a few days, because I have to do it while he's awake and distracted.

I do remodel work for a living (I own a remodel company specializing in Kitchens, Baths and flooring) but refinishing toys is usually not on the list of things to do during a job, so this was kind of new to me!

I'll be heading out to grab some things tonight - I may already have a good mini roller and such here... But I'll need more sand paper and so forth.

[Macros]

We,obviously, demand before and after pictures.

[cerveza_fiesta]

Acorn, on 04 April 2013 - 04:40 PM, said:

Great information, thanks Cerveza! - I'll be working on it here and there for a few days, because I have to do it while he's awake and distracted.

I do remodel work for a living (I own a remodel company specializing in Kitchens, Baths and flooring) but refinishing toys is usually not on the list of things to do during a job, so this was kind of new to me!

I'll be heading out to grab some things tonight - I may already have a good mini roller and such here... But I'll need more sand paper and so forth.

NP.

Definitely do some reading on your own too. That is the conclusion I came to but it is not necessarily 100% correct. Based mainly on reading a bunch of woodworking forums, paint literature from manufacturers, and some advice from the fellow at the paint store (not home depot - the specialized paint store).

[Acorn]

cerveza_fiesta, on 04 April 2013 - 04:54 PM, said:

Acorn, on 04 April 2013 - 04:40 PM, said:

Great information, thanks Cerveza! - I'll be working on it here and there for a few days, because I have to do it while he's awake and distracted.

I do remodel work for a living (I own a remodel company specializing in Kitchens, Baths and flooring) but refinishing toys is usually not on the list of things to do during a job, so this was kind of new to me!

I'll be heading out to grab some things tonight - I may already have a good mini roller and such here... But I'll need more sand paper and so forth.

NP.

Definitely do some reading on your own too. That is the conclusion I came to but it is not necessarily 100% correct. Based mainly on reading a bunch of woodworking forums, paint literature from manufacturers, and some advice from the fellow at the paint store (not home depot - the specialized paint store).

Okay, After a lot of research and talking with a coworker who is a painting contractor and does carpentry as well...

I went with a Barn Red stain for the Tractor body and a Slate black stain for the Tires. I bought a sample size of silver-ish paint for the Wheel rims themselves...

I will be painting a "face" on the front for it to look as close to Tec as possible (though it's really long, and too skinny, and has a cab where Tec doesn't) and I'll do that with some regular model paint I have around the house (White and Black is all I need there)

For a "shiny" look to the Rims, I'm going to do a "clear coat" on it with clear finger nail polish. This way I don't put anything on it that will cause significant damage to him if he ingests it - the Clear polish we have is pretty good... And I won't need too much of it.

As far as pictures go, I have already sanded it down a lot... Not perfectly or completely yet, I only have a few minutes each night to work on it so far... I have 5 days left so I'll have to put a lot of time into it soon.

I'll have an hour to work on it tonight, hopefully I'll be able to finish with the sanding (have to do it by hand, sander crapped out on me) And there are some inner pieces that I need to sand well because they're darker green for some reason.

Will try to get pictures of it in a bit, when it's sanded more. The Cust service guy at the paint store said I could probably cover the green with a few coats of the stain without sanding, but I don't figure that would work too well.

We'll see! Worst case scenario is that I end up having to paint over the stain!

[cerveza_fiesta]

Acorn,

Where are the PICS MAN???

[frookenhauer]

Was going to put up some net curtains yesterday and the plastic strips the last owner had 'kindly' framed the windows with came off after I screwed in the hooks and attached the cord.

Lo and behold those plastic strips hid all manner of nastiness. Think big massive holes in the wall you could quite easily poke a big stick in.

I am now contemplating whether to go concrete or expanding filler, then cut and fill. I'm crap with concrete so it looks like the latter option...Any ideas? I'm up for a third way

For the moment Ive just reattached the plastic strips and will hit the job this weekend.

[cerveza_fiesta]

I don't understand...plastic strips framing in a window?

[cerveza_fiesta]

here is my latest project, completed in tandem with the tractor repair this last week while the wife was away.

I have a generous supply of salvaged pine and spruce boards, each at about 1x12 thru 1x16 useable size. Got a bunch of em planed up, jointed and then I made a new kitchen table!

Top is 2 layers of 3/4" boards, with each layer edge laminated with cupping on the boards all facing the same direction. The two layers were then face laminated and clamped between a series of steel bars (that I keep around for clamping huge stuff) with cups facing each other, which flattened the cupping of the boards pretty effectively. Not perfect but what the hell...

Edging piece (3rd pic) is just a scrap piece cut with bevels to fit all round the outside and hide the layering. Using the same 1x(whatever) stock, I made legs of 5-layer laminations, and trestle boards out of 2 layer laminations. Trestles are mortised into the legs and the whole lower assembly is stuck to the bottom of the table. Glue everywhere was West System epoxy with adhesive filler fibers for added strength. I wish I had more progress pics, but I always forget to take em while I'm furiously chopping and sanding stuff.

finally sanded down with 220 grit for a nice smooth finish in preparation for Tung nut-oil treatment. Where it's a kitchen table and I wanted something that won't stain or get ugly rings from hot serving dishes, I figured the natural oil was a better way to go than varnish. Just as long as nobody shows up with a deathly allergy to nuts...but given the consumption rates for nut products in our house, it's likely they'd die before they even got a good look at the table anyway. Tung oil is supposed to highlight the wood better than almost anything else too, since it doesn't have much colour of its own, and yellows only slightly over time. Downside is tung oil finish needs a rub-down with fresh oil every 6mo or so, but that's not too big of a deal.

So...here it is. The assembled table:

 20130416_200628.jpg (169.76K)
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And the legs showing the trestle joint

 20130416_200636.jpg (149.24K)
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And the edging

 20130416_200643.jpg (153.76K)
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I'm more or less satisfied with it. Its a little tall, but the wife wanted a tall one. Knocking it down a few inches is as easy as busting out the handsaw anyway. The top is kind of thin too. I was originally going to go 3 layers thick on the top, but just putting together 2 was so much work I wasn't entertaining the idea. I'd like to have had some taper to the legs as well, but I'm not really set up for sawing 4" thick posts with any accuracy on my table saw. Whatevs though, I'll save the "perfect" table for when I get enough skill to trust myself making it out of hardwood.

one real nice thing about making it from spruce and pine is that it's light despite its bulk. I can lift it myself (not easily mind...), which is a plus for moving and the inevitable "wife changing her mind 500x about where she wants it to be" process.

[frookenhauer]

cerveza_fiesta, on 17 April 2013 - 12:24 AM, said:

I don't understand...plastic strips framing in a window?

Sorry poor description...

Here we go!

Here is the top floor window of my new house:



Here is teh plastic strip bordering window:



and behind door number 1:



I had to pull the plastic away from the wall to show this lovely image. Basically the guys that did up the house cut so many corners to get the job done at a fraction of what it would if they did the job properly...understandable, but its shoddy work that i now have to contend with

that hole you can see is PRETTY DAMNED deep!

This particular DIY job has been put on the back burner for the moment, but Im wondering if it is better to concrete it all up after pounding all the loose bits in the area or to shove expanding foam in every visible crack, cut excess and then filler over it. All followed by a repaint on both options.

BTW, great work on the table, looks very sturdy. That looks like a level 3 difficulty, whereas I'm sitting pretty at level zero