wood magazine 3-1 crib, problem?

[James Vogts]

Ok I am in the process of finishing up my crib. This link takes you to the enlarge plans

http://www.woodmagazine.com/woodworking-plans/home/enlarged-3-in-1-bed-illustrations-issue-173-nov-2006/

If you look at page 8 out of 14, I made the side panels with slats instead of the plywood. What I forgot to do was drill the holes up through the bottom for the cross dowels. I was able tonight to get the cross dowel holes in the P/I subassembly, but I did not leave enough room to be able to get the hole in the S/K/Z subassembly.

So I will have 4 cross dowels/bolts in the lower section but no way to use the 1/4 20 bolts for the top piece. So what I was thinking about doing was putting a thread insert in the 9/32" hole. I would have to enlarge this hole to 3/8".

Alright to my question, do you think that this will be sturdy enough for a crib? I really don't know what else I am going to do, if the threaded insert won't work.

Thanks

[Dave Richards]

I think that's a great solution to the problem.

[Dan Borello]

How did this work out?

These cross-dowels are a pain in the rear. It requires two holes to be drilled concentrically. Obviously, mine are not. Any other solutions?

[Lee Schierer]

It depends on what type of inserts you plan to use. Clinch type inserts generally don't have much grip in wood. The threaded type may back out with your bolt when you try to take things apart.

I couldn't view your photos as I am not a member or "Wood Magazine", but would it be possible to drill your cross dowel holes from inside surfaces, insert your dowels and then plug the holes with matching face grain wood plugs?

[Neil Gaskin]

I'm in the finishing stage of the same project, I modified the plans slightly but I kept the plywood panels and used the cross-dowels. The slat may be an advantage for you if you still want to drill in the cross dowel. I would try cutting the slat out that is in the way of the drill and then slide a new one in from the side once you are finished with the drilling. If you glued the slats and spacers in you will need to carefully remove them but a sharp chisel and a bit a patience should take care of that.

I made a few jigs out of scrap to drill the holes, it made it repeatable and easy compared to trying to line everything up each time and guide the drill by hand.

If you have a few small rare earth magnets I would use them to install the cross-dowels. I put a magnet on each dowel and used a punch to move it into place when assembling. It made it a whole lot easier than using a screw driver. If you don't have any magnets I'd be happy to give four of them. I noticed you're not that far away from me, I'm in Lawrence.

[Curt Harms]

It depends on what type of inserts you plan to use. Clinch type inserts generally don't have much grip in wood. The threaded type may back out with your bolt when you try to take things apart.

I couldn't view your photos as I am not a member or "Wood Magazine", but would it be possible to drill your cross dowel holes from inside surfaces, insert your dowels and then plug the holes with matching face grain wood plugs?

A little epoxy in the exterior threads of the insert or in the hole can help with that.