Help flattening a doll crib

[Larry Cronin]

Hello

I made a couple doll cribs and I did something wrong and they are not "flat". I am hoping that someone out there can give me some guidance on how to solve the issue. I am nervous that if I start sanding, hand planing, cutting, etc. I will make it worse.

Attached is a photo of the crib.

Any suggestions or direction for help is appreciated.

Thanks

Larry Cronin

[William Hodge]

Put feet on it. I do that with cutting boards, so they don't rock. The little rubber feet can be inset in the wood to even things up.

[George Yetka]

I agree with feet. or perhaps legs to make it a rocker. make them short so its not a tipping hazzard

[Larry Cronin]

I should have better described it. That piece in the photo goes on a base that has rockers attached to it.

So it would need to be flat on the bottom to connect to the base.

Larry

[Larry Cronin]

I realize I did a terrible job of asking my question.

What I was looking for is some help in approaching the situation.

Do I start by sanding the part of the crib that touch till I get all equal?

Do I try and use a bandsaw and just true up the bottom?

I guess my desired result is learning how to correctly solve an issue like this.

Thanks

Larry

[Joe Jensen]

IMHO the important flat surface is the bottom, in the end you need that to not rock. I would start by figuring out if a panel warped or if the ended up twisted after glue up. I would check each surface for flatness. If it warped because a board warped then there is risk it will move again/more. If its from not having flat when gluing up it may well stay stable. I would sand the bottom to get it to no rock. Doubt anyone else would notice any issues as long as it's sits flat. Also some felt feet will may any small gaps not really noticable.

[George Yetka]

If you chase it, it may not look right. You could take the plane to the parts that touch until the whole think sits flat then add trim to hide this.

[Jim Matthews]

Take a large sheet of sandpaper, or multiple sheets laid side by side and use 3M spray adhesive to stick them to a flat surface. (I use a dedicated MDF board, some use a large surface such as your tablesaw)

Use a soft pencil to apply marks around the base of your tray.

Draw the tray over the sandpaper until the marks are gone, and test for flat.

[Lee Schierer]

There can be several things that cause a rectangular wood assembly to twist like that.

Most common is out of square cross cuts on the ends of the boards. Errors can be small and add up.

You can also cause this condition with your clamps. It is always a good idea to dry fit the pieces on a flat surface and clamp it up to see if it stays flat. In any event set it on a flat surface during the glue up checking for flat and square before the glue sets up.

[Jim Becker]

I should have better described it. That piece in the photo goes on a base that has rockers attached to it.

So it would need to be flat on the bottom to connect to the base.

Larry

Modify the base as you build it to take out the twist... :)

[Larry Cronin]

Thanks for the help

I think I know the issue that is causing the twist.

I try the sanding or plane method to flatten the bottom.

Larry

[Patrick Kane]

How wide is the base of the piece? Id run it over my jointer. If your jointer isnt wide enough, take the guard off and run it over the bed to create a lip, then hand plane that lip flush with the rest.

[johnny means]

Start by scribing a line all the way around the bottom using the table saw surface as a reference. Plane to the line.