Baby Furniture (Lots of Pics)

[Jeremy Chisholm]

Hello all,

It's been a while since I posted- I've got a new son! All the fathers (and mothers) out there know what the first couple months are like...

Anyway, I finished these pieces back in November, about a month before my son was born, but haven't had the chance to post until now. So without further ado...

I built a crib, changing table, two (matching) bookcases, and a toybox/bench for the nursery. The crib and changing table are solid cherry, the bench/box is a cherry-veneer ply box with solid cherry ends, base, and trim, and the bookcases are cherry-veneer ply with iron-on cherry edgebanding and solid cherry base and trim.

The crib is a reprise of my previous design efforts for our bed; my wife loved the tiger-maple sunburst design. The crib benefits from drastically improved veneer technique (zero blisters to fix on this piece), and I'm very pleased with the result.

All pieces are finished with 100% tung oil (from Woodcraft), which I chose for the baby's room because it is non-toxic and does not off-gas volatile chemicals over time. Plus, it just plain looks great on cherry. Number of coats varies by piece and location- the changing table top has about seven coats, buffed to semi-gloss; most parts have four coats, simply rubbed with steel wool to a matte finish.

Crib is constructed using floating tennon joinery throughout, and veneers were applied one piece at a time using hide glue and elbow grease. The front side is attached using the “stealth kit” hardware from productsamerica.com. It provides 6” of vertical travel, glides smoothly, was (even for a lawyer!) easy to install, and is invisible; I’m very pleased with the hardware. The (hidden) brace and back side are attached to the head and foot boards using hex-key bolts and barrel nuts from Rockler, so the whole thing can be taken apart for storage/transportation if needed.

Bookcases, changing table, and bench/box were constructed using the Kreg K3 Master system (screws capped with cherry plugs sanded flat), which I purchased specifically for this project to help make sure I finished before baby was born!

Pics:

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Crib sides dry fit (homebuilt router-mortising jig visible on bench)

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Finish sanding after glue-up (assembled but unfinished bookcase visible in foreground) (unidentified galootish looking character in his natural habitat, rarely captured on film ;-) )


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Ends with trim in glue-up

[Jeremy Chisholm]

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Better shot of (1) of (2) bookcases, assembled but unfinished

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Changing table, in finishing process

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Late afternoon sun on the finished crib

[Mike Spanbauer]

Very well done and a BIGGER congratulations! I've a couple myself and the first 2 months are spent sleepless and confused, lol.

Congratulations on the additions to the house and family :)

mike

[Jeremy Chisholm]

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Bench/Toybox (cushion courtesy of grandma)

The lid swings on a 48” piano hinge, and was carefully balanced with 2 "Heavy" spring-loaded safety supports using the load data from the good folks at Woodcraft in Canton, MI. The lid will hold its position at any angle, from 1/8" open to 90 degrees, and can be lifted or closed with a finger. Safety first!

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More safety- "just in case" air holes

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The finished room

Thanks for looking!

[mike holden]

Great ensemble!
Course now you will have to make a "grown up bed" for when he gets a bit older (grin) And that is sooner than you think!

Be proud!
Mike

[Randy Klein]

Very well done and a BIGGER congratulations! I've a couple myself and the first 2 months are spent sleepless and confused, lol.

I'm on my 3rd year of those first 2 months. I'm must not being doing it right...

[Mike Spanbauer]

lol Randy. I'm not sure the confused ever leaves, but they should be sleeping a bit better now I'd hope. Although some don't have that luck.

mike

[Jeff Hallam]

Congratulations on your new baby! Those were a lot of projects to undertake for sure, with beautiful results.

[Jeremy Chisholm]

Thanks guys. I probably should have included a profile pic of the completed crib. Here it is:

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[Jay Kilpatrick]

I'm on my 3rd year of those first 2 months. I'm must not being doing it right...

Hmmm... I'm on my, well I don't know, year of sleepless and confused with a 7, 3, and 1+ year old. I don't think that doing it right was the problem... maybe too often! :eek::rolleyes:

[jeremy levine]

Great stuff , the changing table is to nice to use for it intended purpose , get a changing pad and change the baby on the floor ( no child has ever fallen off the floor ), send the table to me.

My 3 kids have overtime tested my ability to install toggle bolts, wall anchors and molly bolts. Yours will aslo all to soon , but for now congrats on the new addition and accept the lack of sleep...8-) 8-).

[Jeremy Chisholm]

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one more of the whole room

[Bruce Page]

Beautiful job Jeremy and congrats to you and your LOYL on your new son! I think he’s a lucky kid!!

[Greg Cuetara]

Great Job and congrats on the new addition to your family. My son was born in November and i just barely finish the crib and changing table before he was born. Even after the first 3 months I still feel a bit dazed and confused.
good luck,
Greg

[Ryan Bess]

Congratulations and great work! I've got my first on the way this fall and have similar projects to complete. Thanks for the pics and motivations!
Ryan

[Eric Franklin]

Great job n the nursery.

Have twins and see how dazed and confused you become in the first 3 months.

At 16 months, still only one is sleeping through the night.

[Tim Lynch]

Great looking work, you should be proud!

Congrats!


FWIW, the soft side padding is no longer recommended...

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/5049.html

[Howie French]

congratulations !


room looks great, great job all the way around, furniture looks great.


Howie

[Jeremy Chisholm]

Thanks guys!

Re: Tim and the soft siding: Tim is absolutely correct. I meant to mention a few things on this topic in my post, but somehow it slipped my mind:rolleyes:

1. Soft siding not recommended, as it greatly increases the chances of accidental suffocation if the wee one moves to the side of the crib. The fancy bedding (including the side pad) was one of the - ahem- "compromises" with SWMBO- ie I lost. It's purely decorative, and was installed in the crib for about two weeks before baby was born for photo ops with family. Now it's in a box.

2. Vertical slat spacing is "recommended" (it's a voluntary industry standard to keep the Feds from writing a regulation) at no more than 2 3/8". I spaced them at 2" even. The idea is to make it skinny enough the wee ones can't get their heads through and then stuck.

3. Also "recommended" is that you have no "vertical protrustions" (ie fancy finials/pyramids/"spikes") on the crib of more than 1/16" elevation above the surrounding planar area. I presume this one is actually for the safety of bleary-eyed parents stumbling into the nursery at 3:30 am and parhaps bending down in the wrong place to pick up junior (ouch!). This was not such an issue in my neo-shakerish design, but could could pose design issues for an arts and crafts design or a queen anne style piece.

4. Again "recommended" to reduce the chance of accidental suffocation that the crib be sized to fit snugly around the mattress (no more than 1/2" play in each dimension). We picked the mattress before I started cutting, and I was able to fit the design to the mattress perfectly (just enough play to hook a finger under the side to lift it up to change the sheet).

If you're planning a crib, follow Tim's link or Google for crib safety and you'll find the info in short order.

[Chris Padilla]

Beautiful work and great execution in the flow of the design in all the pieces, Jeremy!

[Rob Blaustein]

Awesome job Jeremy and congrats on the new arrival! That room looks fantastic with all of the beautiful pieces in it. We have a 3 month old (and a 2 yr old) so I know how you must feel now. My only problem with what you have done here is that you have just raised the 'new dad woodworker' bar SO high that I will have to stick with Pottery Barn since my wife knows how long it takes me to make the simplest of things...
--Rob

[James Sweeney]

Those look fantastik! I remember your bed with the sunburst pattern. Is that going to be your trademark now. Then you don't even have to sign your work :) thanks so much for sharing.