Best project ever!!

Chris Mire

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Location
Southern Louisiana
I am in the planning stages for what will prove to be the most difficult, most important, and most rewarding project I have ever attempted. It all started about 17 weeks ago with 2 pink lines on a little stick. Now I have been commisioned by my favorite client, my wife, to build the furniture for our future bundle of joy. The list includes, a crib, a changing table with possible removable hutch above, and an armoire. The latter two pieces are easy enough, simple modern lines (our favorite style) but the crib is what will prove to push me to the limit of my abilities. Can I do it? That's not even a question, I will do it no matter what it takes or how many hours. Sure I could save myself some headache and just buy the thing, but where is the fun in that. Not to mention the pride I will feel each time I see my first born sleeping so peacefully in his/her crib that daddy built. My question for you is in reference to the sides of the crib, I need to figure out how i am going to cut the mortises for the railings into that curved section of the side. I have a few ideas, but don't like any of them. let me start by saying i have no mortiser, not even sure if a mortiser could do it anyway (not sure if it would fit under the bit in all places due to the curve)

crib.jpg

CRIB2.jpg

so anybody have any good ideas or techniques??

thanks in advance for the help
chris
 
chris, i`m bettin` that the mortises and tennons are layed out square and after being cut then mill the curve......at least that`s how i`d approach it..
congratulations on the stelth gloat! tod
 
First, congrats on the two pink lines :thumb:

If this is your first, your life will NEVER be the same, make all large tool purchases you want NOW :rofl:

What about just drilling the mortise and then finishing them up by hand, same with the tenons, hand cut, hand finished?

If you have a TON of them to do, maybe some kind of router one off jig, but for just one project.........?

Get your Lee Valley catalouge out and start the hunt :D

Take lots of pics!
 
Measure the width between slats on a commercial crib and do not exceed. This is a major safety issue. Beautiful project. We all will be watching your progress.
For the mortises, neanderthal method with chisles would work, and work and work.
 
tod, thanks

forgive me i'm a little confused, are you talking bout the short side with the arch?? maybe i should have been more specific.....not the section that usually moves up and down, but the shorter side, with the big arch. if you are talking bout that, then how would i cut the mortises that deep?? :huh:

thanks
chris
 
stu, thanks...i am prepared to be unprepared!! but i've been waiting for this for a long time. i'm very excited about becoming a poppa!!

wow, hand cut..... :eek: i guess i could as a last resort. but i'd rather not since there will be so many to do. who knows maybe i will. guess i'll need to get some good sharp chisels though

i was trying to figure out a way to rough them with a router. or maybe a jig to hold the arch upside down under the drill press, and raise and lower the table as needed to reach deep into the arched section.

this is gonna be interesting.

thanks
chris
 
tod, thanks

forgive me i'm a little confused, are you talking bout the short side with the arch?? maybe i should have been more specific.....not the section that usually moves up and down, but the shorter side, with the big arch. if you are talking bout that, then how would i cut the mortises that deep?? :huh:

thanks
chris

Take an initial stair-step cut to rough out the curve with a flat section for every mortise. Cut the mortices and then smooth out the curve. I would do this whether using a mortiser, mortise chisel on a dril press of neandering it with a chisel. I certainly would not cut the top curve until all the mortises were done. Can't imagine trying to cut mortises into it with a curved surface hitting the bench. :rolleyes:
 
Do the top rails on the ends have to be solid? You could 'built' mortises by sandwiching the necessary pieces. If you're going for a painted finish, it'd be dead easy. If you're using natural wood, you could still do this and edge band the rail. Here are a couple rough sketches that show what I'm talking about.

Crib Rail Exploded 800.jpg Crib Rail 800.jpg

Then again, this might be the perfect time to justify a benchtop mortiser. While you can still afford tools. ;)

And BTW, a big :congrats: to you and LOYL.
 
Chris,

Congrats on the pink lines!! :clap:

As for the mortises, along the same lines as what Vaughn proposes, you could cut rabbets in half of the arch, then glue the two parts up:

cheat mortise.jpg

Although, if I were doing it, I'd probably use a drill press on solid stock and do the work before radiusing the parts. Then clean up the mortises with a good sharp chisel.

Cutting them completely by hand would be nice, but it sure would take some time. You have a bunch of stuff to build, and only fixed amount of time to get it all done. :rolleyes:

Good luck...
- Marty -
 
thanks alot marty,

that is another good possibility. i think i'm gonna try to do the drill press, i got a mortising attachment. haven't used it in years, hope i can find all the pieces. if not i'll swing for a bench top mortiser maybe, if it can perform the work.

this might be a good excuse to get that steel city drill press with the 6" quill travel :D i need a bigger one anyway

my brain is still in hyper drive trying to come up with any and all possibilities

chris
 
vaughn, that is my backup plan. glad i am not the only one who thinks it would work.

thanks a bunch
chris
Chris, if you're starting to think like me...be afraid. Be very afraid. :eek:

If new tools are within the realm of possibility, the drill press with 6" travel will probably be more useful down the road than a mortiser. This is coming from a guy who really likes his Shop Fox benchtop mortiser. I just have a need for round holes more often than square ones.
 
i have to agree vaughn. i do need a drill press anyway. i am about to outfit my shop with a bunch of tools since i'm starting my own cabinet business. so i really don't need an excuse, but it doesn't hurt to have one. :thumb:

chris
 
Chris, after you get the mortises done, AND the curve cut, to make the tenons, you can cut two pieces of (whatever template material you desire), and sand them to perfectly match that curve, then use spacers to align the slats to match the mortises and sandwich the slats between the two template pieces with the ends sticking out past the templates enough to make the tenons, and then use a router to follow the template and cut one side of the tenon, then flip it over and cut the opposite side of the tenon. This will give you the two sides of the tenons that will be curved to match the rail. To cut the other, (straight sides of the tenons), make a jig to hold one tenon and line up the slat so you can use the router to cut across that side of the tenon to match the two already cut sides, then flip it over and repeat for the 4 th side of the tenon. (hope this makes sense, as I don't know how to put a drawing of this on here for you.

Congratulations on the two pink lines.:thumb:

PS: I like Vaughn & Marty's method the best, as it would be the easiest way to insure perfect alignment, and would assure the fit of the curves on the ends of the slats that were made from the jig I described above.

Have fun with this project.

Idea #2

After thinking about this, you could simplify this project even more, if you would set the whole slat into the Rail instead of cutting tenons on each slat. To do this, you would cut the rail including the curve to it's finished size and shape, then use a slot cutter in your router table to cut a slot the same width as the thickness of the slats into the curved edge of the Rail. Next, plane down a piece of wood (for filler/spacers) the same thickness as the slats, and cut an OUTSIDE curve to match the curve on the inside of the slot in the Rail that you cut with the slot cutter. Now Dry fit it into the Rail and use a flush cutting bit to cut it flush with the curve in the Rail, then remove it, place the slats into the rail, (one at a time), and cut a piece from the filler/spacer strip you made and glue it in, then add another slat, then another filler/spacer till they are all in. You can dry fit them to insure the perfect spacing before glue up also. This method would allow the slats to remain unglued so they could "Float" in place if you so desired, or the slats could be glued too.

PS...PS: You could STILL buy you a new Drill Press, (just use the time saved with this method to think of another excuse to buy one). (Big Grin)!!!!
 
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Chris,

These other guys have a lot better ideas/experience on how to do this than I could possibly offer you... I'll simply congratulate you on the great news. It's a wonderful, totally life-altering event. (And, I agree with the advice that was given previously: buy those tools while you still can!)

John
 
thanks norman,

i'll keep those ideas in mind.

thanks john,

i've waited for a long time for this life altering event, although i think i'm ready, i'm sure i will get a good kick in the pants when it comes down to it.

thanks everyone for the comments and ideas. i think i have a solid plan of attack, i will start a thread to follow my progress as soon as LOML decides on paint or stain so i can order the wood.

chris
 
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