… I think this could be confused for a crib!
Last night I did the final test assembly of the frame. And it actually went together! I’m thrilled.
This morning I put the spring and mattress in. I figured I better do that before I do the finishing. It’s no use finishing it if the mattress doesn’t fit! But it does.
Now, what I don’t understand is the hardware kit. The mattress has 5 heights. Which means 5 holes per leg. I’d expect 20 inserts. I only found 18. So, I went to get the packing slip to see if I had lost two. No, the packing slip only showed there should be 18. How does that work? 18 isn’t evenly divisible by 4. I’ve emailed the hardware supplier. We’ll see what they say.
I’ve also filtered the shellac this morning too. Just for reference, liquids do not pour well from a peanut butter jar. So, I made a bit of a mess, but it’s filtered.
All that’s left now is to take it all apart and shellac it!
I haven’t posted in a while. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been doing anything. In fact, I’ve done quite a bit.
First off, I didn’t make it to the Rob Cosman demo. I intended to work in the garage until about 3:30. I walked out of the garage at what I thought was 3:30. Turns out it was more like 5:30. Oh well. Life goes on.
As far as progress goes, the footboard and headboard for the crib are glued up and basically ready for finish. I have some minor sanding/scraping to do on the spacers between the slats. The sharp edges just need to be knocked down a bit. I’ll post pictures soon.
We decided on a shellac color too. Surprisingly, at least to me, we decided on the garnet, the darkest of all of the colors. But, what I didn’t realize is shellac isn’t really like stain. Even though the liquid was super dark, it wasn’t that dark on the wood. But we like it!
I also added to my tool arsenal today. Bill had decided to replace his #7 (the one I borrowed a while back) and his #5. He offered them to me at a price I couldn’t really pass up. So, I now have a #7 and #5 that are in working order. No fettling required! Just a little sharpening. I’m pretty geeked!
I don’t know if I will be able to work on the crib much this weekend. The baby’s room needs paint! Maybe between coats! 
In talking with Bill about a finish for the crib, he recommended using shellac. it’s non-toxic (key, since the kid could chew on it), easy to apply, and it comes in a variety of colors. So, on Monday, I order the sample pack from http://shop.shellacfinishes.biz/. It comes with a 4 oz. sample of the Super Blonde, Beige, Orange, and Garnet. Bill split the cost with me as I think he wanted to see the quality. It showed up today. Not bad for USPS from CA.
Tonight I took the four samples and split them in half. 2 oz. of each color for each of us. Then I made up a small sample of each. 8 oz of denatured alcohol and 1 oz of the shellac flakes. That’s a 1# cut. Should be good for my testing on the wood.
Above I’m measuring out the shellac. I made a little paper tray and used a small scale I already had. Then I dumped that into old butter containers I had. The lid seals nicely so I’m not worried about leakage as I shake them. 8 oz of alcohol fills those containers right to the top.
Then I labeled them with a Sharpie.
I think they will be ready tomorrow, but I’m probably not going to be ready to use it. I’m going to the Woodcraft store tomorrow night. Rob Cosman is going to be there showing how to fettle old planes. Should be a fun evening. Testing on Saturday!
