One of the biggest hurdles remaining in building this crib was figuring out how to construct it outside of Briana’s room and then get it into Briana’s room. Constructed as per the directions, the crib is too wide, too long, and too tall to fit through her bedroom door. I could do the final assembly in her bedroom, but then the crib would be stuck there.
My solution? T-bolts!
There was just enough play in the crib’s plan that I was able to add an extra bar of wood between the rails and the cabinet/header of the crib. That will serve as caul, holding the rail assembly to the cabinet. The first step was to sink the t-bolts into the side of the cabinet:
A shallow hole drilled with a forstner bit (to keep the face flush) followed by a concentric hole drilled to hold the full bolt. After some glue and a couple of small nails, the t-bolt is anchored in the cabinet side:
Next, I drilled another compound hole, to allow the hex screw through the caul while catching the head – creating my locking system. A couple of test fits and all looks good:
So now I have a crib that is sturdy when assmebled, but can be broken down into three parts for moving in and out of a room:
Three big tasks remain for the crib:
1) Trim – there are trim pieces that top the rails and top the base, holding the rail/ and cabinet assmeblies in place. I’ve begun shaping the pieces to complete this, but there will be a lot of adjusting for a perfect fit – especially for the trim wrapping the base.
2) Finishing – There will be a lot of shellac, followed by sanding, followed by more shellac.
3) Drawers – The base will have two large drawers in the bottom. They are last on the list, because the baby can sleep in a crib without drawers, and Michelle is eager to get the baby sleeping in the crib ASAP!
