John,

 

I can say with a high degree of confidence that shellac is pretty child
friendly; in fact, many people don’t know this, but the coating on many
pharmaceutical pills is shellac.  I finished my son’s crib in shellac with no
ill effects, but he was never one to bite on the edges like some children do.  I
will make on remark; with the demise of the drop gate, having an adjustable
height mattress becomes, in my mind, critical.  I can’t imagine trying to put a
sleeping baby into a crib with the mattress on a very low level and not waking
the child.

 

The Rockler plans are also pretty well aligned with current CPSC guidelines, but
it sounds like you’ve got a pretty good handle on those already.  I really like
the idea of making the part of the crib that goes against the wall solid paneled
rather than slatted as that makes for a more functional day bed setup if it’s
ever converted to such.

 

Mickey

 

From: John M Johnston (jmjhnstn) [mailto:jmjhnstn@m...]">mailto:jmjhnstn@m...]
Sent: Wednesday, 22 April, 2015 11:32
To: Mickey Elam
Cc: oldtools@s...
Subject: RE: [OldTools] Building a crib

 

Mickey, thank you so much; exactly the information I was looking for.  I do
appreciate the Galoots here assembled and their perspectives on the long-term
utility of a crib, I do understand and agree; my daughter, however, is
particular in her request for a crib handmade by her daddy, and that request I
cannot deny.

 

She is interested in the crib-to-day bed design, as am I.  I ‘ve found one such
set of plans (though they also portray the now unacceptable side hardware), and
will certainly check out the Rockler package.  If I have the hardware package,
various plans as guidelines, lots of images, and the likes and dislikes of the
client, I am confident I’ll be able to bring it off.  We discussed crib ideas
again when we met for dinner last night, she’s leaning toward having the back
side paneled with thin verticals on the ends and front side, she doesn’t want
clunky, she likes curves;  and she wants cherry.  She is unsure if shellac is a
child/eco friendly finish.

 

Again, thank you Mickey and all Galoots here assembled,

 

John

 

John M. Johnston

jmjhnstn@m... <mailto:jmjhnstn@m...> 

“P.S. If you do not receive this, of course it must have been miscarried;
therefore I beg you to write and let me know.” - Sir Boyle Roche, M.P.

 

From: Mickey Elam [mailto:mickeyelam@g...]
Sent: Wednesday, April 22, 2015 12:06 PM

I would take a look at the Rockler crib plans and hardware kits. I used one such
kit to build a crib for son that worked out very well and was very attractive as
the Lyptus wood it is built of has some fairly nice figure. The particular plans
I used were for a convertible crib that could change to a day bed once the child
became a toddler and then be converted once again to a full size bed once the
child graduated to a big kid's bed.