Glimmers

Last weekend was a mixed bag. On the one hand I struggled to get two more good-quality coats of lacquer on the slats. On the other hand I finally glued the slats into the top and bottom rails -- the first assembled (and recognizable!) parts of the crib.

Saturday was a warm humid day, and as the sun beat down the water-based spray lacquer became more and more temperamental. I sprayed a couple of fairly ugly coats that dried too fast. I had to sand them smooth, which was a huge pain (see photo of lots of wet/dry sandpaper). I finally got a nice finish coat, which I sanded one more time with 800 grit wet/dry sandpaper, and polished with super-fine steel wool. The surface is silky smooth.

The glue-up was a little tricky, since it involves putting glue on 14 mortise and tenon joints and then getting the whole thing lined up before the glue starts to set. It went remarkably smoothly and I was able to set the clamps in plenty of time.

Here are the resulting front and back panels of the crib -- note that the cherry is not finished yet, so it looks pale and somewhat cool next to the maple. Once the rest of the crib is done I'll finish the cherry with shellac and probably a coat or two of water-based varnish for durability.

Notice that the bottom rail of the front is curved. I cut this curve after cutting and fitting all the joints, but before gluing. This is all fine and well, except that the curve makes it very hard to clamp the assembly. One neat trick I learned is to save the cut-off piece from the curve cut and use it as a brace for the clamps. It fits perfectly and squares up the bottom rail. The next step will be to shape and attach the decorative top rails that curve forward and backward to give the "sleigh" shape.