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Toddler bed

This is where we don't want anything but evidence of your finest wood butchering in all its glorious, and photograph laden glory. Bring your finished products or WIP's, we love them all, so long as there's pictures, and plenty of 'em!

Re: Toddler bed

Postby Commander » 01 Mar 2017, 07:08

I was able to make some progress over the previous weekend. We are now mostly done with the construction and most of the work that remains is just finishing.

I built the drawer that will fit under the bed. The construction is simple, a flat square box just smaller than the bed itself. Components are glued and screwed together (hopefully one day I will have a dado stack so I can make some easy box joints for this type of work).

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I cut a slot in all the side panels to accept a thin (4mm) piece of plywood as the base of the drawer. It tried to get the slot as tight as possible without being overly tight which should help with the rigidity of the drawer. Unfortunately I had to use two separate pieces of ply wood as the piece I had left over was too narrow to be used as one piece.

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Due to the small gap between the 2 sections I added a support for the middle (well almost the middle, it is slightly off center). This adds rigidity to the bottom and stops small items from falling through. I glued in a thin strip to keep both halves pushed into the slots in the sides of the drawer. It would seriously weaken the drawer if the bottom was to slip out of the slots.

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P.S. the block visible on the left is just there to keep pressure on the strip until the glue is dried.

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Some screws to stabilize both boards.

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The support seen from the back (bottom) of the drawer)

All and all it isn't the prettiest drawer I have ever made, but once everything is filled and painted it should do the job nicely.

I still have to add cutouts for handles on the drawer as well as the 4 caster wheels to the bottom, I'm in two minds on how to do this, on the cot we have now the wheels are fixed directly to the hardboard bottom, an it seems strong enough, but to my mind it just feels weird to add wheels directly to such thin material! :lol:

After the drawer I got cracking with the "roof" of the bed. I cut all pieces and rounded most of the edges. Then came assembly. I found that even though I anticipated the structure to be a little flimsy it really was not strong enough. So I had to think on my feet and decided to add some "gussets" to the frame. This is the end result.

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Now the big job of filling, sanding, and paining starts (and yes this task has now moved from SWAMBO and has fallen squarely on my shoulders ;) ). I think doing the finishing will be critical for this project as it will change the look of the bed significantly.

Thanks for looking!
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Re: Toddler bed

Postby Malc2098 » 01 Mar 2017, 11:41

Getting a move on nicely!
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Re: Toddler bed

Postby Commander » 03 Mar 2017, 06:40

Thanks Malcolm!
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Re: Toddler bed

Postby Phil » 03 Mar 2017, 12:03

Looking good Erich.

Commander wrote:
Now the big job of filling, sanding, and paining starts (and yes this task has now moved from SWAMBO and has fallen squarely on my shoulders ;) ).




I really hate to tell you this :lol: - you were always going to end up doing it! :lol: :lol:

Once you have been married longer you may understand how the wife's brain works.
And even then they still outsmart you! :lol:
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Re: Toddler bed

Postby Pinch » 03 Mar 2017, 21:06

I like the stop chamfers Erich - looking dandy chap! 8-)
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Re: Toddler bed

Postby Commander » 06 Mar 2017, 05:54

Pinch wrote:I like the stop chamfers Erich - looking dandy chap! 8-)


Thanks Paul! I spent a lot of time over the weekend sanding down, filling up and just editing the small details (no piccies unfortunately, it would just be a bit boring to post). I have also been able to do layer 1 of the base coat on most of the pieces. I will add some more pics once all is done and dusted.

Phil wrote:Looking good Erich.

Commander wrote:
Now the big job of filling, sanding, and paining starts (and yes this task has now moved from SWAMBO and has fallen squarely on my shoulders ;) ).




I really hate to tell you this :lol: - you were always going to end up doing it! :lol: :lol:

Once you have been married longer you may understand how the wife's brain works.
And even then they still outsmart you! :lol:


Hahahaha, yes indeed Phil, deep down I always suspected that the job would end up falling to me, but now that we are at this point I'm actually kinda glad, I think a lot will ride on getting the finish just right with this one, so I intend to take a little bit of extra time, sand between layers and re-fill certain gaps if need be just to make sure the end product is up to standard.

Thanks for the comments and thanks for looking! :obscene-drinkingcheers:
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Re: Toddler bed

Postby Commander » 05 Apr 2017, 13:16

So I actually finished this some time ago, but work has been a madhouse so only got round to uploading the photos now. Here is the finished product.

Image

Both the little one and the wife loves it, so I'm happy. The drawer is a little bit tighter than is ideal, which is my fault for trying to fit everything too precisely. Some of the materials aren't great, but I did end up completing the project with minimal costs, so it comes with the territory.

Thanks for looking!
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Re: Toddler bed

Postby Malc2098 » 05 Apr 2017, 13:24

Oh, really nice!
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Re: Toddler bed

Postby Andyp » 05 Apr 2017, 16:53

It looks good Erich. Well done. what will you do when she is old enough to stand up? As she will be over the side in no time.
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Re: Toddler bed

Postby MattS » 05 Apr 2017, 18:41

Brilliant, it looks great, sure little one will love being it even more being made by you :eusa-clap:
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Re: Toddler bed

Postby Commander » 06 Apr 2017, 05:55

Thanks for the comments guys! She does like it a lot, the first 2 days we were hard pressed to get her out of bed! When we first assembled everything to do the first test fit we had to stop work for about an hour as she climbed in and didn't want to climb out. :lol:

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Andy, she is 2 years old (this was actually part of her present) so she does stand up and if she wanted too she could very easily climb over, the sides are mainly there to stop her from falling out during the night. I'm not sure if it is because she can climb in and out easily enough from the foot of the bed, or because she is not a boy (I'm sure one of the first things I would have done was try to climb over the side), but she hasn't actually tried to climb over the sides at all.

I think the fact that it was painted white has hidden a lot of the imperfections and inherent flaws with the secondhand materials.
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Re: Toddler bed

Postby Mike G » 06 Apr 2017, 20:55

Well done Erich! Considering the stuff you have to work with you've done really well.

As for hiding stuff with paint.........the other approach is to make a feature of it. If it's old wood with nail holes and dings here and there, sometimes a bit of dark wax shows these off really nicely, and you can end up with something that has built-in character.

If you were a little further north, that "roof" would be perfect for a mosi net.

Now, when you are starting out, each new project equals one new tool for the workshop. That's the rule (I hope someone mentioned that :lol: ). So, what's on your shopping list? What would help you make this a little more easily next time?
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Re: Toddler bed

Postby Commander » 07 Apr 2017, 06:23

Thanks for the comment Mike! I'm not a huge fan of the rustic look, but I agree, when done right it does work well. Regarding new tools... The list is rather long, I hope I can claim that in arrears, since I was not aware of the rule! :lol:

So items i really need/want to enable me to do more things or do them quicker would be in no particular order:

Band saw,
Dado stack,
Drill press,
Planer/jointer/thicknesser,
Proper vernier caliper,
Bench mounted belt sander (thinking of trying to build this myself using an old bench grinder to drive the belt)
Router table,
Bigger shop!

I could probably keep you busy for a while to come, one walk through the local tool section and the list grows! :eusa-dance:
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Re: Toddler bed

Postby Mike G » 07 Apr 2017, 07:17

In order of importance, I'd suggest the router table first. I've no idea how I would manage without.
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Re: Toddler bed

Postby Commander » 07 Apr 2017, 09:15

Yes that would be very helpful, all I actually need is a base plate to mount the router too, then a fence, I specifically added space on my bench so i can add the router on to the far end. I'm also looking forward to the dado stack, then I should at last be able to make some nice box joints for the run of the mill stuff.
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Re: Toddler bed

Postby 9fingers » 07 Apr 2017, 09:41

Commander wrote:Yes that would be very helpful, all I actually need is a base plate to mount the router too, then a fence, I specifically added space on my bench so i can add the router on to the far end. I'm also looking forward to the dado stack, then I should at last be able to make some nice box joints for the run of the mill stuff.



Whilst I would not try and dissuade you from the dado stack, there are a number of box joint jig designs that work well with a router table. YouTube will no doubt reveal these for you and there is a good one from Steve Maskery who is well known/respected in woodworking circles.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKEB-BIq9qI

[youtube]eKEB-BIq9qI[/youtube]

Drawings http://www.workshopessentials.com/downl ... 0joint.pdf

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Re: Toddler bed

Postby Phil » 08 Apr 2017, 11:48

That looks very good Erich! :D 8-) :eusa-clap:



The "tool rule" was developed by the "man cave/workshop" man yonks ago.

Scenario "Darling I would love a new coffee table", "Certainly my dearest darling wife, it would an absolute pleasure, but ............ for my design (this is where thinking on your feet is very important) I would need a small bandsaw for the curves."

The seed has now been sown for a small bandsaw.
But once you have your design approved on paper, the need for a bigger bandsaw crops up in conversation.

Final result - you both get what you want and are both happy. :lol:

Unless the wife talks to other woodworker wives, she will never cotton on.
The more you do the better the workshop gets.
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Re: Toddler bed

Postby Commander » 10 Apr 2017, 12:47

@ Bob, thanks for commenting, I think this is probably one of those items where there are many ways to skin the proverbial cat, I have seen a couple of jigs that make the dado stack method look very easy to do, but I'm sure the router table method also have its advantages. I have flagged the video for later watch as it is a bit long to squeeze in in-between sending emails at the office.

@Phil, I think I like this idea, plus it really does seem to be a win win situation! maybe I can use this to justify why some of my half done projects aren't completed yet! :lol:
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