I designed and built this baby bed for our first son, Hank. My wife and I didn’t see anything we liked at the big box stores, and a friend of mine had made his daughter’s bed, so we decided to give it a shot. Given the fact that I’ve never built any furniture, this took a lot of planning, some rough 50 year old lumber from craigslist, and some tooling up.
I’ve held John Browning’s mechanical genius in high regard for most of my adult life. So for the design, I thought it would be great to implement components of some of my favorite John Browning designed firearms. They all didn’t carry his name in production, but each of them came from his hands.
The front rail was built with the Winchester lever action in mind. Two stocks that meet in the middle. Each one is hand checkered at the forearm. I chose the best board of walnut I had for this piece. It had a completely different figure and grain pattern that really stood out.
On the back of the bed under the buckmark logo are cutouts in the shape of the Browning Auto 5. The famous hump back Auto 5 is one of the most recognizable shotguns in history. My grandpa loved his 20 ga Auto 5. While I don’t have grandpa’s, I look forward to passing mine on to Hank.
The top cap on the two front legs have grooves cut in them like the slide on a 1911 .45. Not only did Mr. Browning invent the Colt 1911, he created the 45 ACP cartridge. The connection with the famous .45 ACP goes a little further, as each hole that contains a connecting bolt is capped with a .45 shell casing.
We didn’t want the bed to scream “Hey look, I’m a gun!”, but we still wanted the theme to come across. We chose walnut for the wood, and the railing was made of steel. Before installation, the railing was sent to a local gunsmith for a hot blueing. I used both mortise and tenon joinery and pocket screws. This project also brought about my first experience with bent lamination. Wish I could do that one over again.
To top off the whole thing, I hand carved the Browning buckmark logo into the back of the bed.
It took a year to design, learn, build, and finish this bed. In no way is it perfect. There are mistakes from one side of it to the other. But, I enjoyed every bit of it, and we hope to see Hank’s son sleeping in it many years from now!
Finish Used: Danish Oil, Satin Poly, Paste Wax
Great job on the crib. Just to clarify a couple of things that were mentioned in the forum. First of all, since you are building the crib for personal use, their are no restrictions for you building. There most certainly are common sense things that you will want to do/ or not do and there is a lot of great info on the web. If you need hardware for your crib building project, click on the Products America ad on the home page of http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com. Thanks a lot!!!
Thanks for clarification on that Mark. I was hoping I was wrong. Sorry if I scared you Aaron.
That’s outstanding Aaron! The wood is fantastic.
Fantastic work, Aaron. I do have one concern, though. I was told years ago that walnut is so toxic that it is dangerous for baby beds. Babies chew on the rails and ingest the toxins. I was told that is why you never see a baby bed made from walnut. Man I hate raining on parades.
I don’t believe that is true Troy. Walnut can certainly cause allergic reactions for folks who are sensitive to it, like many other woods, but I don’t believe there is any particular level of “toxicity” to be concerned about. This rumored toxicity stems from the black walnut tree and it’s tendency to kill plants that happen to be near it’s root system. I think Aaron’s parade (and baby) are safe. :)
Love the wood. Creative design. Well executed.
Welcome to the “club”…you entered it, well, like out of a shotgun. Great job!
Very cool. Love the older Walnut you sourced for it. I wouldn’t worry about the “regulations” BS. It’s your kid, you built it and unless you plan on selling it to someone else you have nothing to worry about.
Great job on your first furniture build.
The safety requirements are all over the web. The stiles have to be a certain distance apart, and there needs to be a certain amount of height between the top of the mattress and the top of the rail. I can’t tell you what they are right now, but I used the measurements when building it. That was something I had to take into consideration when designing the cutouts of the A5 on the back. The holes had to be no greater than 2 inches wide or something like that. I didn’t mess with raising or lowering the mattress, because by the time Hank got to sleep in it, he was already 3 or 4 months old. I’ve got plans to put new rails on the sides so he has a “big boy” bed in a year or so. Hoping to find a way to incorporate Ma Duce, or the BAR into those….or the Ithaca 37….theres so many to choose from!
All those regulations nowadays really should make one wonder how kids 50 to a 100 + years ago survived to only evolve into overly safety and liability minded persons that we are today. Neighbors and friends of expectant couples used to build cribs out of twigs and small logs mortised together and lashed together with strings of leather or things from animals that would be unheard of today. Not to mention the kiddos would sleep on furry animal hides and be covered with blankets too. Really makes you wonder how any of us are around today.
Great job on the bed Aaron, it’s a beautiful piece of craftsmanship that I am sure will be treasured many years to come. Even after those safety guidelines used to build it become outdated.
Just Great… Love it!!
Can you raise and lower the mattress or is it stationary?
I’m wondering about the safety regulations as well. Did you try to comply to any standards? Great idea with the bullet casing detail, by the way!
Precisely why I didn’t build one when my son was born. I didn’t want the liability headache after publishing it on the site.
Maybe you’ll have more confidence by the time you’re ready for #2 :)
Dang! I would sleep peacefully in that!
As a guy who carries a 1911 in 45 ACP, shoots a browning bolt action and does woodworking I say to you sir BRAVO!!! This is the kind of heart and thought I like to see people put into their work!! A++++!!! John B. would be proud!
Aaron,
That is a beautiful piece, great craftsmanship. I learned to shoot on a sweet 16, brought a smile to my face when I saw the back of the crib. I was wondering about the design process though. I am thinking of building a crib and was curious if you found information on specific design aspects of a crib to address safety issues. I am starting from zero. Did you find information on the rail spacing, height, ect…. It seems like common sense, but I am sure the reputable companies have a put a lot of thought into the designs they sell in terms of the functionality and maybe there are some serious design aspects that one should be aware of?? Great work, looks excellent, the blueing on the rails is a great touch.
I love this idea! We’re not deer hunters, but we have an Nerf arsenal themed nursery. If we didn’t already have a beautiful crib, I would ask my husband to build something like this.
That is awesome. Great job and thanks for sharing.
What a fantastic piece! This is your first project? Way to jump in with both feet. You have carvings, bent lamination and that intricate gun stock handles all coming together to make a real beautiful crib. This is absolutely amazing for your first piece. I think there will be many more quality projects coming from your work shop.
Now you need to start working on new rails to turn this into a twin bed when hank gets to old for a crib. Way too nice to only be used for two or three years….
Very nice. Love the choice of wood. I too made my first grandchild a cradle out of walnut too. I also had mistakes. But I’m the only one who knows.
Aaron, Mr. Browning would love this. You really put original design and woodworking skills to a great combined effort. Stop beating yourself up so much, this is really great
Great design and execution! From someone that learned to shoot a shotgun from his grandfather using a 20 gauge Belgian Browning Auto 5, I appreciate what you have done. Further, I do not think that the gun theme overpowers the overall design. Instead, it is a subtle design that can be appreciated by non-enthusiasts as well. Well done, sir!
Absolutely awesome! I love the creative design.
Interesting and unique. Stunning walnut on that front rail. It all comes together nicely.
And I guess Hank had to go through a 9 month waiting period before taking possession of the crib. :->
DD
What an amazing job. You get all 10′s from this judge. Great design and wonderful execution. I love everything about it!
This is a really cool piece, I love the design element. So my question for Aaron is; now that you have shaped that front rail as two stocks coming together and did the checkering by hand, do you plan on building your own rifle or shotgun stock? This is something I have considered but wondering if someone else has gone down that road that has some advice.
That is one awesome baby bed regardless of skill or experience level and to think that was your first furniture piece just makes it all the more extraordinary. Good Job!!!! It should be a treasured family heirloom for generations to come and hold up way better then commercial cheap particle board veneered crap they try to sell as “quality” furniture today.
Great job and carries with it one of the best american and international firearm makers in history. Good to see that there are still people that still have a love for firearms and not a fear. Good job.
Beautiful! I love the whole gun theme, and love the bullet casings for the caps. Adds a nice touch. I was wanting to do something along the same line for our baby but it was a girl, so I had to make some sacrifices ;)
This is great.
The shell casings are unspent, but they’ve been soaked in oil, making them dead. Thanks for the complements. They’re great to hear as a beginner.
Extraordinary!
this is the best crib ever
I noticed that the shell casings look like unspent primers. I assume they are inert? How did you make them that way?
Beautiful crib, looks like you’ll have to have another kid so you can use it more! I would definitely say it does not scream “i’m a gun” but has very nice subtle details that strongly hint to it. Wonderful job.