From: Spencer Bates
Location: Gilbert, Arizona
Hobbyist or Pro: Hobbyist
Project Name: Ikie’s Crib
Wood Species: Poplar
Finish Used: I used a rag to apply two coats of GF Java Gel Stain, then two coats of GF Gel Urethane, light sanding between coats.
Project Description:
So I noticed that there weren?t any cribs on the list of viewer projects so I figured I?d submit this one for review. It?s pretty minimalistic, but I think it has a nice modern charm to it.
I decided to build the crib for my brother Sam and his wife Hilary when I found out that they were expecting their first child (Isaac or ?Ikie? for short). I felt like it was a pretty good excuse to get out in the shop and make some saw dust. So I called up my brother and told him that I wanted to make them a crib and surprise his wife with a nice custom crib for their nursery. 
He thought it was a great idea and so the design process began. Sam sneakily investigated what style of crib Hilary wanted and then sent me a scanned copy of a page that he tore out of a parenting magazine where they had found the ?perfect? crib.
It took me a couple months to complete the project (a lot of evenings and weekends)
so as I made progress on it, I would send pictures to Sam. Well, it turns out that the secret mysteriously got leaked and Hilary knew that the crib was coming but her reaction upon delivery was still priceless.
There are a few things that I would do differently if I were to do it again (isn?t that always the case!?) but overall I think the build went well. Now my wife and I are expecting our first baby and with what I learned building Ikie?s crib, I should be able to make something for us that we?ll be able to cherish for many years.
Here are the project details:
-Full size baby crib (fits a standard 52×27 inch mattress)
-Solid poplar
-Stained with General Finishes Java gel stain and finished with GF gel urethane topcoat.
-Crib springs can be adjusted to 4 different heights
-Can be converted into a toddler bed.
Construction Note:
To make all of the mortises for the vertical slats I just ran a groove down the length of the rails and then glued spacers in to create the individual mortises. After the glue-up, I cleaned everything up with a couple passes on the jointer. It seemed to work well and the glue joints were barely noticeable since I used such a dark finish.
I realize this crib was built last year but for the folks that are just now reading through here like I am, the metal hardware for the crib can be purchased at http://www.productsamerica.net. As for the crib design, as the builder, you can build it any way you want. That is the beauty of you being the craftsman and having the freedom of doing it how you want. The reason for the corner posts being about the same height as the crib is to keep the toddler age from getting their clothing or toys caught on the corner and it possibly becoming a “choke” hazard.
I have my first baby coming in June. I wanted to surprise my GF by making the baby’s bed. Do you have any measurements that maybe of use too me ? I figure the inside measurements are around 53×28 what about the depth of the bed.. or the side of your 4 corner posts ? 3×3? Thanks for any help advice etc ..
Spencer, love the dark stain. The crib looks indestructible. One concern though, I thought crib standards prescribe that corner posts cannot stick up more than an 1/8th of an inch (or something of the like)?
Wow that is really nice. Love that it will last into the toddler years and maybe more if necessary. Good luck with your next one and congrats on the pregnancy!
Nice job, but I thought that rules and regulations limited the corner post extension to a maximum of 1/8″ to avoid danger of child hooking clothing and choking self?
dont suppose you want to share the plans?? :D
I didn’t have any plans. Sorry.
can i ask if you just put in a wooden base or did you get a metal frame for it? sorry bout all the questions but 2nd child due in november and would love to make something similar for him/her..
I agree with everyone else, this is an awesome crib. You are my hero. And the fact that it’s convertible makes it that much more badass. Great design too!
That’s awesome! Great Job! The last photo of little Ikie sleeping in it makes it totally worth it.
Very nicely done.
Congratulations on your expected new arrival.
Great to see the final photo with little Ikie.
Nice job and great to have plans for a crib. One question – is the finish non-toxic? (Babies tend to chew on cribs a lot!)
Im not sure about the toxicity of the finish that I used. I just figured that I would see what happens to their baby before I use the same finish for our crib… :-)
Seriously though, I have heard that most modern finishes are pretty safe when they’re cured, but just in case, my brother and his wife are going to install some teething guards on the tops of the rails. I found that Rockler sells some “teething rails” that are basically just plastic covers for the rails but they wouldn’t fit the crib that I made.
Spencer, I love it. Great job. I’ve made 3 cribs so far. They are fun to build, especially when you see them sleeping so peacefully. Mine look like a Pottery Barn sleigh style.
Jeff – I will confirm Spencer’s thought that ALL finishes are non-toxic once curred. So no need to worry about that at all. Just make sure you let is sit for a couple of weeks before it gets used (i.e. teething) and you are good to go.
I too went with the teething rail covers from Rockler. They work fine (until my son figured out how to pop them off. He thought is was hillarious to throw it on the floor…along with his nuk, and blankets, and little bear…real funny kid.) The joys of the 2 am nuk, blanket, bear, and rail retrival.
Jerry S
It looks similar to the one I made that also converts into a toddler bed; my granddaughter just had her “big-girl-bed” conversion. It’s good to learn from a project and apply it to the next!
This thing is heavy duty. So is it Like a Rock Chevy or Built ford Tuff?
I don’t think I would have thought of ripping a groove then gluing in spacers for the mortises. But I will next time I need to have a much of mortises. Very nicely done sir.
Great job, Spencer, and congratulations on your new baby! I’d love to see the crib you make for your baby and what changes you make.
Beautiful finish. Were there any tricks to getting the GF Java gel stain to go on so evenly?
So to get a nice smooth finish I started with sanding everything to 220p. Then I applied a liberal coat of gel stain to each piece with a rag. I found that one coat wasn’t giving me a consistent color across the whole project. That very well could be due to my bad technique but I was thinking that it could also have to do with the fact that I was putting a very dark color on a very light wood… I don’t know. Anyway, once the first coat dried I scuff sanded to get rid of the dust nibs. Then I added the second coat of color. I noticed that at point the color was all evening out. I had the best results when I applied a nice thin coat and didn’t over work it. Going back over the finish before it was dry caused major streaking. Once the second coat was dry I did another light sanding and then added two coats of clear gel urethane, again with a rag, with the same technique that I used for the stain.
I hope that helps :)
Thanks, yes it does! I’m toying with the idea of using GF Java Gel stain over maple for some large picture frames I made. Your crib looks true black in the pictures. What does it look like in person, black or very dark brown? Did the urethane change the color at all or just give it depth?
It just looks very dark brown. The urethane didn’t change the color really, it just added a little bit of luster.
That’s awesome. A job very well done.