Thread: Jarrah and Kauri Babys cot -WIP

Lovely work TN!

Thanks for posting - I'm just about to start making one for a freind, you've given me heaps of ideas.

Hitch - thanks.

Dangermouse - Good luck with yours. There should be more than enough details in the thread for you (I can't seem to tell a short story... ) but if you need any additional info on it I've kept most of my notes and am happy to share. PM me if you need any details.

Hi Ian,

Only just caught up with your cot thread. Beautiful work. love the contrasting timbers. In fact I'm in the middle of something very similar. We're expecting our first grandchild in October. So I decided to renovate our old cot. It's already a family hierloom. It was purchased around 1928 for my wife's eldest brother, and was used for her and her siblings. I renovated it for my two girls and now it's getting another lease of life for the next generation. It originally had 10 mm dowels for the vertical bars, but they were too far apart to comply with the new rules.
I completely stripped it down and removed the dowels. In their place I put 30 x 10 strips of radiatus crappus ( I decided to splash out and get the good stuff). Instead of having to cut 66 rectangular holes, I used my domino to cut oval shaped holes. Rounded the edges over on the strips with the router and bingo. A perfect fit every time. The ends have no bars but fold in so the whole cot becomes flat. Infant extraction is achieved by folding down half of one side. You can see the old screw holes for the hinges in the pic.

Of course this is not a true dark siders method, having used power tools, but what the hell. It's saves a lot of time and effort. As you can see from the pics it's still in the painting stage. One last touch. When finished I'll attached the little plaque in the pic. This is a little surprise for mother to be and nana to be.
Will put up a pic whenit's finished.


Jeff.

Hi Jeff, looking good!!!! It's awesome that you've refurbished a true family heirloom. Hopefully when it's done, it'll stay in your family for another 80 years. Maybe one day this cot I've made will be treated to such loving attention...(fingers crossed).

What you have done with the slats is pretty much what my wife and I saw at Toys'R'Us on the one we liked (that mine is modelled on). The only exception is you've managed very minimal gaps around the slats, compared to the shop one. (hand made stuff is always more accurate - cause we actually care what the end result looks like). Unfortunately, not owning a Domino (and SWMBO has declared my machinery budget frozen since you and I met ) I had to come up with an alternative. Hence the Kauri strip to make rectangular mortises.

I'm sure the darksiders will overlook the temporary use of power tools (read real tools! ) and claim you as one of their own. I doubt I'll ever make it into their ranks though....

I'm looking forward to seeing pics of the finished project.

The idea of a plaque had occurred to me too. Yours will add the extra personal touch, and be much-read and commented on, no doubt. I decided to use the pyrography pen to burn an inscription on the underside of the bottom rail of one of the ends. True, no one's ever going to read it unless they turn the cot upside down, but SWMBO knows it's there, and will one day point it out to our child when they are old enough to appreciate daddy made it out of love for them.

Beautiful TN! Beautiful!
Awonderful WIP also.

This looked like it was a good WIP, pity all the pics are gone