I just have to send a big old "Thank You" to the guys at the Woodcraft in Alpharetta. Granted, they've always been very friendly (not to mention patient), but today they helped me past the final (hopefully!) hurdle in my quest to finish the crib.
See, I had been having some major technical issues inserting the threaded inserts that hold up the gates and such. Ugly technical issues. I built a jig, tried waxing the inserts, but just couldn't get them to "insert" without splitting the top 1/32" of the maple. Having practiced inserting a couple more inserts than I should have (you know what they say, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different outcome.") I paid a visit to the guys at Woodcraft to pick up some more.
While checking out, I asked the guys behind the counter for some friendly advice on how in the hell to get these #@%! things in without tearing up the crib. Granted, their answer was rather obvious, but being rather new to this, I wanted to hear it from someone else before I tried it. Basically, they suggested I make the holes just slightly bigger. Granted, they should have ended the conversation with "Here's your sign," but these guys have never been anything less then friendly, even during the great Jorgensen Clamp Rush of '03.
So, this evening, with my shiny new drill bits (which were about $5 a shot cheaper then they were at Lowe's, BTW) I experimented some more. Alas, no splitting! The rest of the inserts went in without incident. Hopefully with the inserts inserted, construction will end this weekend and I can get some final pictures up...hopefully :)
Posted by Rob at July 15, 2004 10:42 PM