amazon review by an idiot

[Jeff Cremers]

http://www.amazon.com/Rockler-Heirlo...6961752&sr=8-1

scroll down to the review part of the link


I was surfing Amazon and found Rocklers hardware kit for their heirloom crib. I kinda just laughed at the one review then I got a little sour the more I thought about it and realized this is one of the main problems and leading causes of the "wimpification" of our great country. This guy is not a woodworker or has not bought these plans but has something to say. I'm sure he has good intentions but still makes me shake my head.
Remember, people like this vote and share our highways.
Jeff

[Ray Moser]

Apparently the gentleman can't read the note that says the crib complies with the CPSC specs.

[Myk Rian]

Do what I did. Report the review, and mark it as not helpful. Then write your own. That is the ONLY review Mr. Bennett has written. A retired compliance officer? Right.

[Tom Leasure]

The way the guy was going off - mabye that's why he's "retired"

[mreza Salav]

You can also view it from a different angle.

Don't take yourself as the target audience of this review.
There are so many "idiots" out there that can't take a drill in their hands properly and want to fix/build everything themselves. Have you ever seen any of those "worst handyman" shows? Every time you think this is the worst, there is someone else that looks even more idiot. The same target group that the tools manual with all the quotes like:
"WARNING/DANGER Do not run the saw over your finger or it will cut it" are written for.

So maybe, he is trying to scare that bunch of people from trying to build/fix something which could endanger the life of a person.

[Peter Quinn]

I guess your only weapon in the arena of free speech is...more free speech. I have a two year old son and another on the way. I am certainly concerned as every parent is for the safety of my children and wouldn't want to place them in dangerous cribs. But, that reviewer seems to me to be an idiot. Perhaps he should purchase the product and apply his vast experience to a more legitimate review of the product?

And the suggestion that even a person with vast wood working experience couldn't possibly design and build a safe crib is beyond stupid and very much less than helpful. I have only average experience and I'm pretty sure I could build a crib strong enough to house a gorilla at this point should the need arise.

[Mark Rios]

I guess your only weapon in the arena of free speech is...more free speech. I have a two year old son and another on the way. I am certainly concerned as every parent is for the safety of my children and wouldn't want to place them in dangerous cribs. But, that reviewer seems to me to be an idiot. Perhaps he should purchase the product and apply his vast experience to a more legitimate review of the product?

And the suggestion that even a person with vast wood working experience couldn't possibly design and build a safe crib is beyond stupid and very much less than helpful. I have only average experience and I'm pretty sure I could build a crib strong enough to house a gorilla at this point should the need arise.

I don't know Peter, a gorilla is pretty strong. I'd suggest shooting for a crib to hold maybeeeee........a rhesus monkey, and work your way up from there.

[Greg Cuetara]

There are times where I have to wonder how any of us have survived. There are regulations, guidlines etc. which have made things safer again how did we survive. I have a 1 year old right now and I built his crib from rockler plans. I am going to build another crib for a friend using the same plans. When I was a baby we had bumbers all around the edges so that we woudln't bump our heads but now they are voodoo because it can stop a baby from breathing. Anyways it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the crib regulations....the problem is that the people who do quality control for the big companies don't understand the regulations and or don't care because it is just another product for them....for us it is a love and we care about the crib we build down to the toy chest for the toys.

[Sonny Edmonds]

An ex-spurt is just a drip under pressure.

His heart may be pure, and his concern real.
But he WAY underestimates the woodworkers I've known.
He actually believes that some sweat shop in ________ (insert offshore country here) will make a better result than the loving hands of a skilled Father, Mother, or Grandfather?
I beg to differ with his palaver.

This Grandpa don't make no junk!

[Greg Peterson]

Apparently the gentleman can't read the note that says the crib complies with the CPSC specs.

The description indicates that the hardware adheres to CPSC guidlines. I'm no lawyer but I'm sure there is a distinction between 'adheres to', 'complies with' 'meets or exceeds..'.

The reviewer does not cite the CPSC specification, rather he references the ASTM crib standard established by the CPSC.

Slat disengagement is the primary concern addressed by the ASTM. I find it hard to believe that a professionally designed and manufactured crib could suffer such a design failure, but they do. Sometimes it takes more than common sense to prevent design flaws.

Perhaps investigating crib deaths and monitoring crib recalls lends the reviewer a shrill tone. I dunno. I'm happy that I don't have to investigate crib deaths.

[Pat Germain]

^^ Wow, great post, Sonny!

[Lee Schierer]

I made a crib for my first grandchild and bought the Rokler hardware less the plans. My first attempt at side rails resulted in a crib that was overly long for the mattress. I ended up remaking both sides. The crib rules aren't rocket science and are pretty easy to figure out, but then, I do work as an engineer when I'm not wood working.



You don't need to build it to hold a 50 pound gorilla to be safe for an infant to 2 year old. By age two there is usually another occupant or the child has moved to a regular bed.

I'm sure the fellow writing the review had seen the work of craftsmen that had moredesire to get er done than skill. We've all seen their handi work in our own experiences. I've seen electrical extension cords made from TV antenna wire, 3-way light switches running off the ground wire, load bearing beams with splices less than 2 feet apart, floor joist with 12" of length cut away to accomodate a 4" drain line, roof trusses cantelevered 6 feet out and supported on the bottom 2 x 4, and many more.

[Neal Clayton]

I guess your only weapon in the arena of free speech is...more free speech.

with that in mind, my review response to 'martin'...

educating the tasteless and clueless

that's the problem with furniture these days, the decline started in the 50s when mass produced junk started to permeate the marketplace to saturate the huge demand for cheap houses. and now we've lived with it so long that people like martin weren't even born before that decline in quality was complete, so unless people like him have been to a high end antique/custom furniture shop, they don't even know what quality looks like because they've literally NEVER seen it.

by all means, buy a particle board crib from walmart and hope it stays together. really, those threaded inserts stuck in cardboard hold together just fine. be sure to have a hollow core door on the opening to the kids room and drywall on 16" centered studs too, if all else fails you can just walk through the wall superman style and grab the kid off the floor.

or, you can build things in a home shop superior to anything that martin has ever laid eyes on, one or the other.

as to the details, the description mentions that the slats are mortised, yet martin is asking how they are attached. so we have two possible scenarios here. 1) martin doesn't know what a mortise/tenon joint is. 2) he doesn't have a very good attention to detail. either might speak to why he's a 'former' safety inspector.