Baby cradle

The cliché lumberjock builds workbenches, jigs and baby cradles – I line up perfectly.

The shape of the cradle is inspired by bauhaus concepts, the front reminds of the trochoid runner of a wankel engine. The formality of the design is balanced by a crown on the head piece.

This baby cradle is made from baltic birch plywood (12 mm if I recall correctly – at present it serves at a friend of mine only to move on to my brother as soon as his youngest will be born) and coated with pigmented oil. The boards were bought cut to size at a local bigbox store (that’s the way you typically buy baltic birch here in Germany if you are not a professional) and cut to shape with a jig saw.

The sheets are connected with mortise-and-tenon joinery (cut with a router), though no glue is used – the cradle is strapped together using the web clamp typical for my projects. The same straps can then be used to hold the packet together when the baby moves on the toddler bed (third picture) and the cradle may be shipped to more recent parents.

The cut-outs in the sides are for ventilation since there are hints that insufficient ventilation may be one of the causes for SIDS.

The keel has little structural importance, but makes for a more pleasant appearance and lowers the center of gravity – quite important for a cradle. For very heavy babys (ours was not) additional weight could by added to the keel. The cut-out handles on the sides and fronts have proven to be very useful – we used to carry the baby together with the cradle everyday from the living to the sleeping room. One just has to be cautious of doors – this cradle is as wide as it is long!

This project is suitable for beginners with next to no equipment – just contact me for the plans (sketchup) if you want to build one (exploded view shown in fourth picture),

Cheers, Justus