| Project by nblazek | posted 03-01-2016 01:18 AM | 807 views | 1 time favorited | 7 comments |  |
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This was a new endeavor for me. I have never done so many traditional joint in a project, and this is my largest project to date. My wife and I are expecting our first child in a few week and I wanted to make something that would be used and then hopefully passed down for generations to come. There is a little more to the sentiment than that though. My grandfather passed away this past year and was an avid woodworker. About 30 years ago my grandfather cut down a cherry tree on his property, had it milled and then stored it in his basement until my cousin and I inherited it. I could not think of a better project in which to use that lumber.
Although it is not perfect, I feel as though I did a decent job with a few firsts. Before this cradle I had never made book-matched panels or pegged mortise and tenon joints. I even used some brass pins in the stand so that I can knock them out of the joint and store the cradle. I didn’t originally plan on using hardware, but couldn’t find a way around it. To compensate I embedded nuts into maple knobs in order to hide some of it.
7 comments so far
Andy
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233 posts in 585 days
#1 posted 03-01-2016 03:00 AM
Nice job. Very well made im sure your cradle will withstand the abuse children tend to put on furniture.
-- Andy Smith https://www.etsy.com/shop/xrayhardwoods
david38
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3518 posts in 2101 days
#2 posted 03-01-2016 03:29 PM
looks great
LesB
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#3 posted 03-01-2016 06:18 PM
Congratulations on becoming a father and great use of your Grandfather’s cherry wood. You wood working looks great.
I have made 4 over the years for my grandchildren and I discovered that they don’t use them very long before they out grow them. Mainly because they start setting up and moving around too much. Because of that I made mine so they totally disassembled and could be folded flat for easy long term storage (heirloom I hope)I had all male grand children so no doll bed use was made of them….that I know of LOL). I used threaded inserts and fancy brass screws for the assembly. The inserts will stand up to repeated use.
On yours I don’t see any method for stopping the bed from swinging or tipping when the child rolls to one side; other than taking it off the stand. That will become a problem.
-- Les B, Oregon
ravensrock
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#4 posted 03-01-2016 07:29 PM
Congratulations on the new addition to the family! I’m sure your grandfather would be proud of your work. Hopefully future generations will get to use this as well. Great job!
-- Dave, York, PA, Wildside Woodworking
SteveGaskins
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727 posts in 2344 days
#5 posted 03-01-2016 10:44 PM
Welcome to fatherhood and congrats on such a fine cradle. It will always be special because you made it and not purchased it. To make it even better, you utilized wood handed down from your grandfather. A great story for a great cradle build. Congratulations! I’ve made cradles for both my grandchildren and I certainly know the joy of seeing them in something I personally build.
-- Steve, South Carolina, http://www.finewoodworkingofsc.com
oldrivers
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1152 posts in 1324 days
#6 posted 03-02-2016 02:24 AM
You did GREAT! beautiful heirloom.
-- Soli Deo gloria!
RadioActiveRich
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68 posts in 1274 days
#7 posted 03-02-2016 04:02 AM
Congratulations! Being a father is the best thing you’ll ever do.
Excellent job on the cradle. Now you have at least TWO THINGS to be extremely proud of.
Best wishes.
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