The cradle tenant has arrived

Eloise Riley 7.21lbs, 18in

More cradle pictures

A neat little defect I worked into the stretcher cap. 

Closeup of the joinery. 

Another "defect" that I worked in.  I had to fill the gap on this know with some superglue.

It was a real pain in the butt to get these spacers fine tuned.  I'm really happy how well it turned out.

The top stile on one of the sides has some beautiful quartersawn grain.  I'm really happy how the finishing regime popped the grain.  

I just went with an unfinished pine bottom.  I did put a layer of poly on it for some protection.  

The forest restoration project has started and halted

Crews started planting trees for the project last week.  Its finally happened.  Monday morning they planted about 200 trees and prepped for some more.  We were in contact with our partners at the zoo to get materials hauled up the hill to the site on Wednesday, but something happened on that Tuesday that no one here in Duluth will forget anytime soon.  The sky opened up and unleashed an epic rain that, as I've been told, only happens once in 500 years.  As it happens, the stream which gives the project its name burst forth from its banks devastating every path up the hill.  If you think devastating is an exaggeration just look at this.

This used to be an ATV trail, now its an 8 foot deep 15 foot wide washout.

As you can guess by  the boardwalk and railing, you used to be able to walk onto this bridge.  There used to be a path there with lots of earth under it.  This is where all the water got out and its hard to tell by pictures but the second river created by this was almost as big as the regular one.

With obstacles like these it's obviously impossible to get any machinery up there and its not very feasible to carry thousands of pounds of fence up.  There are other ways up the hill but they are now all impassable with washouts.  I wish I would have budgeted for a helicopter.

The Cradle is FINISHED!!!!

It's been a long time since a post but I've been one busy dude.  There gets to be so much to do in the spring when the weather finally gets nice.  It makes it especially tough to spend the roughly 10 hours in the basement doing all the finishing.  Here's the lineup of parts all ready for the business.  Of course I already started a few coats of finish on the panels.

The first step was to rub everything down with a coat of boiled linseed oil.  It really did a nice job of bringing out the grain detail and gives it a great, warm color.  As I was sanding each piece I was conscious to put the finished pieces in the dark.  Cherry has a tendency to darken in the sunlight so keeping them in the dark after sanding ensured that they would all be the same shade when it was time to finish.  Earlier in the project I noticed it only took a couple of hours after a sanding for the wood to start changing colors.  

After the linseed oil was good and dry it was time for the many, many coats of shellac.  I cut the shellac half and half with denatured alcohol.  This consistency of  shellac goes on easy and dries in minutes.  I just used a folded up rag to apply it.  With the size of these pieces I was able to do three consecutive coats on each one.  All those slats on the sides were a real chore.  Once the first three coats were on it was time to sand everything, again.  A quick pass with some 240 grit and back to the basement for the next couple of coats of shellac.  Then, of course, more sanding with the 240 before the final coats of varnish.  Here's the lineup after the first round of shellac.  It looks pretty much the same as when it's all done.  

The final coat was varnish cut half and half with mineral spirits.  Same idea as the cut shellac but it takes a little longer to dry; about and hour.  It's a forgiving finish.  It dries smooth with some subtle streaks.  Those streaks are taken care of in the last step, steel wool.  I rubbed the hell out of the thing with  0000# steel wool to give it a glass smooth, clear but not to shiny finish.  I've used this method before without the steel wool and now regret it.  It really gives it a finishing touch.  

So now the big moment!!!

TA DA!!!!

I wish I knew how to do some cool animation here or something.  I'll have to get some more closeups and angle shots and post them.  I've gotten to know this project very well since I stared and I've come to appreciate some details that deserve more picture.  So as satisfying as it was to get together I still wasn't quite done.  It was terribly squeaky, so I had to address the dowels it swings on.  I farted around on these for  awhile.  I sanded them and rubbed them with wax but it just wasn't getting it done.  A couple of google searches later and I had a great idea.  Cut flutes into the dowel to reduce the amount of wood rubbing and give the wax a place to hang out.   Now it works splendidly.  I'm expecting the button plugs for the ends shortly and it'll be showroom ready.

 

I think I remember starting a workbench

With the work on the cradle coming to an end I'm able to focus some attention on the workbench I started quite some time ago.  I still have a lot of work to do on making the tail vise assembly, but in the mean time I can get the top slab glued up and mounted on the base.

After spending considerable time staring at the two sets of plans, it finally clicked and I build the jig for making dogholes.  It was quite simple once I got going with it.  

I didn't have the ideal router bit for the job so I had to use a combination of my two routers.  I used a 5/8 straight bit with a collar on the big router to clear out most of the material.  Then I used a top bearing, 3/8 straight bit in the Dewalt to ride along the jig and clean things up.

Long overdue Cradle update

Work has been progressing slowly and steadily for the last couple of weeks.  I've been working on putting a garden in and have been getting some overtime at work so my time has been spread a little thin lately.  Its crazy how busy a person can get with all things yard work when these long, warm spring days show up.  


There's been plenty of sanding going on and some glue-ups.  The end panels are done, with the center panel prefinished.  I just think its easier and you get better results finishing frame and panels this way.  The panel was just a little undersized so I used a simple trick to get it to fit tight.  You just lay out a bead of silicone caulk on some wax paper, and when it dries cut it into small pieces and put them in the grove.  Depending on the fit of the panel you can make the bead of caulk thick or thin.  Another nice thing about this fix is that it keeps the panel from rattling in the frame.  With the ends all glued up it was time to assemble the basket.  Since the whole thing is meant to break-down, the basket is screwed together and the screw holes concealed with plugs.  I'll spare you the details of laying out the holes and getting the sides attached, needless to say it was meticulous and took longer that it probably should have.  

I guess I should probably back up a bit.  Before the basket went together some holes needed to be drilled in the ends for the dowels it will rock on.  I was very nervous about this step.  I was worried these measurements wouldn't be the same and the holes wouldn't line up but I was VERY relieved to find out everything measured perfectly down to the mm.  Alright, now that the basket is assembled, with holes, It was time to get the legs and stretcher assembly finished off.  As it was, the cradle fit between the uprights with about 3/4 inch to spare.  I found some scraps that were 3/8 inch and make the spacers that fit between the upright and the basket.  

Now that it was determined that the stretcher and uprights were all at their final size it was time to make the wedges for the ends of the stretcher.   It was pretty simple. The one tip I'd offer here is to drill the hole for the finger catch before you cut out the wedge on the band saw. 

Another anxious moment was getting the holes drilled into the tops of the uprights for the swinging dowel.  Again I was worried about measurements not matching up but again I was VERY relieved that they both measured identically.  So with the holes all drilled and sanded smooth and a dowel also sanded nice and smooth I faced the moment of truth:  will it rock smoothly?!?!  YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Once it was all together it worked perfectly!!!!!!!!!  A common adage in woodworking is that as you reach final assembly of a piece your dealing with the accumulation of errors that occurred along the way.  This is the idea that a handful of small mistakes can add up and lead to a one big headache.  With this project having many new concepts to me and having two separate assemblies I was very concerned about things not working out.  This is especially poignant with the pivot point for the rocking to work in this case.  When everything worked as it should it was a huge relief for me and a very satisfying feeling as well.  


We're really down to the home stretch now.  Just a few more small construction details and the finishing.  

The cradle has taken shape!

The last session in the shop really came together with some exciting results:

-The end posts are done, complete with mortise for the wedged mortise and tenon joint.  

-The stretcher is almost complete. I still need to put a cap on it that will add some decoration and strengthen the joints.  

-I've been fine tuning the joinery, as I go, with my new shoulder plane.  I'm so happy I finally got one of these planes.  

After getting butterflies in my stomach from looking at this thing held together with clamps I had to take it all apart, again.  I am going to finish the end panels before I fully assemble the frame so I started sanding them.  Its mostly small details left on the construction part but there's still plenty of sanding and finishing to go... Oh and don't forget the roundovers.   I've got some ideas for finish that I hope to try on some scraps this weekend.   I would love it if I could start applying finish next week.