Rock-A-Bye Baby

I hadn't done a baby cradle in a while. This one is not quite as wide as the last one I made. I think I went a little overboard on the last one. It took me forever to find someone who was having twins to buy it. The bottom of this one is about sixteen inches wide and thirty two inches long. It is made of cottonwood. All joints on the cradle body are glued, screwed and plugged before being sanded flush. I stained it with Minwax dark walnut.

I can't remember where I got the plans for this one. I've had them for so long. I do remember it was from one of the many free woodworking plan websites. There are virtually hundreds of free cradle plans on the internet. I like this one best because of the inlaid rounded canopy. Fitting the thin strips into the canopy is pretty time consuming. Sanding it smooth into it's round contour is even more time consuming. I think the results are worth it though. The last photo shows a close-up of what it looks like finished. I puposely cut the slats at different angles to give it a unique wood grain pattern.