Cradle Part III

Just a quick update, much has happened since the last posting:

The bottom is complete, both the cradle bottom, and the rockers are done. After some smoothing the rockers slide right in and are set to be attached with a simple screw. (There will end up being 4 screws in the whole thing.

All the box joints are done. This turned out to be fairly easy, just a few hours of work per side. I was thinking it would be a few days of work per side. After most of the wood was cut out with a router, I squared them off by hand. It helps when you have razor sharp chisels. I also used a square block to make sure my cuts were perfect, a tip I learned on (http://woodtreks.com/how-to-hand-cut-precision-dovetails-the-tails-part-2-of-2/77/). In short everything came out great.

Unfortunately, as I cut the last joints this morning we had a horrible accident. Part of the side split off. Luckily it was a clean cut and a bit of glue will make it stronger than ever. On the left is a picture of the side (now glued together). On the right is a picture of the crack. If you pay attention you can see the crack under the point of the screw driver. The good news is glue on a joint hat runs with the grain is actually stronger than the wood itself. That means if I beat this side with a hammer it will break somewhere else before that joint breaks again. You will notice I use a template to keep the box joints in line for the glue up. I had to be very careful to not glue the template to the side.

Also, here is a picture of the headboard, footboard and sideboard connected together. To the right is a close up of the box joints. Its not tightly fitted, so you may see some gaps. After the final glue they should all be gone (I Hope).

Tonight Jeannie and I are off to restaurant night in Beacon Hill with some friends. This afternoon we are going to enjoy the weather. Jeannie is baking raisin bread, and I am making sour dough.