About twenty-five years ago, I was commissioned to build a reproduction hooded cradle like this in cherry. It was to be a gift from a grandmother to her first grandchild. I had made baby cribs before, but I had never done a cradle, so naturally I agreed to take the commission -- with fingers crossed, because all I could think of was compound angles and dovetails. What possibly could go wrong?! I remember dealing with the construction details you mention -- it was tricky at times, but always interesting. Beyond that, however, there are three things I remember most: the response of the client, the response of a fellow woodworker, and the response of the baby. (1) I still recall the look on my colleague's face when I delivered the cradle. She was so happy with it that she was overcome with emotion. With tears in her eyes, she asked if I would accept a payment of four times the agreed-upon price. I declined, saying a deal was a deal, but I was truly touched. (2) She later told me, after the cradle was delivered to her daughter in Arkansas, that a woodworking neighbor of the new parents stopped by, noticed the cradle, immediately kneeled down beside it, and started explaining why it was such a special piece of work. The daughter picked up on this and , again, profusely thanked her mother -- which was good kharma for me, too. (3) The grandmother also told me that whenever the new baby fussed, and nothing seemed to be wrong, the parents would lay the baby in the cradle and she would quiet down and soon fall asleep. Apparently, it just "felt" right to the baby. As the grandparent of a new baby at the time, I was very pleased to hear this -- it was the best kharma of all! That cradle has now been passed down to another generation, I am told, and it has become a treasured family heirloom. The child who first slept in it, and who later used it for her dolls, gave birth to a child who slept in the same cradle. And so it goes... I feel fortunate to have played a small part in this family's history. I know the same will be true in your memories of the beautiful cradle you and your friend have built. It is very rewarding when the wood we touch, and which touches us, also touches others. This would be a great project, in my opinion. Best regards from Wisconsin.
Wow Jerry, that was a beautiful summary and explanation of all the various ways this can be a profoundly meaningful piece to make. And I’m sure you did a very fine job with the build given the response you received! Thanks so much for taking the time to share that story on the record here 😎
I wondered that at first myself Dave. But I think I have to get the bottom in and test drive it with the lower center of gravity weight of a baby 😎. I think it might be just right because the template was most likely traced directly from the refined original version, and the curve has to be enough to longer sustain a gentle rock...sort of like rocking chair rockers which I learned through experience had to have stronger curves than I initially thought. I’ll try to remember to report back how the test drive goes, thanks!
Hi Tom, I think the cradle would be a nice project to do for the most part it's a popular project. You mentioned the hurricane of 1939, it reminded me of my dad, telling my brothers and I about it. He was 17 years old, he grow up on a large dairy farm in Wells Vermont they had a lot of damage. My dad visited the farm from time to time, and we would go with him when we were young kids. See you next week on SNL. Do you know how far Canterbury NH is from Wells VT? I should look it up on a map.
Thanks Steve, I’m on the fence as to if it will be popular enough to make it a course with drawings...but it’s definitely worth considering, especially since I’ve got all the templates made! It looks like Wells, VT is almost exactly due west of us, 125 miles. And given there’s no direct east west highways, it’s would be nearly a three hour trip to Wells from here. Looks like a nice quaint and Classic VT town!
@@EpicWoodworking Thank you Tom for looking up the distance from Canterbury, NH to Wells, VT. Someday I my take a trip to see the farm, it's still standing except for the barn, it came down after a few winters ago. Then head due east to Canterbury, NH to visit Kris and you.
I'm going to be that guy. I think the dovetails are laid out incorrectly. I know you used the tablesaw and the special blade and that's why but...the angles of the dovetails should be referenced from the long axis of the boards not the angled cut ends of the boards. I really like your offerings and your easy going good humored nature so I want to be clear I'm not trashing your video, I just disagree with the layout of the angled dovetails. There I said it.
No offense taken, that’s how we move forward and improve things. I do have to push back a bit and wonder if you have actually made these types of dovetails that meet on flaring corners as these are. They are quite tricky when angled like this. It’s been a while and I can’t go back right now and rethink the reasons for approaching and laying out the way I did…but I know it was well thought through and based on previous experiences, as well as having made mistakes…but that doesn’t meet I can’t be wrong here. When it comes to layout, there are more than one option, not necessarily a right and wrong way, some better for some reasons and others for other reasons. People have long argued for instance which is better, to cut the pins or tails first? All in all, if you have done it and have gotten great results the way you did it, that’s awesome. I was pleased with the way this approach worked as it went quite well all the way through. Thanks for your input and for watching! 👍😎
@EpicWoodworking I have done the layout the way I mentioned. No more difficult really just different. You need different slide bevel for each side of the tail. I saw it from another TH-cam contributor but I can't recall offhand who it was. The significance had to do with the angle of the tails and preventing short grain from fracturing off on one side because it is too steep if you can picture what I'm trying to say. Speaking of pins or tails first, you said you leaned dovetails watching Frank Klaus instruction. Did you used to do pins first like him? Thanks for the great content and sorry for being a Mr.Smartyypants. Spoiler alert, I'm not all that smart.
Good idea new
I have a picture of my Dad working in the woods cutting hurricane lumber from 1938 millions of board feet were harvested that was blow over!
Wow that’s awesome Scott! I’m hoping my friend will show me some photos he has from that storm. It must have been a wild one 👍
On that one lot they harvested 750,000 bdft of lumber!@@EpicWoodworking
About twenty-five years ago, I was commissioned to build a reproduction hooded cradle like this in cherry. It was to be a gift from a grandmother to her first grandchild. I had made baby cribs before, but I had never done a cradle, so naturally I agreed to take the commission -- with fingers crossed, because all I could think of was compound angles and dovetails. What possibly could go wrong?!
I remember dealing with the construction details you mention -- it was tricky at times, but always interesting. Beyond that, however, there are three things I remember most: the response of the client, the response of a fellow woodworker, and the response of the baby.
(1) I still recall the look on my colleague's face when I delivered the cradle. She was so happy with it that she was overcome with emotion. With tears in her eyes, she asked if I would accept a payment of four times the agreed-upon price. I declined, saying a deal was a deal, but I was truly touched.
(2) She later told me, after the cradle was delivered to her daughter in Arkansas, that a woodworking neighbor of the new parents stopped by, noticed the cradle, immediately kneeled down beside it, and started explaining why it was such a special piece of work. The daughter picked up on this and , again, profusely thanked her mother -- which was good kharma for me, too.
(3) The grandmother also told me that whenever the new baby fussed, and nothing seemed to be wrong, the parents would lay the baby in the cradle and she would quiet down and soon fall asleep. Apparently, it just "felt" right to the baby. As the grandparent of a new baby at the time, I was very pleased to hear this -- it was the best kharma of all!
That cradle has now been passed down to another generation, I am told, and it has become a treasured family heirloom. The child who first slept in it, and who later used it for her dolls, gave birth to a child who slept in the same cradle. And so it goes...
I feel fortunate to have played a small part in this family's history.
I know the same will be true in your memories of the beautiful cradle you and your friend have built.
It is very rewarding when the wood we touch, and which touches us, also touches others.
This would be a great project, in my opinion.
Best regards from Wisconsin.
Wow Jerry, that was a beautiful summary and explanation of all the various ways this can be a profoundly meaningful piece to make. And I’m sure you did a very fine job with the build given the response you received! Thanks so much for taking the time to share that story on the record here 😎
@@EpicWoodworking Thank you for your kind comments.
Hello Tom one of the uses of the roof on the cradle is to hold a lace cloth over the cradle to keep flys off the baby
Ah, that makes sense, great idea. Thanks John! 👍
That’s going to be a great heirloom! Since it’s going to passed down for generations I’d go with a standing seem roof on it. ;)
Why didn’t I think of that? Standing seam is a great idea! 😎
Watching after the livestream. Looks like the rockers need a gentler curve. It seems to rock too aggressively?.
I wondered that at first myself Dave. But I think I have to get the bottom in and test drive it with the lower center of gravity weight of a baby 😎. I think it might be just right because the template was most likely traced directly from the refined original version, and the curve has to be enough to longer sustain a gentle rock...sort of like rocking chair rockers which I learned through experience had to have stronger curves than I initially thought. I’ll try to remember to report back how the test drive goes, thanks!
@@EpicWoodworking Thanks Tom, I'm really interested in how that will turn out.
Hi Tom, I think the cradle would be a nice project to do for the most part it's a popular project. You mentioned the hurricane of 1939, it reminded me of my dad, telling my brothers and I about it. He was 17 years old, he grow up on a large dairy farm in Wells Vermont they had a lot of damage. My dad visited the farm from time to time, and we would go with him when we were young kids. See you next week on SNL.
Do you know how far Canterbury NH is from Wells VT? I should look it up on a map.
Thanks Steve, I’m on the fence as to if it will be popular enough to make it a course with drawings...but it’s definitely worth considering, especially since I’ve got all the templates made!
It looks like Wells, VT is almost exactly due west of us, 125 miles. And given there’s no direct east west highways, it’s would be nearly a three hour trip to Wells from here. Looks like a nice quaint and Classic VT town!
@@EpicWoodworking Thank you Tom for looking up the distance from Canterbury, NH to Wells, VT. Someday I my take a trip to see the farm, it's still standing except for the barn, it came down after a few winters ago. Then head due east to Canterbury, NH to visit Kris and you.
I'm going to be that guy. I think the dovetails are laid out incorrectly. I know you used the tablesaw and the special blade and that's why but...the angles of the dovetails should be referenced from the long axis of the boards not the angled cut ends of the boards. I really like your offerings and your easy going good humored nature so I want to be clear I'm not trashing your video, I just disagree with the layout of the angled dovetails. There I said it.
No offense taken, that’s how we move forward and improve things. I do have to push back a bit and wonder if you have actually made these types of dovetails that meet on flaring corners as these are. They are quite tricky when angled like this. It’s been a while and I can’t go back right now and rethink the reasons for approaching and laying out the way I did…but I know it was well thought through and based on previous experiences, as well as having made mistakes…but that doesn’t meet I can’t be wrong here. When it comes to layout, there are more than one option, not necessarily a right and wrong way, some better for some reasons and others for other reasons. People have long argued for instance which is better, to cut the pins or tails first?
All in all, if you have done it and have gotten great results the way you did it, that’s awesome. I was pleased with the way this approach worked as it went quite well all the way through.
Thanks for your input and for watching! 👍😎
@EpicWoodworking I have done the layout the way I mentioned. No more difficult really just different. You need different slide bevel for each side of the tail. I saw it from another TH-cam contributor but I can't recall offhand who it was. The significance had to do with the angle of the tails and preventing short grain from fracturing off on one side because it is too steep if you can picture what I'm trying to say. Speaking of pins or tails first, you said you leaned dovetails watching Frank Klaus instruction. Did you used to do pins first like him? Thanks for the great content and sorry for being a Mr.Smartyypants. Spoiler alert, I'm not all that smart.