I decided to build a cradle for my grandson, to be born around Christmas this year. The design I settled on was a dinghy, built in a "sort-of" traditional manner with copper roves and rivets, from Jordan Wood Boats (he advertises in Wooden Boat Magazine - http://www.jordanwoodboats.com). Just like a real boat, you build a strong back first, and then lay the stem and stern post, transom and keel.
The planking comes next, and this is where my first problem started. It is difficult to plane red oak this thin and keep it in one piece ... the porous nature of red oak makes it easy to split. The plans call for white cedar, which would be a much easier wood to plane this thin, and then keep it from splitting as you bend it and fasten it with silicon bronze flat head wood screws (another bow to tradition that I'll never make again!)
The rivets presented a problem for me too, and I think I have them inside out ... the flat head of the rivet should be on the inside, and the rove pounded onto the outside. Too late! Riveting boat planks together is just another reason I'm a thoroughly modern boat builder! Give me epoxy from now on! But enough complaining, the bottom planks were easier ... 1/2" thick instead of 3/16" like the sides, and not much bend.
The plans include both rockers which attach directly to the bottom of the cradle, and davits to suspend it. The construction of the davits is pretty straight forward, but I think the plan's rigging is a bit of overkill. I think I could hang my Potter 19 from the davits! But here are the finished pics:
For the rigging, a bridle is made to attach to the stern quarter knees with figure-8 stopper knots underneath, with a bronze double block riding on the bridle. A bronze eye strap is positioned under the davit head, and the line is attached to it using an anchor bend. The line is rove down to the block, up to one of the sheeves in the davit head, down to the other side of the double block and back up through the other sheeve in davit head, then down to a bronze cleat to be made fast, so as baby doesn't crash to the ground.
All in all, its been a worthwhile project. My wife has made some great bedding for the cradle, and I'll post pictures of it with the bedding when the battery on the camera recharges!
The finish is 4 coats of BLO, followed by a 1# cut of garnet shellac applied with a pad, followed by 4 coats of Target Coatings' "Oxford ULTIMA Spray Lacquer" in a satin finish.
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