Folks -
Well, I just glued up the cradle.... The joints came out okay, but even with its' flaws it is a thing of beauty. I had the walnut milled out about
2 years ago and let it air dry. I am using mixwax golden pecan and red oak on the lighter areas.... boy oh boy is that wood beautiful.After I trim the dovetails and do some, ahem, patchwork on the tails, I have to attach the rockers. I cut a solid wood raised panel for the bottom, after that it's final finishing and some wax. I sharpened and used a scraper for the first time on this project, and this is the first time I've cut compound dovetails. The sides of the cradle meet at 10 degrees. All in all, the trick in the jointery is WAY accurate layout and the hand of God when using the pull saw. I am going to build another one out of oak next. I can see why scrapers are popular.... it wasn't as bad as I thought and I didn't get any gouges on the edges.
I have 4 more shots on the roll and I'll post pics as soon as I can.
Whooooeeee!
John Moorhead
PS - The kid is due Caesarian on 11/7...