The Dale C. Maley Family Web Site

The December 2018 issue of Woodworker's Journal has a nice and simple pattern for a doll cradle, that is designed to hold 20" long dolls.  Both of my grand-daughters could use one of these, so I decided to build 2 of them.

I used red oak from Menard's for this project.

I like that the magazine designers recognized big box boards, like menards, come in 5.5 inch wide widths..........and they made the cradle sides 5.5 inches tall for this reason........Handy !!

I went ahead and entered the design into Sketchup. Then I printed full-scale size paper patterns for the  2 end pieces and 2 sides, plus bottom.  I glued these to scrap plywood to make permanent patterns.........since I am making at least 2 of these.

I used a 1/8" router round-over bit on the 2 ends, and the top of the 2 side pieces.

The build went ok, until I got to the assembly of the 2 sides and bottom.  I forgot to table saw 11 degree angles on the bottom of each of the 2 side pieces.

I should have done this before I band-sawed the curve, because after the curve is cut..............there is no support for the table saw fence during sawing,   Using 2-sided carpet tape, I taped on a temporary piece of pine the whole 20 inch length, and it became the part that contacted the fence...........while I did the 11 degree cuts.  This worked fine.

Next issue was how to clamp up the 3 pieces.  I ended up following the magazine article recommendation........of using blue masking tape........like you sometimes do on making boxes.  I baked the glued and clamped assembly in the oven at 120F for about 15 minutes to set the glue quickly.

I used the Kreg pocket screw drill bit, to drill the countersunk holes for the screws.........and I used Kreg Screws also.   I decided to use 3/8" oak buttons to cover the drilled screw holes.  My Harbor Freight cheap plug cutter burns oak too much, to make oak plugs.

I used Spanish Oak oil stain on both cradles, then 2 rounds of 220 grit and antique polyurethane.

This was a relatively easy project to build. Hopefully, the grand-daughters will enjoy them for many years!