Instructions for Childs Cradle

Lessons learned
1. Round over all edges, even the heart image. This is a quick process using a 1/8 or
round over bit in a router table or hand held router. Some club members have a small
laminate router that worked great if you do it by hand.
2. I tried doing an inside profile cut for the heart, but found it too time consuming to later
cut the tabs and sand. Finally decided to use a bit and pocket cut. Increased machine
time, but greatly decreased hands-on time. I got best results using a up spiral. You
would probably need to adjust the toolpath plunge rate, speed and ramping based on the
bit you use.
3. We did not use any screws or nails. The joints where the sides and bottoms fit into the
end were kept tight (sometimes too tight and a little more sanding was required).
Assembly was with Titebond III glue, but any quality wood glue should work (I
personally do not recommend polyurethane glue such as Gorilla Glue). We dont think
the joints will ever fail.
4. We sand everything using 180 - 220 grit sandpaper, but do not apply any type of finish.
Sanding will take the most time. We would plan a workshop, where 3 to 5 of us would
get together and setup an assembly line operation. Everyone would bring their favorite
sander and sandpaper.
5. Make sure you, or the organization that will distribute the cradles, supplies a small doll or
stuffed animal with the cradle. To give a child a cradle with nothing to put in it would not
serve its purpose.

6.

Heres the final product:

Step by Step One way of doing it.

Note: I normally use Whiteside router bits and have provided the bit number in
parenthesis, should you want to see the type of bit Im referring to. You can find their
downloadable catalog at www.whitesiderouterbits.com.
1. Rout the cradle ends on the ShopBot. The sequence I used was to first pocket cut the
hearts with a up spiral (WM RD5100), then cut the grooves for the sides and bottom
using an undersized plywood bit (WM 1065A), and finally cutout the ends with a
straight bit with down shear (WM 1069DS). (Ignore the circles, they are wagon wheels
just making good use of scrap)

2. Cut tabs and remove cradle ends from ShopBot.

3. Sand edges with oscillating spindle sander or sanding drum in drill press.

4. Round over edges. We used a 1/8 radius round over bit (WM 2000C). The size of round
over isnt important; we just wanted to break the sharp edge.
5. Final sand with sheet pad sander (or similar) using 180 - 220 grit sandpaper.
6. Pre-cut your sides and bottom plywood to the length you want. This will ensure your
sides and bottoms are identical. In the following steps you will use these pieces to cut the
sides and bottom to width. We decided on 15.75 length, resulting in the cradle interior
being 15. So, after this step, we had a stack of 1/2 plywood pieces cut to 15.75 X 4.
7. Measure the length of the side groove and cut out sides on table saw. Ours were 5.875
wide by 15.75 long. You can easily vary the length, but the width has to be exact so you
get a good tight fit from cradle side to cradle end.
8. Round over the top and bottom of the sides. A router table is recommended. You could
use a round over bit and make 4 passes per side, but we used a half round or bull
nose bit (WM 1434) and only had to make 2 passes per side.
9. Sand sides good using 180 - 220 grit sandpaper.
10. Dry fit a side into a cradle end and mark where the dadoes will go. Set up a table saw
with a dado (adjusted in width to match the plywood thickness for the bottoms). You
want to keep this joint a little loose to aid in assembly. Tilt the table saw to 15 degrees
and set your depth of cut to approximately . Set your table saw fence to match your
marks where the dado has to be and test cut. Adjust as necessary. When satisfied, cut
dadoes in all sides. This picture shows what you are trying to achieve:

11. Dry fit both sides into a cradle end and measure width required for the bottoms. Subtract
about 1/32 to 1/16. Cut your bottoms to this width. We cut ours at 6.75 x 15.75.
12. Sand the bottoms with 180 - 220 grit paper.

Assembly
1. Layout two sides, dado side up and two cradle ends.

2. Apply glue to dadoes in sides and grooves in cradle ends. Using a small glue brush or
paint brush, spread the glue in the groove, taking care to cover the vertical sides. It is the
sides that will give you the joint strength, more so than where the end grain meets the flat
bottoms. (glue is omitted in the following photos)
3. Place both sides into one cradle end. Carefully use a dead blow mallet if needed.

4. Slide a bottom down the sides until it is seated into the cradle end. Again, carefully use a
mallet if needed.

5. Turn this assembly over and place the sides and bottom into the second cradle end. A
little tapping with the mallet should get everything lined up.

6. Use 2 or 3 clamps to draw everything together. At this point, we would measure the
length of the cradle at the top and bottom to ensure the ends were parallel. This would tell
us that the sides and bottom were seated in the cradle ends. If the measurements were
different, use the mallet or another clamp to draw it together.

7. Depending on conditions, you can remove the clamps in 30 to 60 minutes and use them
for another cradle. The glue has not reached full strength, but has set enough to keep all
the parts together.