Back to the Cradle

When my youngest daughter was born -- let's make it 'over 39 years ago' -- I built her a cradle out of a single oak board I found in an abandoned saw mill in the Ozarks. When she outgrew it, we loaned it to a friend for their baby.  And then another, and another.

We wrote the names of all the babies on the back of the cradle, and as of today, the list is up to 26 babies.

Unfortunately, the poor old cradle fell victim to a leaky storage unit this year, and it was pretty severely damaged. I wasn't entirely sure it could be saved, but it was worth a try.

It had to come completely apart, and some pieces needed to be re-sawn and re-glued.

The end that was standing in the water was also warped, so in an attempt to warp it back the other way, I moistened the cupped side, then covered that with plastic to retain the moisture and laid it with the convex side up in the sun.  The idea was to swell one side and shrink the other.  The wood was so old that the effort was only partly successful, but a little curve just gives it character!

 

The problem with the cradle has always been storage. Always room for it when baby needs a bed, but then what do you do with it?  It takes up a lot of room, and nobody really wants a cradle sitting around in the living room when the youngest baby in the house is a teenager.

So I decided it was time for a knock-down, drag-out.  I installed metal bed-frame hardware so it now comes apart into five easy pieces, counting the drop-in bottom.

To complete the storage solution, I dragged out the old sewing machine and made two custom bags, one to hold the ends, and one to hold the sides, bottom and mattress.

The 'kit' even comes with a little soft hammer to lock and unlock the knock-down hardware.

Once the cradle was repaired, I put all 26 names back on and finished it with non-toxic Salad Bowl Finish, just in case a future resident decides to chew on it.

Hopefully it's good for another 26 or so babies...