Wood for pendulum shaft

[iclark]

For the pendulum cradle that I am building, I need to turn some rods for the 2 pendulum shafts/axles (the shafts that connect the cradle to the base).

Are there woods that are especially good or that I should avoid for the shafts?

The plans call for 1" diameter but I may make them slightly larger depending on the stock.

I have some dry ebony, cocobolo, maple, and african blackwood blanks that I could use. I think that there may be a chunk of lignum vitae tucked away somewhere, but I think that it is fully waxed.

I have also considered using some thin polyethylene sheet to wrap around the outside of the shaft. I expect that I am over thinking this.
Feel free to tell me that if I am.

[MichaelMouse]

Used these. http://www.rockler.com/pivot-hinges-pair Variation using two arms, swing hinges high to trestle and low on the basket making a parallelogram, and the cradle becomes a glider.  VERY nice, especially when you make the cradle big enough for twins. .

[Bibliophile 13]

Use whatever looks nice and has straight enough grain for the application. No baby is going to wear out moving parts on a cradle.

[TomFromStLouis]

I think you are overthinking this, but I applaud the effort anyway. Lignum vitae was used for propeller shafts because of its oily self-lubricating nature, so that or the cocobolo make sense for that reason. Persimmon has very high wear resistance, but any harder wood properly waxed would last as long as the rest of the cradle IMO.

It isn't the baby that rocks the cradle, it is grandparents.

[CLETUS]

I used brass threaded rod, brass washer and cap nut. I thought it looked nice.