Time for a Pendulum Cradle Build

[anwalt2]

Ivan,

Heard from my son: 
Floor to axle is 31.5"  Axle to top of vertical leg about 2". 

tom

[mr_skittle]

I am a big fan of most everything about my cradle. The knock-down design is a must considering its a temporary piece of furniture. Regarding the pivot point: It would be better if it were further above the basket. The swing on it has too small of a radius. It sounds like the same problem that anwalt is referring to. You have to actively rock it or it will come to a stop quickly. I would somehow change it so that the pivot point was further from the bottom of the basket so the swing had a larger, gentler radius and would swing a bit more under it's own momentum.

[panamint]

I promised to build a pendulum cradle for the next generation of the family. One of them has been on my bucket list since I was just getting back into woodworking and the Oct/Nov '08 issue of Woodcraft Magazine came out with the pendulum cradle on the cover.

I now have ~8 weeks to keep that commitment.

I have seen with much appreciation the pendulum cradles that others here have posted. Now I am looking for help/guidance.

Unless someone has a better suggestion, I will start with the plans in WC mag and go from there.

Changes that I know to make:
1) solid headboard and footboard,
2) stop pin to lock pendulum in place

I see that the cradle should not be more than 1/2" wider than the mattress. The WC design has a 16" wide bottom and the mattress is 16" wide. Do I need to shrink the width of the cradle slightly?

I have seen some cradles that have locking casters under all 4 feet and one design that had casters under the feet on one end. Any opinions on using casters for a cradle?

With the tools in the shop, I can turn spindles for the sides or I can make slats. Has anyone tried both (on different cradles) and have a recommendation one way or the other?

I know that standards have changed over the years. Is 3" on center still an appropriate spacing for the spindles/slats?

I am considering insetting magnets to hold the stop pin in or out, but I would welcome recommendations for tried and tested methods.

Recommendations of other plans to start my mods from would definitely be welcome.

thanks in advance,
Ivan

This is the one I made for my daughter 17 years ago. I wanted to make a larger size one so they didn't out grow it so fast.
Scott

[Window Guy]

Building an heirloom piece of baby furniture is a very satisfying thing.  It's something that can be used by everyone in the family. I'd suggest marking it somehow to indicate all the different babies that used it. 

I built one from Woodsmith but I'm not sure if its the one others are talking about. Mine was from an issue from the 80's. I did a full build along here somewhere, but I also documented it on my blog. Browse through and feel free to ask anything. 

http://birdsandboards.blogspot.com/search/label/cradle

Very nice looking project I really like it. I built a cradle for my Daughter in 1980 which isn't as pretty as yours but now my Granddaughter has it and it is still in one piece.
  I am going to build a trundle bed for her "American Doll's" she got for her Birthday. Broken Ole Marine posted one he and his Wife made and it is really nice, I showed a picture of it to my Daughter last night and would like me to make one for her also.

Steve

[Eurekan]

The federal standard in spindle spacing for cribs and cradles is no more than 2 3/8 inches. Less is acceptable. On my most recent crib project the spacing varied 2 to 2 1/4 in.

[iclark]

The federal standard in spindle spacing for cribs and cradles is no more than 2 3/8 inches. Less is acceptable. On my most recent crib project the spacing varied 2 to 2 1/4 in.

Thanks to all for the inputs. This is one that I definitely needed. The Woodcraft (2008) plan has the spindles at 3" on center and that just felt wrong.

I am leaning towards turning the spindles and using a profile that has their minimum diameter at ~5/8". So, if I put them at ~2-1/2" on center, I should be on the conservative side of that spec.

For those who have used one of these pendulum cradles, when the cradle is rocking, do the lower corners ever swing as far as the support post? I am having a problem visualizing how far the pendulum swings when in use.

[Bibliophile 13]

I built one of those once.  (The glue was still drying when my wife went into labor.  Talk about a close call!)  It was simple and worked fine.  The locks were just pegs that went through the uprights, and I used tusked tenons so the whole thing was collapsable for storage until the next kid needed it.  The cradle is now in my attic, probably waiting for grandkids now.  Which I hope will be a while yet. 



It never swung far, so as long as the feet are as wide or wider than the cradle itself, stability shouldn't be a problem.  I can't see the use of casters.  Most cradles just stay in the same place for as long as the baby fits (usually not more than 6 months).  If you need to move it, it's light enough for mom to lift or drag. 

Cradles are nice to build, but they're never used by one person for long.  The up-side is that a good cradle should last several generations, if it doesn't end up in an estate sale first.