Heirloom Woods
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Heirloom Woods
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Wonder what is entailed in making your cradle? Join me in the shop through the next few pages. The cradle being made a commission for a couple in Missippippi. It is going to be a glider style cradle made from Mahogany. The requested finish is stain and varnish. Step 1 The first step is getting the stock for the cradle. Most of the day is spent at hardwood suppliers searching through stacks of stock looking for just the right pieces. An important factor in selecting stock is the moisture content of the wood. Ideally it will be around eight percent to minimize wood movment. Measuring the moisture content is the job of that tool you see in the second photo from the left. At the end of the day we've got twenty five board feet of Mahogany. Kind of nasty looking isn't it? That is because I use rough cut stock. Stock sent to the supplier directly from the mill and drying kiln. Using rough cut stock is, as you will see, far more work than using fully milled stock of the type you'd see at your local home store but it gives me far more control over the finished product.
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