| Blog series by NunyaBidniz | updated 05-18-2015 01:14 PM | 4 parts | 6575 reads | 2 comments total |
Part 1: The making of a family heirloom
Awhile ago I found out I was going to be a first time grandpa! My daughter and son-in-law had been trying to have kids for over 5 years. They did all the tests, and fertility things. She found out she was pregnant (for real and not just “chemically”) in November of 2014. I knew then that I wanted to make something for them to keep in our family for a long time. Some of the criteria that I had in my head when picking a project: It had to be fairly basic. I don’t have a...
Part 2: Single day build!
About 3 days after I got the parts for the cradle I broke out the plans…hoo boy….I may have bit off more than I can handle with this one. My shop is not equipped for larger projects. I have yet to get a band saw, table saw, router and router table, a planer. My shop is better equipped for smaller wood projects, pens, toys, puzzles, etc. So..following the plans I started with the two rockers. Have you SEEN U-Bild plans?!? OMG! What the heck did I get myself into?!? I tap...
Part 3: Woodburning signatures
The cradle is built. I had my dad sign the bottom of it with a sharpie and I signed the bottom as well. I took the cradle back to my shop and broke out my woodburning kit and went to work. Below are the pictures of the outcome.
Part 4: Applying the stain and finish!
After getting the signatures burned into the cradle it was time for stain. I did some extensive research on-line (here and on other woodworking websites) about staining maple and I found out how difficult it is. I opted to use General Finishes Java Gel stain. This stuff is like pudding! Below is a picture of it after I applied it but before I wiped it off. Here are the results of applying two coats of the stain. After letting the stain set for 48 hours I applied the ...
