Project Information
When my wife and I found out we were having another baby, I wanted to make a cradle that could be handed down through the generations. After reading an article on the web about the steampunk subculture, I decided to use a few elements from it to make it unique. What started out as a few minor elements soon took on a life of its own and became what you see here. It is finished for now as it is currently in use by my brand new little boy, but my gears are already turning as to what I can still add to it.
The basket interior is plywood joined with rabbets, screws and glue. The exterior of the basket is poplar slats stained with Varathane Golden Mahogany to give it a barrell type look. The slats are glued and nailed. Each slat has a 6 degree bevel along the length and fits the 11" radius very tight. The rim around the top is also poplar with two rounded edges, also glued and nailed. The uprights and stretcher are hickory. The Spanner Wrench and Vernier Caliper on either end are from red mahogany scraps that I picked up from my part-time job. It would have burned if I hadn't rescued it. The Caliper moves up and down and was intended to be a locking mechanism to keep the basket stationary, but the torque at the fulcrum was too much, so I'll be adding a peg lock on the wrench side in the near future.
The Airship Light has a frame of 1/4" plywood held together with glue. I had to teach myself to sew to make the lampshade/airship cover. After learning to sew, I sewed up a couple little guys for a mobile, an adventurer and a yeti. I made the clockwork bee out of hickory and walnut scraps and the little gear is bubinga. The chrono-spider is a scrap piece of ebony. The ligh is a color-changing LED and you can see a video of it in action here
The basket interior is plywood joined with rabbets, screws and glue. The exterior of the basket is poplar slats stained with Varathane Golden Mahogany to give it a barrell type look. The slats are glued and nailed. Each slat has a 6 degree bevel along the length and fits the 11" radius very tight. The rim around the top is also poplar with two rounded edges, also glued and nailed. The uprights and stretcher are hickory. The Spanner Wrench and Vernier Caliper on either end are from red mahogany scraps that I picked up from my part-time job. It would have burned if I hadn't rescued it. The Caliper moves up and down and was intended to be a locking mechanism to keep the basket stationary, but the torque at the fulcrum was too much, so I'll be adding a peg lock on the wrench side in the near future.
The Airship Light has a frame of 1/4" plywood held together with glue. I had to teach myself to sew to make the lampshade/airship cover. After learning to sew, I sewed up a couple little guys for a mobile, an adventurer and a yeti. I made the clockwork bee out of hickory and walnut scraps and the little gear is bubinga. The chrono-spider is a scrap piece of ebony. The ligh is a color-changing LED and you can see a video of it in action here
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