a cradle idea i've been working on

[Dan Noren]

ok, here it is with 6" removed from the sides.

[Dave Richards]

Better. How about using a could lift sort of detail going down there toward the lowered side. Those feet still need something maybe round the corners?

[Dan Noren]

dave, i did that one to show what it would look like, with lowering the sides 6" like that, it leaves about 7" on each side, when you add for the 2" of the mattress i'm working around, that leaves less than 5" on the sides. to me, not much of a safety factor. to me, the second, while looking a bit better, and third versions look a bit out of proportion to the supporting framework. they look to be just a little too big. the inside height of the bed box of the original is only a little over 14" at the highest, and a little over 13" at the lowest parts, from the bottom board, not all that deep for a cradle to begin with.

[Dave Richards]

Maybe don't lower it quite so much but I think it'll be better with the sides lowered some. Remember, baby won't sleep in it forever. By the time they are old enough to move around and pull themselves up where there's a danger of them going over the side, they'll have been moved into a crib. By that time, even at the original depth, it won't keep baby in if they want out.

You've probably seen the cradle I built for my son.



As you can see it is quite shallow but it was never a problem. He quit sleeping in it before he could have gotten himself into bad spot. Then it became an ark for the stuffed critters. I was worried that he'd roll over and get the gunn'l down so he couldn't roll the other direction. A number of folks told me he'd capsize it when he rolled to one side. As it turned out, the way it hangs, it's impossible to capsize it.

[larry merlau]

dano-- i would take and throw in your matters thichkness in the cross section of your cradle..show DAVE your cross-section so he has some idea of the space needed.. the tapering looks more appealing but the dropped sides like you drew last doesnt look right.. dave and you can get this worked out so make a crossection detail to show what is going on

[Dan Noren]

i like that one dave, and it looks like the lil one is enjoying it too. i wouldn't be too surprised if he took to boating. i've redrawn the top edge of the original design, making it a little less boxy. i've also taken larry's advice to heart (that'll cost you a box of chocolate, ol son! lol), and drawn up a cross section of what i have to work around, with all the current measurements and such. there's a little extra at the bottom, but that's to keep the symmatry of it, and a good, out of the way place for the shallow (3/8") hole for the locking pin. i've rigged the dado for the bottom board so that the ends are covered by the next up set of fingers.

[Tom Niemi]

Liking this so far Dan there also is a standard cradle mattress of 15" x 33". The narrower dimension can help with the tapering. For the cradles I have made, I had custom mattresses made to fit the dimensions of the cradles. Looking forward to seeing this progress

[Dave Richards]

How do we get you to change your units to Fractional?

I like the curve on your latest version but it still seems awful deep to me. Now I see that the edges aren't that far above the top of the mattress, though. I'd take most of the bottom edges of the ends and sides off. I think that will help.

[glenn bradley]

I like the overall look. Prefer the taper and cutout which as you state, could be played with as to shape. The pads on the feet are a definite keeper. Concerns about the clearance for the bottom when rocking(?). Probably just my eyes as you could test that with SU easy enough. I really like some of the ideas here and am enjoying the ride.

[Dan Noren]

thanks for the nudge on that one glenn,, i was a bit concerned about that too. i saved a new version of it, and gave it the schwing test. after hiding the one end's assembly, i edited in some crosshairs on the pivot point of the bed, and rotated it as far as i could (you can see that in the pic). it will swing through a 40 degree arc (that's 20 degrees to each side of center, for those of you in rio linda) without hitting the stretcher. that would be more than enough to gently rock junior to sleep. as for the bottom edges, i cannot get too radical as the stopper pin hole's center is 1.25" from the bottom, maybe a mild arc, or light cloud lift, just enough to break the visual line upwards.