Glider cradle

It's been a while since I've drifted in here. Time to get back to woodworking, I guess. This is an ash & cherry glider cradle I recently made for an upcoming grandson. I started by ordering a set of cradle plans off the web. I did that to get an idea of the basic structure & dimensions for the project. I then designed the finished item to utilize some ash from a downed tree on our property & cherry for a contrast in tone.

I wanted it to have a distinctive look to it with the two types of wood, but I designed it with a simple, straight forward style that would not clash with any furniture style my son might later add to the room. The ends are frame & panel construction.

& the sides utilize loose tenons.

A friend offered his Festool domino for the ladder side joinery & I do like loose tenon joining, but really can't justify the cost of that tool. I've since made a jig for one of my Shopsmiths that works almost as fast using an upcut router bit. The glider hardware is available from several web sources. I used Original Waterlox as the finish & it is now my new favorite for ease of use and look.
(Looks like I have some duplication in the photos, I'll have to figure out how to avoid that in the future...still getting the hang of posting stuff)

Very nice, Tom. Glad to see you've been back in the shop.

Unusual choice of wood and design but it works perfectly. Great job

beautiful piece, I love waterlox to finish cherry. I usually put 3-4 coats of original, and then one or two coats of a gloss.

nice cradle,, now that mens you got more training to do for the grand kids