All
I built this cradle in 1981 for the birth of my daughter - it was her first bed. I had a few hand tools, a table saw, a 3/8" drill, orbital sander and sabre saw. I wasn't in shop class in high school, so I had to learn to do the wood working thing the hard way.
The cradle (pics below) wasn't a thing of beauty, the finish leaves a lot to be desired - but it was/is functional and I did some things right when I built it.
After my daughter got to be old enough, the cradle became a toy box in her room, until she out grew that function, then it was moved in to the basement for storage. Fast forward to now - my daughter will be a mom in another couple of months. She wants the cradle for her baby (flavor as yet unknown), so I've got to get this thing fixed.
Here are the pics.....
0818161955.jpg 0818161955b.jpg 0818161956.jpg
0818161957.jpg
The picture preceding this sentence shows the problem - the side is split at a glue line - the yellow things are pieces of yellow stickies I attached to show the location of the split. It's very narrow.
Other than the split, the balance of the cradle is tight - no other cracks or splits. I am certain that I'd ruin it if I were to attempt to pry things apart to get a glue dispenser nozzle in to it. Biscuts didn't exist back then, and I know I didn't have a dowel jig, so it was butted and glued.
Fixes that have come to mind are:
- Use a nail gun and toe nail the crack - but odds are that w/ my luck, the nail would blow out the side of the panel, and I'd only get one in there at best.
- Try to pocket screw it (ie Kreg jig), but I'm not sure I could get the jig positioned and locked in place on the inside of the hood. And then I'd have to fix the scar from the pocket hole.
Bottom line - I'm not thrilled with either of these ideas. All suggestions are welcome.
Many thanks
Jim