Steve Aiken
12-13-2015, 4:00 PM
So my daughter is pregnant with baby #1 and she has announced that she really likes the Lulu cradle by designer Nanna Ditzel. https://brdr-kruger.com/en/products/lulu-cradle I've always thought that I would build a cradle for each of my kids, soooooooo......
I've designed the shape and dimensions and built a prototype out of cardboard. I've got 2 sheets of 1/8 inch hardwood plywood and I've built up a form to shape the ply to shape. The plan is to bend and laminate two layers together to make a 1/4 inch ply. I figure once the pieces are laminated together, they'll hold the shape fairly well. I'll build up 3/4 inch thick end pieces and rout a 1/4 inch groove around the sides and bottom to hold the sides.
Question: I'm concerned about just gluing in the plywood into the groove because the solid ends will expand/contract as the humidity changes and potentially split the plywood. Although I don't see it in the photos of the lulu cradle, I'm wondering if I should add a rail at the very bottom. If this rail and the top rails on both sides of the cradle were grooved to accept the plywood, then I could apply glue in the groove-to-plywood connection for just a short span between the top rail and bottom rail on both sides, and these two panels would essentially float in the groove.
What do you think? Is there a better way?
Steve
I've designed the shape and dimensions and built a prototype out of cardboard. I've got 2 sheets of 1/8 inch hardwood plywood and I've built up a form to shape the ply to shape. The plan is to bend and laminate two layers together to make a 1/4 inch ply. I figure once the pieces are laminated together, they'll hold the shape fairly well. I'll build up 3/4 inch thick end pieces and rout a 1/4 inch groove around the sides and bottom to hold the sides.
Question: I'm concerned about just gluing in the plywood into the groove because the solid ends will expand/contract as the humidity changes and potentially split the plywood. Although I don't see it in the photos of the lulu cradle, I'm wondering if I should add a rail at the very bottom. If this rail and the top rails on both sides of the cradle were grooved to accept the plywood, then I could apply glue in the groove-to-plywood connection for just a short span between the top rail and bottom rail on both sides, and these two panels would essentially float in the groove.
What do you think? Is there a better way?
Steve