WALNUT DREAMS

A sleeping beauty in walnut, made in temporary quarters.

SHOP OWNER: Ken Kimura

LOCATION: Montesano, WA

After learning my daughter-in-law was expecting this March, I built this walnut cradle for the occasion. I wanted to try my hand at producing hand-cut compound dovetails, mitered on top. As a test, I made a wooden tray, which is visible in the background on the workbench. The finish on the cradle is BLO, garnet shellac, and wipe-on poly.

A few years ago I moved my cabinet bench from the shop into the living room. The garage (shop) gets a bit cold during our Washington winters for hand work and the fingers just don't move like they used to. However, Im still able to do my stock prep in the garage.

The splay in the cradle is 20°. I followed Tage Frids table relating to tilt of sides, which is 20°. For cutting panels on the table saw, I set the tilt to 6 °, and the miter gauge angle to 71 °.