I purchased and read Sam Maloof’s autobiography several years ago, and obtained the book “The Furniture of Sam Maloof” by Jeremy Adamson about a year ago.  I was dazzled by Sam’s work and while the books were great reading, it never occurred to me to try to duplicate anything he had done. 

Then my daughter became pregnant with my first grandchild, and I was determined to build a cradle.  I found several sets of plans, but none of them was adequate to hold my FIRST GRANDCHILD!  I decided to design my own.  During this period I was watching the Sam Maloof videos on the WoodworkingChannel.com.  He repeatedly encouraged people to have the courage to develop their own designs and build them, even when they seemed beyond their capabilities.  Those were powerful words to a grandpa-to-be who wanted to make something special for his “Nicholas.” (We now knew we would be having a grandson.) 

I decided to pattern my design after Sam’s cradle.  After a couple of prototypes, I did a reality check and determined there was no way I was going to create those wonderful sculptured curves he used in the time I had.  So I decided that every line would be straight.  I could do straight lines.  Meanwhile, time was passing, and I remained a little blasé about getting the cradle done in time for Nicholas’ birth.  Then we got the call that my daughter was in the hospital and would be delivering three weeks early!  The cradle at that time consisted of a pile of walnut boards in my garage.  Time to get to work! 

As you can see from the picture, the cradle was completed, although somewhat late.  I applied several coats of Sam’s finish, purchased from Rockler. This is a great finish because it makes me look like a much better woodworker than I am.  There were lots of ooh’s and aah’s from friends and relatives, although Nicholas remained unimpressed.  So Sam, you have left the earth, but for me you live on in that cradle, along with the encouragement you gave me to do something I thought was beyond my abilities.

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