BillinSilverSpring

Triumph1 wrote, " I am guessing you have a hollowed out section full of something to make it rattle?"

The middle purpleheart piece has a hole completely through it; the two birdseye maple sides have a partially drilled 1-inch hole in each. I put a steel nut in the resulting cavity and glued all three pieces together. Then I spent a lot of time carving and sanding.

lathebeaver wrote, "What sort of glue did you use? What kind of finish? Dried beans for the rattle?

Titebond yellow glue. Watco oil finish; I don't let the rattles out of the house until they have cured for 30 days. Inside is a small, steel nut for the sound (not very loud).