House for a fake Bird

A few years ago I turned some birdhouses as gifts. This particular birdhouse was made a smaller scale for my wife’s sewing room with a fake bird attached. Otherwise it is exactly the same as the larger one’s I have made for real birds.

• The main body is constructed from glued-up staves and then turned round on the lathe while the bottom is turned from a solid piece.

• The roof is face turned from a flat board cutting out rings at an angle and then re-stacked in reverse to form a shingled look.

• The bottom is screwed on so it can be removed for cleaning at the end of each season.

• There is a mounting bracket on the back. The mounting bracket is just a chunk of wood mounted lengthwise on the back and it is radiused on it’s front and back to fit the curve of the birdhouse body and also the roundness of a tree or round pole. The radiused bracket prevents it from turning even though it is only held to the birdhouse body by a single screw.

• The mounting bracket is first screwed to the tree and then the bird house is attached to the bracket with a screw through the entry hole in the front. You can see it in the photo.

• The birdhouse is finished with two part epoxy and then a coat of poly with UV protection. The finish holds up very well outdoors (several years).

I am thinking of turning some miniature ones similar to this as Christmas tree ornaments which I can use for some small gifts to family members. My inspiration for this thought was Shin’s post of his miniature Blue Bird houses.