cd's entry !!

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cd

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Hope I've put this in the right place, Ive never entered a woody competition before but have done the occasional small piece for money before and on and off I've been turning for 15 years.

What is it? … It’s a Turned Bird Box in MDF and Iroko. The base is MDF, a 12 piece barrel turned smooth round inside and out with an MDF bottom. The top is Iroko. There’s also an Iroko mounting bracket with a sliding dovetail so it can be taken on and off the tree easily. MDF is painted and the Iroko finished with Chesnut oil.

Why a birdhouse? … Well I’ve wanted to try and make a segmented biscuit barrel for a while but wasn’t sure exactly how to go about it and was therefore reluctant to use real wood. A combination of my daughter’s request for a bird box and the competition was enough motivation to saw up an off-cut of MDF window board and have a go.

This is the segments glued up (note the expensive string and stick clamps :wink: )

click on any of the images for larger view
I spent a lot of time waiting for glue to dry with this project not something I'm used to :)


….. and this is it on the lathe with the inside part turned

hope the birds appreciate the interior :p

Lots more WIP pictures and if anyone's interested I'll post a link to them after the competition closes


Here’s the finished article


And a real life shot of it on a tree !!


And SWMBO's comment "so does this mean you'll do the biscuit barrel soon ?"

cd
 
Hi CD

Well done, it looks excellent.

Am I correct in thinking that the sides are waterproof mdf that you have then painted?

I look forward to the wip photos after the closing date.

Good luck.

Cheers
Neil
 
CD,

It looks great - like something made from porcelain.

Your MDF looks as if it has been sandwiched in some thinnish wood? However, since you have turned it away perhaps this is how your MDF looks normally. My water resistant stuff is green all the way through.
 
That looks really nice. I bet you'll get orders for more from the neighbours.

Gill
 
CD, you are in good company because Alan Holtham has made a bird box somewhat like yours in this months "The Woodworker & Woodturner". His is made out of cherry but i think yours is better because he hasn't even included a perch for our poor little feathered friends :roll: :wink:

Regards

Woody
 
Woodythepecker":d2quiasf said:
he hasn't even included a perch for our poor little feathered friends :roll: :wink:
Depends on the species you're trying to attract. ****, f'rinstance, don't need one and you should actually avoid putting one 'cos it just makes it easier for intruders to muscle in.

Very jolly, CD. :D Assuming you don't mind dirty footed birds spoiling your workmanship :wink: you might want to rough up the inside wall below the hole to give the youngsters some grip when they want to get out.

Cheers, Alf
 
Hi,
thanks for your comments,
sorry I haven't replied all day but the internet was broken at work (firewall died) so a whole day of work quite tiring actually :shock:

Newbie_Neil":3i538nv0 said:
Hi CD

Am I correct in thinking that the sides are waterproof mdf that you have then painted?
Yes, the mdf I used was pre primed hence the white finish on it to start with but I turned all that away. The finish for it is several coats of primer followed with cellulose spray matt finish.

waterhead37":3i538nv0 said:
Your MDF looks as if it has been sandwiched in some thinnish wood? However, since you have turned it away perhaps this is how your MDF looks normally. My water resistant stuff is green all the way through.
I think its the way they make the window boards green in the middle and a fine :?: bit on the outside for painting. As it was a freebie offcut from a friend, I'm not completely sure.

dedee":3i538nv0 said:
CD,
very nice. How did you cut the angles on the segments?
ripped two strips from the board on the table saw with the blade tilted 15deg. then cut them to length. Needed a little sanding to smooth out the saw cuts and get a good fit.

Gill, two orders already and that just family :eek:

Alf's I know what you mean about the perch I did a bit of looking on the web before I started. As we don't get many **** in our garden I went for a box more suited to slightly bigger birds. There some good info here for anyone thinking of making bird boxes.

cd
 
Sorry Andy,
just realised i never replied :oops: . TS is the record tspp250 had it just over a year and very pleased with it so far. Cut the angles nicely but with some scorch marks in a few places. Thats probably because I'm still using the original blade, will get a better one soon but most of its use so far has been garden and diy projects where a good blade wasn't really needed.

cd
 
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