Shopsmith Forums

Attached are photos of the bird houses I was making during my self isolation. As you may notice, the basic box is the same for all of them. The upper roof section is where the different designs come in, including the hole size. The book with the plans has a mistake in that it mixed up the sides and end gables so that the gables were too small. I covered up the holes at each end with the trim. Painting was done by my dear wife.

The blue roof is supposed to mimick a metal roof though it didn't turn out as well as I hoped due to the fact I used rough exterior plywood and neglected to fill the rough spots and then sand it smooth.

The second is a shingle roof and my Rockler thin rip jig got a lot of use on this. Also nicked my thumb on the saw blade and then I smartened up and attached the project piece to a longer and wider piece of wood to keep my hands away from the blade.

I started a third one and as you can see it will be a barn style roof. I considered three roof coverings , copper sheet, curved long slats going from side to side, (even tried making one to be sure it could be done), but decided on the just flat slats from front to back.

Have fun and stay safe.

John

Wow!

You’re going to have some lucky birds living in high style ... hope their heads don’t get too big to fit through the “door”.

I think they all look great, including the blue "metal" roof!

working with small pieces can be fun, and time consuming, especially when you make them all your self , nice job.

Thanks for the comments!

The metal roof looks good in the picture, not so much up close where all the roughness shows. I might try to give it a coat of a a finish that is less glossy but I may have to wait until we are given the all clear to travel as I don't have any on hand.

Making the small pieces was satisfying once I learned to slow down and do it safely.

My dear wife decided to send pictures with our Easter greetings to the children and grandchildren but the birdhouses created a problem. They were originally intended for a couple of daughters who live nearby but the great-grandchidren saw them and thought they were for them, including one who lives in Dubai. Now i need to make more.

Have fun and stay safe.

John

Fun birdhouses and a nice job. Persist... ~mike c

Very nice, thanks for sharing! You have some good ideas I might try to incorporate into my next birdhouse, very cute designs.

I built one last Christmas for my Wife, just before I got my Shopsmith, it was the project to see if I would enjoy it. Here is a picture of it after we got it installed in the yard. A bird moved in last week, very exciting! Mine is made out of pallet wood and has a plain steel roof. I want the roof to rust and turn into an interesting color, time will tell.

Glad to hear you got birds. Of all the houses I have built, only the ones I gave away got tenants. Mine sit empty.

I like your idea for a post support. If you haven't already done it, you might consider taking a few rocks out, laying down some landscape fabric and a few inches of earth to plant flowers.

John

John,

That is a great idea on the flowers, I bet the wife would like that! I may have spoke too soon on the birds, they definitely started building a nest in it, but I have not seen them for a couple days now. There was a bigger bluebird that was over there and seemed get in a tussle with the bird that was building a nest, maybe it scared them off. I wish the bluebird would make a nest in it then as it was really pretty.

Edit: A new pair of birds moved in, they look like Wrens. They have a neat song they do, not just a chirp.

WoodFrog

john wrote:Thanks for the comments!

The metal roof looks good in the picture, not so much up close where all the roughness shows. I might try to give it a coat of a a finish that is less glossy but I may have to wait until we are given the all clear to travel as I don't have any on hand.
John

Get you some of this PC wood putty, this stuff is great mix as little or as much as needed, put it on the roof like you bondo a car sand it smooth and repaint. Use this all the time mostly for knotholes etc...paintable, stainable...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000H ... UTF8&psc=1