Mass Wood working

Birdhouse Ornaments

For my non-alcoholic friends I have made some birdhouse ornaments. These start as a glued up block of walnut and cedar.


A hole for the nesting area is drilled through the end of the block. Then an "entry" hole and hole for a perch are drilled through the face.


The body is turned to shape. In this pic the finial is not done because that is where it was attached to the drive shaft of the lathe. It now needs to be turned around and secured in a "jam chuck" which consists of a block I mounted to the lathe and has a Forstner hole. I turn the very top of the house to fit very snugly into that hole (thus "jam" it in). Then the finial is completed.


The roof consists of a block of sycamore turned down into a cone shape. I pre-drill the Forstner hole for the top of the birdhouse to fit into, then I drill for a screw chuck so I can turn the roof all in one orientation. Nobody will ever see that hole.


The finished birdhouse fits in the palm of my hand. The top and bottom fit snugly but can be glued together. For THIS particular one I am going to put a dark chocolate Hershey kiss inside (this friend LOVES Special Dark, like me). Also, in this case I glued a 2007 penny to the inside of the roof. In ornaments that ARE glued top to bottom I dropped a 2007 penny inside. It rattles and one can shake it and look through the entry hole to see the penny.


Finally I drill a small hole on the top of the roof and screw in a brass eye screw. Then a piece of ribbon. Then glue in a short section of dowel for the perch and finally glue on a small bird using hot melt glue.