I have long recommended building bird houses as great early learning projects for those newish to woodworking. Materials can be about anything and cheap / free. Errors need not be a worry since most birds can't use a steel tape or a level. If things go bad, call it rustic...
I have been super busy working on my retirement boot / shoe repair / leather work shop and only have woodshop time in making simple stuff for it lately. It is time however to take a little time from that and make a batch of bird houses. I hope everybody is busy making bird houses. Unlike the human world there is not a glut of available housing for birds so we need to be on a building spree.
Note too that wives / S-others usually approve of bird houses and will accept that as an excuse to spend a lot of time in the shop.
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farmer
Francis Robinson
I did not equip with Shopsmiths in spite of the setups but because of them.
1 1988 - Mark V 510 (bought new), 4 Poly vee 1 1/8th HP Mark V's, Mark VII, 1 Mark V Mini, 1 Frankensmith, 1 10-ER, 1 Mark V Push-me-Pull-me Drillpress, SS bandsaw, belt sander, jointer, jigsaw, shaper attach, mortising attach, TS-3650 Rigid tablesaw, RAS, 6" long bed jointer, Foley/Belsaw Planer/molder/ripsaw, 1" sander, oscillating spindle/belt sander, Scroll saw, Woodmizer sawmill
robinson46176 wrote:I have long recommended building bird houses as great early learning projects for those newish to woodworking. Materials can be about anything and cheap / free. Errors need not be a worry since most birds can't use a steel tape or a level. If things go bad, call it rustic...
I have been super busy working on my retirement boot / shoe repair / leather work shop and only have woodshop time in making simple stuff for it lately. It is time however to take a little time from that and make a batch of bird houses. I hope everybody is busy making bird houses. Unlike the human world there is not a glut of available housing for birds so we need to be on a building spree.
Note too that wives / S-others usually approve of bird houses and will accept that as an excuse to spend a lot of time in the shop.
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BUT, but I don't believe there are any birds here in the Tucson area that will rent a bird house if I put one up. They'll carve an apartment complex in my saguaro cactus though.
I have mostly dove's, cactus wrens, woodpeckers and quail. I love to listen to the quail as they gather in the early morning to begin their morning sojourn through the wash (dry river bed to most).
"Making Sawdust Safely" Dusty
Sent from my Dell XPS using Firefox.
dusty wrote:BUT, but I don't believe there are any birds here in the Tucson area that will rent a bird house if I put one up. They'll carve an apartment complex in my saguaro cactus though.
I have mostly dove's, cactus wrens, woodpeckers and quail. I love to listen to the quail as they gather in the early morning to begin their morning sojourn through the wash (dry river bed to most).
Build one without an entry hole and put a sign on it "for rent to woodpeckers"...
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--
farmer
Francis Robinson
I did not equip with Shopsmiths in spite of the setups but because of them.
1 1988 - Mark V 510 (bought new), 4 Poly vee 1 1/8th HP Mark V's, Mark VII, 1 Mark V Mini, 1 Frankensmith, 1 10-ER, 1 Mark V Push-me-Pull-me Drillpress, SS bandsaw, belt sander, jointer, jigsaw, shaper attach, mortising attach, TS-3650 Rigid tablesaw, RAS, 6" long bed jointer, Foley/Belsaw Planer/molder/ripsaw, 1" sander, oscillating spindle/belt sander, Scroll saw, Woodmizer sawmill
dusty wrote:BUT, but I don't believe there are any birds here in the Tucson area that will rent a bird house if I put one up. They'll carve an apartment complex in my saguaro cactus though.
I have mostly dove's, cactus wrens, woodpeckers and quail. I love to listen to the quail as they gather in the early morning to begin their morning sojourn through the wash (dry river bed to most).
I got a call from my 6 year old granddaughter last Wednesday night," Grandpa can you bring some wood over to our house and build a bird house? " Me " right now?" Kora " Sure, we have new paint and we want to paint a bird house!" I begged off until the next day and hustled one to have when she got off the bus on Thursday. First words out of her mouth were " Did you get the bird house made? " She and her little sister painted it and took it home that night. It will stay inside and be a catch all box. Great fun!
terrydowning wrote:I may just try my hand a t Owl carving to try and keep the birds and squirrels away!!
I'm with you on the squirrels - mangey critters they are, furry tailed rats, that will eat almost anything and gnaw their way through everything to get to something to eat. Only good squirrel is one shot in a hickory nut grove, floured and fried then finished cooked in a good rich gravy.
