Bird Feeder

Overview: If you have kids or just enjoy bird watching, have I got a deal for you! This is a very easy, inexpensive, and fun item to build. It does not take very much time either and you and/or your children will love it.

Interesting Fact: Recently I was out talking with my neighbors, filling up the bird feeder and I asked them where the wasp traps were that used to be hanging up on the trees where their children play. They told me that they didn't even need the wasp traps anymore because the all the birds kept them away by feeding nearby. So if you have a flying insect problem, maybe this bird feeder will keep them away.

Please note that I actually made three of these bird feeders at the same time so that is why everything is actually three times as much as you really need. I bought the wood at Home Depot for a good price.

Please also note that I took all of these pictures with my cell phone since I forgot to bring my wife's camera with me so they aren't as clear as my usual posts.

Lime Light: I need to give a special thanks to my wife's family in Texas for taking some wonderful pictures for me of some birds eating at the feeder. Those pictures are posted at the end.

I started out by cutting the back of the bird feeder. I did not follow any blueprints, I simply envisioned the size that I wanted and went from there.

I then cut what will be the sides of the bird feeder measuring the same height as the back. You only need two of these for one bird feeder.


Here are all of the sides for all 3 bird feeders.

I then cut what would be the base of the bird feeder making sure that it was the same width as the back piece.

Before I attached any pieces of wood together I used my router to make a thin slit the length of the side pieces so as to make an area of my Plexiglas to slide in.

I then drew an area for the bird seed to go underneath the Plexiglas making it big enough for the birds to reach the seed and used my router to carve this box out. Don't worry! It does not have to be a perfect rectangle. This is just a bird feeder. The birds won't care if it isn't perfect.

I then used a table saw or a router to cut notches into the sides and back piece so as to make a better fit. I would suggest using a router because it is easier to make the cuts more exact. I used a table saw since I didn't have the right bit.

I then used glue and a nail fun to attach all of the pieces together and let it dry for maybe 30 minutes.

I wanted to get a little fancy so I used another bit with my router to make a decorative edge the height of the bird feeder.

I then took it to my compound miter saw and made a bevel cut that would slope down from the back to the front so as to have a place to attach the roof.

I cut another piece of wood that I used for the roof and attached it to the bird feeder by drilling two holes in the top of the bird feeder and two holes in the lid and gluing two pieces of a dowel rod into the holes of the bird feeder making sure that they stick out for the lid holes to lay over.

I then sanded everything to make all of the edges smoother and to make it better able to take a stain.

I then used a pre-stain conditioner and a golden oak stain.

While the stain was drying, I cut some Plexiglas using a utility knife scoring it a lot, over and over and over again until it would snap in the right place.

I then attached two hooks to the back of the bird feeder and ran some wire from one to the other tying the ends to each hook. I put a nail in a tree and then hung it up.

And here it is in all its glory! Come and get em' birdies!

You can get bird seed at WalMart, any pet store, or any farming store. I bought 5 pounds of bird seed at a farming store for $3.49. You will not break the bank with this project.






There is a male and a female in this picture. The red is the male and the gray is the female.


Two males maybe fighting over who will stay with the female?

Ordering: Would you like to have a bird feeder for your own home? These feeders are lightweight and make excellent gifts for any occasion. I will even throw in a bag of bird seed for FREE with each purchase!

Cost: $10.00 + Shipping and Handling

Email to Place an Order: sloandaja@gmail.com

Upon emailing me, I will send you an email with further instructions on how to submit payment and when you can expect to receive your item.

Valentines Day Jewelry Box

Overview: This was a gift that I wanted to make for my wife for a few months now. I really only thought about making it a few days previous though. She also mentioned that she wanted one so this totally counted as marking something off of her "list" which is a bonus point for me.

I really wanted to make her this because I wanted to give her something nice that would last forever. I know that roses are lovely and so are chocolates but they are both gone faster than you can see sweet tooth. I was a few days late giving this to her but the suspense of her knowing that it was coming made it even more of a surprise. Building the project took about 3-4 hours and then another hour all together with the finish sanding and the three coats of stain that I applied.

I started out by buying a block of Mahogany wood from a local wood working store and then sanding the top and bottom to make them flat because they were "rough cut."

I cut the block almost in half so that I could start making the lid. I had to make the lid thick at first because I was going to use the lathe on it and I didn't want and screw holes in it.

I then screwed on the mounting bracket for the lathe to the back of the lid.

I cut a heart out of paper to use as a template for the lid.


Although the main grain line is in the middle with it running through the side of the heart, I later changed it to where the heart was turned so that the line runs through the top of the heart.

The lid on the lathe. I traced the heart so that I would know how big to make the circle around it.

After I cut out a circle, while still on the lathe, I sanded it down to make it a simple impression around the heart.

I then cut off another piece from the block that I would use as the base of the box.

These are all the sides with two being Mahogany and the other two lighter ones being Cypress wood.

These are the clamps that I used. I would've preferred smaller ones but this is all I had at my disposal. They worked out really well though.

The box after it was dry.

To make the box stronger, I needed to nail the pieces together.

Time Saving Tip: These are 18 gauge nails that I took from my finish nail gun. I didn't want to use the nail gun because since there is so much power in them, I didn't want to run the risk of splitting the wood. So I used my plyers and cut them into thirds and only used the top third.

I used a hammer to nail them in but it was hard. Since I cut them so much smaller, my fingers were now to big to hold them so I had to use needle nose pliers to hold them while I hammered them in.

This is the bottom after I nailed it.

I then cut off the back of the lid to make it roughly the same thickness of the base.

This part was pretty tricky. I used a drill press to make three holes for the heart. After these holes were drilled I used a very sharp chisel to scrape away the excess wood. I then wrapped 60 grid sand paper around my screwdriver so that I could more easily sand the sides of the heart.

Time Saving Tip: You should use a skil saw for this if you have one because then you will only need to drill one hole and you won't need a chisel.

I used the same heart template as before, traced it exactly, but cut it bigger everywhere. I did this so I would be able to get a tighter fit by sanding it down instead of cutting it. You will have more precision with sanding than cutting. I took the heart and the lid over to the belt sander and started sanding the heart down little by little until I was able to hit the heart into the heart hole. You want a very tight fit.

I made the heart thicker than the lid so that I would be able to sand down the remaining to make it a very snug fit.

This is the very beginning of the heart lid. I know that it didn't fit perfectly but that is nothing that we can't handle.

As you can see the inside of the back of the lid now has a lip. You can use either a router or a table saw for this. I made this so as to make a tighter fit on the box. I later put "Stainable Wood Putty" around the heart and over the nail holes to fill in the gaps.

I then sanded the whole box down when I got home with a 150 Grit and then a 220 Grit for a very smooth finish. I made sure all of the dust was off and then applied three coats of a Golden Oak 210B stain.

Anger Saving Tip: A big problem that I run into is having the wood not absorb the stain evenly. this can happen with hard and soft woods but predominantly in soft woods. To beat this, I used "MINWAX Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner" which is fairly inexpensive. It cost me under $10 for 1 Pint which lasts forever. Plus, if you are going to spend a lot of time on a project, you want it to turn out perfectly and this is the best way for it to look amazing.

Time Saving Tip: Get a stain with a built in sealer to not have to apply so many coats. I used a brand called "MINWAX."

Since I did use stainable wood putty around the heart and nail holes, I did have to sand those areas a few times even after I stained because sometimes, it does not accept the stain very well. In this case, sand it with 220 Grit sand paper until you see the remains go away and then stain it again. Patience is a great virtue in this instance. Remember, take your time and do a great job because you can really make your project look great with a little sanding.

I bought a product called "Gorilla Glue" to glue these straps onto the box to act as hinges. It works really well. The white spots are from the can of beans I used to rest on the glue over night and it ripped off a little bit of the paper. Do Not use a lot of this glue as it expands while it dries.

Overall, my Wife loved it. It made her and myself cry when I gave it to her because I had put so much time into it and we both feel that it will be in the family for many generations.

Fish Tank Addition

Overview:

Carved DVD Tower

Overview: This was a really fun project for me. It was my first custom piece of furniture. I actually got all of the wood (It is actually particle board) from a previous employer who was going to throw it all away. I thought for sure I could use it somehow so I asked him if I could have it. This was the result. From the pictures you can only see one side. I made it double deep so when I build a turn table for it you will be able to rotate the whole tower and place DVDs on the opposite side.

My friend, Barry (http://www.thefooze.blogspot.com/) designed this carving on his computer. I painted the whole tower black first and then carved out the picture. This was actually really fun and easier to carve than real wood because there are no grain patterns in particle board.

Coffee Table Magazine Holder

Overview: This project took a little more time than I had previously thought but it turned out really well. I could only use my hand saw because it was too late at night to use my miter saw outside and I don't have a garage yet. I didn't want to drive to my friends wood shop to use his table saw and sander either because it is 30 minutes away. This design was pure inspiration. Every month we receive a Church magazine that I want to have handy to read while I am on our couch. You may be asking yourselves "Why didn't you put them on the actual coffee table?" That is actually what we tried doing but very soon after placing them on the table, we would but many other items on there too making the table really cluttered. My wife in frustration would then clean off the whole table and put the magazines across the room. Then I would move them back to the table and the whole process would start over. I wanted something that would look nice and be functional. Please do not think that I messed up a nice coffee table. Ours is from Walmart and it was $30 so I did not feel bad in the least bit drilling into it and giving it an "upgrade." After I had finished the project I was ecstatic to see how well it turned out coming from my mind. Again this project was pure inspiration.

Start out by ripping a 2 x 4 down the middle into two equal pieces.

Then you want to cut off an angle piece from the tops of both pieces like so.

I then used a 1/2 inch drill bit to drill the four holes. Make sure that your drill is straight up and down while you are drilling because if not, it will be very difficult to place your dowel rods in later. I then took them outside and spray painted them black.

Time Saving Tip: Place the two pieces of wood on top of each other, clamp them together making sure that they are flush. Proceed to drill your holes. This makes it so that you only have to drill two holes instead of four and they will also be exactly equal in distances from the end. Again make sure that your drill is straight up and down while you are drilling.

I then pre-drilled holes for my screws to attach my 2 x 4 pieces to the coffee table. I didn't want the wood to split but one piece still did as you can see in the picture. I used four L-brackets in total and spray painted those as well. I also used 2 inch long screws to attach the pieces to the legs and the table itself.

Once your side pieces are attached, measure the distances and cut a dowel rod to length and spray paint that also.

I am most proud of this piece below. I needed some cloth and I asked my wife for some but "No way" was the result. She had nothing for me but suggested that I cut up an old T-Shirt or something that I have in storage. She is brilliant. I found an old sweater that I got for free from a college football game that I had not worn in four years. Even then, I had only worn the sweater three times. I then tried to cut out a nice rectangle and sewed the edges. Yes, I do know the basics to sewing due to my mother teaching me when I was younger. She was a great teacher but I was a bad student as you can see. The top and bottom are stitched close so as to make sides but I sewed the left and right sides with a dowel rod in there to make sure the loops were big enough to have the rod slide through them. To my surprise it all worked out.

Then you slide the dowel rods in through the holes and place the loop in the fabric onto the dowel rod.

Pictured below are the magazines and a folder with a cloth covering surrounding it for protection laying in the magazine holder.

Overall I only paid for the dowel rod and one can of spray paint. Everything else came from scraps.