Copper Top Birdhouse

I am WAY behind on posting my projects lately. I have seven other finished birdhouses sitting in the dining room floor that need to be photographed and posted. I thought I would make another one for the birds of a feather contest. Hopefully I will get the rest posted this week.

This birdhouse started as some nice wide rough cut poplar and walnut I purchased at a local lumberyard and planed it down to size. I wanted to make sure the grain pattern of the poplar wrapped around the sides and front. The back and sides was box jointed together with the help of my Leigh jig. Rear vent hole were drilled, plugged from end grain poplar plugs then re-drilled. Like many of my birdhouses, I like to anchor the floor though the back of the house. I made it stand out a little proud to help hint at what is underneath. The bottom is made up of nineteen quarter inch strips that match the same width as the box joints.

The removable from door is made up of seventeen pieces. Why do so many of my projects turn into a math problem? My miter gauge and brain got a good workout. Since the grain pattern had to wrap around, I had only one piece to work with. The door is double layered to add depth and the walnut accents wrap the poplar to meet back into 45 degree cut sides. My normal hinged door with copper pin stays would not work on this one. I cut some walnut dowels and added eight rare earth magnets to keep it in place. Just grab hold and pull back to release the door. I realized afterwards I could have easily gotten away with only four magnets. The door intentionally stops short of connecting with the roof for added ventilation in the front. I added a ring on the back side of the hole that matched the bottom of the birdhouse for an extra touch. The inside was left unfinished and is ready to move in.

The roof was cut out of a copper mailbox I had to replace at home. I cut, folded, filed and sanded the copper into shape. The dimples were made from a ball peen hammer to help break up the top surface. My original plan was to leave it with the natural copper patina, but it looked too close to the color of the walnut. If I made a mistake stripping the copper, I figured time and weather would eventually get back to that look over time.

The birdhouse is finished with six rubbed coats of spar polyurethane and a final coat of wax for good measure.

Thanks for looking and good luck to all the entries that have been posted!

-- Shrub G. , Dalton Georgia