Big Birdhouse

Curt Fuller

Member
Messages
348
Location
North Ogden, Utah
This one is 29" tall, 12.5" wide. This is from some old dried up, cracked, bug eaten, scrub (gambel) oak. 2 pieces, danish oil with minwax spar polyurethne.

ScrubOak2.jpg
ScrubOak1.jpg
 
I love it!

I only wish I had a bigger lathe and a supply of firewood to experiment on.

That's just so nice looking...
 
Beautiful piece. What is the wood and what bird did you size it for?

Bruce

Bruce, the wood is Gambel Oak, the scrub oak that grows along the foothills here in Utah. The actual house cavity is about 4 1/2" x 6" with an opening that's 1 1/2" diameter. I don't know much about what birds live in what type houses. With my luck it'll probably be starlings.
 
Curt, I really like these big birdhouses.

Do the birds like them? Will a bird move into one or are they just decorative items for folks to hang in their yards? Do you finish the interior of the "house"? I think you could sell the daylights out of these if you could get hooked up with a lawn and garden center.

Nice work!
 
Very cool Curt! This is STILL high on my list to do's....Has been since you posted a couple last year...thanks for the reminder! Well Done! :thumb:
 
That's another nice one, Curt. I've got two different neighbors that want one after seeing the one I made for LOML a year or two ago. I'm keeping my eyes open for suitable pieces of wood.
 
Question....how do you open them up for cleaning ??????

I've made 5 of these, all similar but different woods. But I've either sold them or given them as gifts so I've never had to worry about cleaning one. But my first thought would be to stick the shop vac in the hole. But when I've made these they've been more of an ornamental idea than a practical thing. I think screws and such to make them 'cleanable' would be a distraction.
 
Birdhouse Opening Sizes

If you're building a birdhouse, the opening size will vary based on the type of bird you are trying to attract. Be sure to match the opening to your target audience! Each of these widths is the full diameter of the opening.

1.125" opening:
Chickadee

1.25" opening:
Downy Woodpecker
Nuthatch
Titmouse

1.5" opening:
Bluebird
Wren

2" opening:
Flycatcher
Red-headed Woodpecker

2.5" opening:
Flicker
Martin

3" opening:
Screech Owl

4" opening:
Wood Duck

Fully open side:
Barn Swallow
Phoebe
Robin

(Found on the Web.)
 
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