Birdhouse ornaments

[dennis kranz]

I hope to do some of these birdhouse ornaments in the next couple weeks. As small as they are they say to hollow them out. What do you hollow them with? The smallest I have found is by Sorby and they want a small fortune for the set. Is there anything else? Or do I find some lighter wood? I don't have the skills to make my own.
Dennis

[Rick Hutcheson]

Go buy a cheap set of long screwdrivers and make some scraper type tools with them. You may have to sharpen them more often than good tools but they work good for ocasional use, and they are cheap.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Dennis,

Those small birdhouses are end grain projects IIRC. You could use your spindle gouge to hollow them. Go watch the free educational videos at Woodcraft if you have high speed internet. They turn boxes that way IIRC and they are end grain projects. You can also use a small scraper.

[John Terefenko]

I make these and they are all hollowed out. It all starts with a fostner bit to take the bulk out and then a 1/4" scraper to thin it out more. Fast and easy and no worries about catches.

[Wally Wenzel]

Hi John, Th houses are really neat, i have made a few awhile and have been looking for those stands to display them, seeN them some place on the net but can't find them back , care to share where you found them?
Wally

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Wally....IIRC...CSUSA carries them...maybe PSI.

Wally...I went and checked ....CSUSA has them.

[John Terefenko]

Wally

No problem. Here you go. http://www.ornamentdisplays.com/cata...8&PageNumber=2

Here is another place I have ordered from http://www.potomacdisplay.com/pd_cat...&mt=268&tt=850

[Keith Burns]

Bob Rosand has free instructions on his web site on turning small acorn style bird house ornemants. If they are not there they can be found on the AAW site I believe.

[Dick Parr]

Bob Rosand has free instructions on his web site on turning small acorn style bird house ornemants. If they are not there they can be found on the AAW site I believe.

Bob also sells some really nice (small) hollowing tools as well.

[Kevin McPeek]

The Packard set works for my ornaments. I do the ball type as well as birdhouses. Like John I take the bulk out with a forstner. I usually make the top about 1 1/4" and hollow it with a 1" so you have a nice 1/8 wall. I drill the holes for entry and perch before hollowing so it won't blow out.

[Neal Addy]

Yep. Forstner bit will do it.

I did a few of these for the first time last year. They were a lot of fun!

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[Tim Beauregard]

Neal,

For those birdhouse ornaments you did, I have a couple of questions.
1. What are the dimensions?
2. Is that 1 piece of wood, or 2 turned separately and glued together after?

They're very nice looking and I would like to make some, but I am not very good, so I need to get directions and determine if it is within my capability.

Thanks and regards,
Tim B.

[Neal Addy]

Thanks, Tim. I'm sure no expert at these. You're looking at the sum total of my birdie condo experience.

The tallest of these is around 7" total. Each is two separate pieces glued together. The top is just turned to a hollow cone. The bottom is hollowed (before turning) with a 1/2" forstner bit. The two holes (i.e. door and perch) are also drilled before turning.

The bottom of each piece has a small lip that is glued into a recess in the top. I didn't worry much about hollowing the insides on the lathe. Just cleaned up and deepened the hollow a bit.

Like I said, these are fun to do. I could easily get addicted.