Open Face Bird Feeder
Introduction: Open Face Bird Feeder
I have a number of bird feeders in the tree in our front garden. The trouble is that our local robins never eat from them, they are always on the scraps that fall on the ground.
Doing a little research I found that robins will feed from tables or open feeders, I wanted something to hang from the tree so decided I would make an open feeder.
Supplies
A bandsaw
A log not too big to go through your bandsaw
Some wood glue
A few screws (optional)
Clamps
Some rope to hang the feeder
4 x screw in eyes
A drill with drill bit to make the holes for rope
Step 1: The Woodwork Step
The woodworking steps are very similar to making a bandsaw box.
Everything in this step was done freehand on the bandsaw (carefully).
First off I wanted to get the two ends flat and parallel to each other. For this I used a 13 mm 6 tpi blade.
As this is 'just' a bird feeder I didn't actually measure anything and did it by eye.
Once the log was squared off I chopped both ends off at about 15 mm thickness.
I marked out the section to be removed and because the curves were a little tighter, swapped out the blade for a 6 mm 10 tpi blade.
This was the first time I had made a cut of this depth using the band saw, and I was incredibly impressed with how it sliced through 220 mm of green oak.
The first curve was a little more open than I had planned, I don't think I was putting enough forward pressure with the turning pressure. 431
However, the cut was perfectly 90º upright through the whole cut.
I could now reattach the end pieces to close off the box. This was done with some waterproof wood glue and a couple of stainless screws. I left it clamped overnight to make sure the glue set.
Step 2: Stringing It Up
This step was a little tricky as I wanted to make sure that the feeder couldn't tip forward and spill out all the food or tip back and make it so the birds wouldn't be able to perch and feed.
I decided to go with 4 screw in eyes, this allowed me to tie on 4 suspension lines. These lines were run through holes in a top bar.
The conjunction of the 4 lines and top bar made it possible to balance the feeder front to back and left to right.
I was able to get it perfectly balanced on the single hanging line passed through the top bar.
Step 3: Feeders First Visitor
SUCCESS, the feeder had only been up about an hour and I got the first visitor, a very skittish robin came in and fed 4 or 5 times.
Here's hoping it becomes a regular feeding spot. 599