Flock of Birdhouses

[Maylon Harvey]

I haven’t posted anything in quite a while but here are a few birdhouses I made in the past month or so. If any of them look familiar, it’s because you have probably seen ones just like them posted by others on here. In other words, I COPIED THEM. I’m not very good at coming up with my own shapes, so I BORROWED other Creekers ideas. I’m sure you will recognize yours. How does that saying go, “Imitation is the best form of flattery”, or something like that. There are 49, each different. I took them to a show a week ago and sold half of them. But the best part was a lady that owns a store on Market Street (street full of fancy gift and art shops) in Corning, NY (that’s where Corning Glassworks is) wanted everything I had, birdhouses, pens and bowls to put in her shop on consignment. So hopefully that will work out.

[Maylon Harvey]

The rest of them. The woods used are apple, ash, spalted maple, cherry, walnut, beech, box elder, hickory and birch.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Those are so pretty. All the different wood species and different bird species all beautiful!

[Ted Calver]

Maylon....Those are pretty darn nice!!! I can see why the lady wants them in her shop. I would too!!

[Billy Tallant]

Very nice bird houses. Looks like a lot of work involved there.

Curious though, if you mind me asking. What is an average asking price on a birdhouse? Looks like a lot of work involved in different stages of making them.

[Cody Colston]

Those birdhouses are great. Lots of designs, colors and woods. Congrats on your consignment offer, too.

[Jeff Nicol]

Maylon, You have out done yourself on this bunch of bird houses! The amount of different shapes and wood type is wonderful! The finish looks great on all of them. I was just wondering where you get your birds, I have trouble finding any great variety of them here locally. Michaels is the only place that carries any and they are always the same few types. I really like the bright colors of some of the ones you have. I am in the process of making 50 of them for one of the shops that sell my things and I think some different birds would help!

Great job,

Jeff

[Steve Schlumpf]

Excellent work Maylon! Love the variety of styles, colors and even the little birds! These will be a big hit!

[Brian Effinger]

They all look great Maylon. And congrats on the sales and future sales.

Was it the Letchworth show?

[Terry Murphy]

Great job!
I love all the little bird houses. They are my favorite to make.

Terry

[Greg Just]

Nice job Maylon - what is the average diameter of the birdhouses?

[John Terefenko]

Love the shapes and styles. Also love the different colored birds. I too am in the process of making a few and would be interested to know where you got the birds from.??? My michaels store is just about out of them all the time I go there. Also if it would not be a problem about what do you ask in price for the ornaments??? Thanks for showing. These are always hits with the customers.

[Richard Madison]

Amazing variety of woods and styles Maylon. Nice work!

Just had to try a couple "acorn" style. Would rate mine as mediocre at best. Hardest part was turning that 8" diameter log down to make the .120" dia. perches. Then one of the perches fell out of the house and vanished into the shavings under the lathe, so I had to turn down another log. Found some really cheap birds at Hobby Lobby but they are all the same so the Chief is going to repaint some of them. Each bird has a .018" dia. wire out the bottom, so I drilled .020" dia. holes through the perches for the wire and CA'd in place. That part went extremely well. Always good to have a 440#, 2 hp. variable speed drill when doing those .020" dia. holes. Did not stall it once.

[Maylon Harvey]

Thanks everyone for all the nice compliments. They are really appreciated

Billy & John – I get $22 no matter if it’s a simple one or a little more complicated. Am I too high or low? What do the rest of you that sell them get. Jeff?

Jeff & John – I get the birds at Michaels and Hobby Lobby. HL has a better selection and better prices.

Jeff – I finally got the finish down so it’s pretty easy and also looks good. I used to have to spray on 3 or 4 coats of rattle can lacquer and had to be careful of sags, always seemed to give it one too many shoots. Now I friction in a coat of dewaxed shellac on the tops and bottoms to seal the wood before gluing them together. Now I can get away with just one coat of lacquer for a nice finish.

Greg – They are between 1 ¾ & 2 1/2 inches in diameter

Brian – No, not Letchworth. I missed the application deadline; hopefully next year as there is only one other turner there and all he has is bowls. I’ll have the birdhouses and pens. It was the Cohocton Fall Foliage Festival, a relatively small show.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Maylon those are great looking birdhouses. Well done. I get $25 for mine. I also get my birds from Michaels.

[John Terefenko]

You are in the same ball park as us all I guess. I get $27 for mine. And thanks for the Hobby Lobby thing. I have to see if they do internet sales.

I just checked with the Hobby Lobby site and they have some. What size birds are you all using??? I just ordered some from another place and they are too fat and do not look right.

[Maylon Harvey]

John,
I just went and looked and there is no part number or skew number on the cards of birds. Just marked at $1.99. So the measurements are:
Red birds are 6 to a card and 1 inch long, just right.
Brown birds are 4 to a card and 1 3/8 inches long. In my opinion they are too big for most of my size houses, so I tried to only use them only on the biggest houses.
Blue bird with orange breast, 4 to a card, 1 1/16 inch long, again, just right.
The littlest one, green head and orange breast, is ¾ inch long. Too small for most of my houses, so only used then on the smallest houses.

These are the ones from Hobby Lobby. The ones from Michael’s are 4 to a pack and 1 1/16 inch long.

Hope that helps.

[Maylon Harvey]

John,
I just went and looked on the Hobby Lobby site.
The Blue/Brown with orange breast are sku # 337278.
The little green head are sku #587246
The bigger brown one is sku 617993
The red one is sku 618009.

They have the sizes listed a little different than what they actually are. They have a couple others listed that I don’t have, but would probably work also.

[John Terefenko]

Thanks Maylon

I am going to try to order some and see what they look like. I do not have a Hobby Lobby store near me so I will try ordering. Have to get some houses made for some shows.

[John Terefenko]

Maylon

One other question. With the birds you bought did they come with that wire on the bottom and if so did you just cut this off??? Also I looked at the skew # you gave and it says the measurement of the birds are 1-1/2" Is this number wrong oin their add and they actually measure a little smaller??? Thanks

[Richard Madison]

John,
The local HL had only one kind of birdies, like Maylon's #337278, about 3/4" overall, six to a card for 1.99. The wire is .018 dia. so I drilled .020 hole in perch for about 1" of wire, after glue set nip off excess wire at bottom of perch. Wife repainted some in different colors.

[Maylon Harvey]

Maylon

One other question. With the birds you bought did they come with that wire on the bottom and if so did you just cut this off??? Also I looked at the skew # you gave and it says the measurement of the birds are 1-1/2" Is this number wrong oin their add and they actually measure a little smaller??? Thanks
John,
Yes the one's from HL come with the wire. But I cut it off and glue the birds on with thin CA first to get a quick set, then a small bead of medium CA. Their advertised measurements are wrong, they do actually measure smaller like you said and as I indicated in my earlier post.