My 1st Birdhouse Ornament

[Kathy Marshall]

The ball was turned from a small dalbergia sissoo log. There was no heartwood in the log, so I thought it would be a good candidate for some dye. The roof and icicle are mesquite.

I probably shouldn't call it an ornament because nobody is going to have a tree big enough to hang it from :eek:
It actually started out as a small sphere hollow form. I have a new backrest for my hollowing system on the way, but in the meantime I'm stuck with hand hollowing.
I was using my Easy Hollower and caught the edge of the rim when I was exiting. The result was a little bit bigger entrance hole. Then when I was cleaning that up I had a little lapse in attention which resulted in a much, much bigger entrance hole.
So I decided to add a roof and call it a birdhouse!
It's 12" tall x 4"wide. The house is dyed red and finished with lacquer. The roof and icicle are finished with antique oil. It still needs a buff to shine it up and a little perch.
Picture isn't great, I didn't have anything tall enough to hang it from in the photo booth, so it's hanging from the chandelier under some bad lighting.

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Thanks for looking!
Comments and critiques are welcome.

[Doug W Swanson]

Looks great, Kathy! Be careful because these can be addicting!

[Steve Schlumpf]

I like it!! I think you can refer to them as lawn ornaments!! The size reminded me of a few that Curt Fuller turned... back in 2008 - check them out:
Big Birdhouse (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?95134-Big-Birdhouse&highlight=)
For the Birdies (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?93213-For-the-birdies&highlight=)

[Tim Rinehart]

I like the style and finish, of course, and think it would be well suited for a porch perhaps if too big for indoors.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Good looking birdhouse Kathy.

[Roger Chandler]

Nice work K! You might can call it a real birdhouse......smallish, for small birds.......that would hang nicely on a limb in the back yard, or such. I know the finches in our area are about the right sized bird for that house........looking forward to your next "ornament."

[Curt Fuller]

Very cool birdhouse. That's a neat idea.

[David DeCristoforo]

Never would have guessed the size from the pic. Maybe you can hang it from your front porch!

[Kathy Marshall]

Thanks guys!
I don't think it turned out too bad for a design opportunity ;)

I like it!! I think you can refer to them as lawn ornaments!! The size reminded me of a few that Curt Fuller turned... back in 2008 - check them out:
Big Birdhouse (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?95134-Big-Birdhouse&highlight=)
For the Birdies (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?93213-For-the-birdies&highlight=)
Those are cool Steve! Thanks for the links!

Never would have guessed the size from the pic. Maybe you can hang it from your front porch!
Once I decided to go with a birdhouse, I tried to keep everything in proportion (which I think I did a decent job of). The smallest part of the icicle is about 3/8" diameter and the hole is 3/4".

[Mark Hubl]

You certainly are "turning" out the work Kathy. The proportions are nice on the piece, and like David I would have thought it to be a bit daintier. Might actually work for a chickadee family with a bit larger entry. Nice work.

[Donny Lawson]

I think you did a great job. Looks very nice.