1st Miniature Birdhouse

[Billy Tallant]

I've been watching all these miniature birdhouses turned on here for the last couple of years. Finally decided to have a go at it. Not perfect but was fun learning how to turn one. The underside of the roof needs to be recessed more, so the roof will drop down lower over the body. Will experiment more next time on that. Got a chance to play with a set of mini tools that have been gathering dust for a long time. Had a couple of mishaps along the way. Learned why turners use a face shield. My chuck didn't hold on to the birdhouse & it decided to pop me on the end of the nose. Luckily I got nothing worse than a wake up call. Got to invest in a face shield before I do much more turning using a chuck. When screwing in the eyehook, it decided to break off flush with the top of the roof. I decided to not give up & decided to improvise instead. I took a short piece of wire & twised a loop in it. I then drilled two small holes on each side of the broken eyehook. Then glued the wire hook in each hole. Worked out ok. I'm going to have to pickup some lighter colored wood to contrast my colors on making these. Not perfect but was fun which is what I like about turning...
birdhouse1800.jpgbirdhouse5800.jpg

[Darren Jamieson]

looks good t me. I have a branch that I am going to try a couple of these with.

[Mark Hix]

They look fine Billy. They are fun and fairly fast to make. Every time I make a batch, the disappear pretty fast.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great job Billy. Looks like you are on your way.

[Steve Mawson]

Great start, good way to use up scraps. I use fishing swivels that I got at Cabella's for the eyes. Looks like you already gave yourself a critique so not much to add here.

[Billy Tallant]

looks good t me. I have a branch that I am going to try a couple of these with.

Thanks for the comments Darren!

They look fine Billy. They are fun and fairly fast to make. Every time I make a batch, the disappear pretty fast.

Thanks for the comments Mark!

Great job Billy. Looks like you are on your way.

Thanks for the comments Bernie!

Great start, good way to use up scraps. I use fishing swivels that I got at Cabella's for the eyes. Looks like you already gave yourself a critique so not much to add here.

Thanks for the comments Steve!

[Billy Tallant]

Took the birdhouse to work with me today! Showed it to some of the teachers that I work with. Looks like I'm going to have to figure out what these things sell for. I figured between $20-$25 would be fair. I've got orders for 3 of them already... Will have to get busy in the shop now...

[Richard Madden]

Great job, Bill. I've been doing some myself, and they're fun and quick. Orders for 3... that's a good start. Have fun, and be safe.

[James Combs]

I had a couple displays at a local craft shop, one was mini birdhouses and the other was pens/bottle-stoppers and some bowls/vases. I pulled all the bowls/vases, hadn't sold any for months but the mini birdhouses and pens do pretty good, the BHs better then the pens.