Bird Table

For Christmas this year I have decided to make a bird table for my mum. I have always helped my dad with DIY around the house but this is my first sole project on a large scale ( or large in comparison to my set/prop models).

From researching different types of bird tables I decided to buy a wooden post to give a good strong central support, which I have decided to securely fasten to a wooden square flower pot, to make it more of a feature in the garden. Instead of just having some brackets sticking out to make it sturdy.

Using exterior plywood I cut the base and middle support. Using a glass and quick cardboard roof mock up I decided upon the height of the bird table, which I thought looked correct in relation to the post. 

I then measured and marked out where the posts would sit before drilling out a hole for each. These posts will be glued and screwed into place before using a waterproof wood sealant to seal them into place preventing any water getting into the wood at the joins. 

The Roof:

For the roof I used the template roof to measure and cut out the triangles to make up the octagon shape. As you can see from the photo I arranged them all together and placed up the poles to make sure it all worked as I wanted it. 

The gluing of these triangles was very difficult, trying to make them stay in the correct place while trying to glue them was impossible until I thought about using plasticine to prevent them from sliding away. With the help of brown tape I was able to glue them together successfully with some wood weatherproof glue. By using a popcorn tub I was able to also glue them in the inside too, to make sure they were securely held in place. 

To make sure the rain wouldn't get into the wood I painted it with a waterproof undercoat. After applying 2 layers on the inside/outside I then covered it with plastic to act as another barrier for the water.  

The next stage was to attach the horizontal slats on each triangle side of the roof. Once I had cut the pieces of wood for one side and sat them in the correct place, I decided that to make it look more aesthetically pleasing I would round the edges to make the seperation between each piece clearer. When I was happy I painted the underside of each piece with weather proof paint before gluing them in place with a waterproof glue. I then added vertical pieces of wood to finish it off and hide the rough edges.

I then went back to the main body of the birdhouse by adding a strip of wood around the base edge to make it neater and added little fence bits for the birds to perch upon. I also decided to add a central support to give it as much strength as possible especially with it going outside. Finally I painted it all in a weather proof undercoat paint and sealed all the edges with waterproof glue.

I screwed 4 brackets onto the post / base of birdhouse and made sure it was securely fastened before adding brackets to attach the roof.

Below is a photo of the semi finished birdhouse. As you can see I still need to paint it with exterior paint of which mum is going to choose the colour and put some treatment on the post to prevent it rotting in the weather. On Christmas Eve I quickly wrapped it up ready for mum to open it the following day .... she loves it and cant wait to get it all painted and placed in the garden.