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Birdhouse Tutorial

I've gotten a few question on how to turn this. I might do things differently then others, so here is a quick and I believe easy process for turning bird ornaments.




Start with a 1 1/2 to 2 inch spindle blank in your chuck
Now rough it to a cylinder.
Mark and drill your two holes with a hand drill. I think mine are 1/2 and 1/8. Whatever looks right. (twist bit not brad point)
Then hollow it out down to the bottom hole you drilled. leaving 1/4 or so of wall. ( I hog it out with a large forstner in the tailstock then clean up with a round nose scraper)
Next shape the outside and then part off the base from the rest of the blank.

Now with the stock you have left you will make a jam chuck to hold the base

True up the face with a scraper.
Then with your parting tool make a tenon (1/4 or so) to match the hollow in the base.
Stop frequently and check. The mating should be snug but not too tight.
Mount the base and turn the bottom. (light cuts!)
Now sand and finish. The base is done.

Now for the roof.
The tenon you turned will be part of the roof (or chuck up a contrasting block and turn a mating tenon)
Turn and shape the top and then part off.

Now make a jam chuck to hold the roof (if there is enough material left or chuck up another spindle blank)

True up the face with a scraper.
turn a recess and mate the roof
Mount the roof and finish shaping the roof (light cuts!)
At this point I drill a 1/16 hole in the roof for the hanger (Jacobs chuck in the tailstock)
Now sand and finish. The roof is done.

Assemble with a little bit of glue.

Enjoy.
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Comments

  1. MarkDecember 8, 2010 at 5:08 PM

    I have always wanted to learn how to turn wood. You can make some amazing stuff. I did a little in high school shop class but that was so long ago I don't remember much. Thanks for tutorial.

    ReplyDelete

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