In The Workshop: My first crack at a wren house

A fellow hockey player recently pointed to a bag of wood outside his workshop and asked me, “Could you use this?”

I imagined the 2 and 1/2 inch wide strips of cedar could be turned into small birdhouses so I placed the bag in the trunk of my car, along with several other offerings.


["99 cents for hundreds of ideas. Golden.": photos GAH]

See Wood, Will Rescue - that’s my motto.

Later, a used, 99-cent book re birdhouses provided inspiration for a sketch and mock-up model and I spent a few hours today cutting, sanding, painting and assembling my first batch of wren houses.


["Rescued lumber ready for sanding"]

I used the table- and chop-saw to cut the faces, sides and roof and band- and scroll-saw to produce the curved pieces of trim.


["The face will look better w cedar trim from scrap box"]

Even if I sell them for $10 the first sale will pay for my hydro, paint and stain. The rest will pay for a bit of gas for the motorcycle and birdhouse hunting.

And one will nicely cover the scar left on my apricot tree after an ice storm tore off a large branch.

Not a bad hobby as far as I’m concerned.

***

Do you get songbirds nesting in your yard?

Do they like houses placed in a tree?

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