The Workshop

Brand New Design

["Earlier photo shows dusty stock on a shelf under swap boxes"]

Once I went as far as I could for the day with four swap boxes I turned my attention to a dust-covered pile of stock that represented five red cedar birdhouses. I'm glad I did! The last hour of my work day was a treat, partly because the birdhouses were a first-time design.

(Some red cedar fence boards are nice to use but are only about 5" wide, so the interior of a birdhouse would be narrower than I like. So, I drew up a model with a spare room at the side. It makes the roof line fussier but the base is a good size and some results are below).

I quickly assembled two of five birdhouses that will require little paint because the roofs are too lovely to cover with latex. In fact, they are 'lovely lovely' in my opinion.

["Spare room, right side, adds about 2.5 inches to width"]

 ["Find me a prettier old pine roof. It would be a tough job!"]

["Rare lumber in this roof. Know what the wood* is?"]

["The colours range from light green to dark brown. Any ideas?"]

Two coats of marine varnish - and a trim day - will make them shine!

* The wood came from the Dorchester landfill site. I spotted it five years ago and remarked on its weird smell. It is one of the harder soft woods. Poplar. If you can find it, let me know what you think of the aroma.

Link to The Workshop

Photos GH