Birdhouse Time

[core-eagle]

Was wondering with everyone making birdhouses, what is your average time to cut one out. And with what type of material? Thanks!

[Bayward]

Mine is 4 ~ 5 minutes. The types of wood I am using do not make much difference in time. Walnut, Locust, Maple, Oak, Popular, Cherry and a mystery white wood.

The white wood cuts and sands good but really fuzzes up with the first coat of finish whether it be stain or Wipe on Poly. Minwax sanding sealer seems to be the quickest way to sand the fuzz back to smooth. I wish I had tried a finish on this wood before I cut so many. I hate sanding.

Bob

[Jan]

The mystery white wood sounds a lot like aspen. I buff mine with a 220 grit sanding mop. No hand sanding at all.

Jan

[Danny]

Cutting the birdhouse is just one part. I believe it takes just as much time to prep, or more, before you can cut. IE: Making stock correct dimensions, copying/transferring pattern on the wood and drilling of the holes. Then you have to make the birds with same prepwork(minus the drilling). The perch is relatively no time sink though. Just my 2 coppers.

[Bayward]

What is everyones guess as to how much time the entire birdhouse takes ? I have not tracked the total time but I believe 30 minutes is close.

Jan, I had never even considered Aspen as a possibility. What does your sanding mop look like ? Model number or picture ? The hand sanding is killing me.

Bob

[wood-n-things]

Bob,
Take a peek. There are others out there but this will give you and idea where to start.
Sanding Mop. A Great Tool for Scroll Saw Work. - YouTube

[Janette]

I've tracked one batch from start to finish including all parts and it took me 8 hours to make 27 of them from start to finish.

[Rolf]

Another alternative to the sanding mop Mike uses. I preffer this type Web Store Item Detail Page
It seems to last longer and I feel I have more control.
It is just a matter of taste.

[Jan]

Bob, the sanding mop Steve Good demonstrated in the blog is the exact one I use. It's available in several grits. I have two of them. One is 220 grit, the other is 320. Both are mounted on grinder motors which I prefer to mounting it on a drill press. I haven't tried the flap sanding wheel Rolf likes so I can't comment on that. I can agree that hand sanding is no fun whatsoever.

Jan

[Lou]

I find it takes about five minutes to cut a birdhouse. Some are less, some more, depending on the pattern and how hard the wood is. I avoid the real hardwoods (oak, maple, cherry) as I find burning is a problem and my wrists ache from the cutting. I use mostly walnut, butternut, polar, blue pine, fir, cedar and aspen. Yep, aspen fuzzes, so I find it requires two coats of finish as I have to sand after the first coat, and I use water-based on the aspen to keep it whiter. Mostly I'm dipping in danish oil now, which is quick and effective.

I do very little handsanding. After cutting, I run most of my birdhouses through the mop sander, but some of them seem to require no sanding at all (yay). Total time might be 15 minutes per birdhouse (counting blacking the hole, inserting the eyebolt and adding cord), but I doubt it averages that much (well, it might if you count the ones that have become firewood.)

Lou

[Hawaiilad]

Well, I ordered the patterns yesterday and am going to give this a try as well....seems like the "IN" thing around here....I will fit them in between making the bandsaw boxes I like so well, and making a few of the initial boxes that Mick has been doing.

[Anneh]

Hey Lou!
Blacking the hole???

[Bayward]

I am not Lou, but the reference is to painting black the 1/2" hole in the birdhouse. The birdhouses look much better with that hole darkened with paint, felt tip pen or whatever.

Bob

[rippersmom]

Hey Lou!
Blacking the hole???

I add moss to the birdhouse hole, some green and some grey. Lots of options on how to finish these cute little items.

[Anneh]

That does make sense and I can see where that would look better. Just never thought of it. Now wish I hadn't already glued the little birdies on. Next one's will get a blackened hole.
Man - look at all the great things learned from this board.
You guys are amazing! Thanks!