Fine Woodworking Magazine Goes Digital

June 28th, 2011 in blogs         6 users recommend $(document).ready(function() {$("a.popit").fancybox();});

At long last, Fine Woodworking magazine has gone digital! Weve just launched a new viewing feature which allows users to view our magazine online in a digital format. To get things started were offering up a FREE preview issue for the entire FWW community. Going forward, an FWW online membership will give you access to browse recent issues at the click of a mouse. The new issue viewing platform allows you to flip through the magazine as if it were right in your hands. It features a whole host of user-friendly options you may find helpful when viewing our magazine, but those who still enjoy receiving FWW in the mail need not worry, were not discontinuing our standard print edition. This is just an added bonus and convenience for online members who can access FWW anywhere, print pages right from the magazine, enlarge photos and text, and continue to download individual articles via our PDF files which launch with every issue.

Browse the FREE preview issue now!

Members can now browse all of the latest issues online.

***UPDATE: We would like to clarify that the online issue viewer is not yet compatible with the iPad. An update to the code is soon to arrive, which will make it compatible. We are limited to what Apple allows us to do on their platform and will be accommodating our format as soon as possible. Our video workshops and 90% of our other videos have been updated for compatibility and function on the iPad. In addition, online members will continue to be able to view PDF articles from the individual article pages. ***

Want more of Fine Woodworking in a digital format? Try one of our NEW interactive ipad apps:

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FineWoodworking.com editors report from the woodworking front lines. Check in every weekday for news, information, projects, and answers to questions from Fine Woodworking readers everywhere.

Learn about our new format!

Archive: Temporarily unavailable. Stay tuned and sorry for the inconvenience.

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Using Evapo Rust for Tool Restoration

Ive been using Evapo-Rust for about a year to clean up rusty tool parts. Ive had a gallon that I would re-use and its finally died on me - what happens is that it gets to the point where its not getting into the pits (if the metal is pitted) and after wiping the part flash rusts pretty quickly. Looking back over the documentation it states that a gallon will treat 300 pounds of metal. I can attest that Ive put way over that amount in the gallon Ive been using (I filtered the liquid when there was too much sediment). When it starts to fail it creates a yellowish/greenish slimy sludge that sits on top of the part in the bath - this stuff wipes off and Im assuming that its a mildly sulfurous compound (no eggy smell though).

Some tips:

1. Make sure you have enough to submerge the part completely or you get a watermark from the dip - this is almost impossible to remove.

2. When not using, reseal in the container as I believer there is some dilution with exposure to air.

3. My process is to dip, usually overnight as most of the parts are heavily rusted, remove next day and wipe down - if theres a lot of rust Ill hold it next over a garbage can and scrape a bit, which removes the heavy stuff - use a wire brush, sandpaper or razor blade. If its still rusted put it back in the wet. When youre satisfied that the rust is off, re-dip and let air dry - it keeps it from flash rusting (says 2 weeks but it actually lasts longer).

4. For irregular shaped objects I place 4 mil plastic in a plastic over-sized tub, then shape the plastic to conform closely to the part - put a couple of blocks of wood underneath so the plastic isnt sticking to the part or youll end up with water marks areas not derusted.

5. Best price Ive found is at Harbor Freight - they have gallons for $20 and you can use a coupon (I get 20% off coupons in the mail or via email).

6. More info here: http://www.evaporust.com/

-- John

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Interview with plane maker Steve Knight Fine Woodworking

 
Smoothing plane. Before he sent them out, Steve tuned his planes to take the fluffiest shavings.
Photo: Steve Knight
It has been at least five years since I first saw one of Steve Knights wooden handplanes. Ive always found them attractive and the word on the forums was that they worked great--and thats the real test of a plane. I always had it in the back of my mind to buy a plane from him, just to support him. But then I started making my own and I never got around to it. So, I felt a bit guilty when I went to his website recently and discovered that Steve no longer sells wooden handplanes, at least not completed ones. He does sell kits for wooden planes: a smoother, a pocket plane (bevel down), a jack, a jointer, and a scrub. I gave Steve a call and asked him to send me one of the kits--a smoother with a 55 degree frog--for review. Ill write a separate blog about it. (I am really excited about the prospect of making and using the plane. My job doesnt suck!)
When I was on the phone with Steve, he and I got to talking about his experience as a plane maker and the story was interesting. Ive always wondered how hard it would be to make a living as a "boutique" tool maker. There are a lot of guys out there now who are making saws, infills, or chisels for sale. I think thats cool. Ive also noticed that many of those guys owed a lot of their success to internet forums. It was on an internet forum that I first heard of Steve, and Mike Wenzloff, and Chester Toolworks, and Blue Spruce, and Ron Breese, and many others. So, I decided to interview Steve and share his story with you. Heres what I learned. Enjoy.

Panel raising plane in curly maple. Steve Knight achieved a high level of craftsmanship in his planes. He used the Krenov method of plane making, even on traditional ones like this panel plane.
FWW: What was the first tool you made? Why did you make it?
SK: I think it was a smoother. My hands were really suffering from all of the sanding I did making furniture. I had heard about hand planes, so I bought a No. 4 smoother from Patrick Leach. Mind you, I couldnt even use a plane at that time, and I dont know if I ever got that No. 4 working. But I did want more planes. Unfortunately, I couldnt afford them, so I had the idea to begin making them. It was a struggle and for a while none of the planes I made worked. I had a boxful of non-working planes. I made those early planes out of red oak, I think, and glued on an ebony sole to combat wear. I then gave up on woodworking for about a year. I didnt get back into it until a friend asked to use my shop. I let him, in exchange for cleaning it. My shop, which is small, was so stuffed that it took him about two weeks to clean it! With the shop clean, I started making planes again. This time something clicked and I was off. Those first curly shavings really hooked me. Still, it was a struggle. I was not an accurate woodworker and my planes werent square. It took a lot of effort to get the bugs out and to get the planes working. I was learning to build planes, tune them, and sharpen the blades all at once.
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Unisaw the Beginning

Recently Ive become interested in purchasing a bit heavier saw for the shop, preferably a decent Unisaw or Powermatic, to replace my aluminum Ryobi BT3000 (which Ive used quite a bit since I originally bought it in 1993). I started watching Craigslist and one at a reasonable price came up - it was in Columbus GA and was listed as a 3HP Unisaw in working condition for $500 - this same saw was originally listed at $750 and I figured the guy was ready to make a deal. When I talked to him on the phone he indicated he would take $450 for it, so I took a trip down to Phenix City AL (right outside of Columbus, which is on the border of GA and AL). When I got there I was very dissappointed, as it wasnt the saw I thought I was getting - the 3HP units started becoming available in the 70s and are still made today - I thought that was what he had - instead I found an old 50s Unisaw with a 1HP motor.

I basically told him I didnt want it, but he asked me what I would offer him - I replied that I would pay $300 for the saw and he told me that it wasnt enough, etc. I started to drive off when he came back and offered to split the difference with me - I said no and he relented, so my trip wasnt wasted. I got a working saw for $300, and while its not exactly what I wanted, I decided to start researching the saw and see what I needed to do to get it in fine woodworking condition. Thats when I refound the Old Woodworking Machines forum. What I read there got me interested in fully restoring the saw. I had visited it previously to download a Dewalt catalog for my 790 Radial Arm Saw - which I found at an estate sale for $60. I started to restore the saw and have put if off for now, as the Unisaw is more interesting.

So here are images of the saw - only real issues: saw has been heavily painted, first red then gray, so it will require stripping to bare metal to make it right. The motor label is missing, one of the tables has a chunk busted out on the edge, and when I peeled off the top I found a welded front trunnion bracket. Here are the pics:








More images to follow as I start stripping down the saw for sand blasting.

-- John

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Mortises Mahogany The Sun

Had a fun time in the shop today as I dove into the Adirondack Chair Guild Build. I started by milling up the front legs in preparation for the joinery and I immediately noticed some issues with the color of my 8/4 stock, but we’ll get to that in a moment. Once the legs were milled to length, width and thickness, it was time to cut the mortises. As is always the case in the Guild, I try to show multiple ways to do things. So I cut one set of mortises using a router, and another set using the hollow chisel mortiser. Which do I prefer? Good question Marc! The router method is a smidgen faster and results in mortises with nice smooth walls. With the sweet dust collection of my OF1400, the work is rather clean too. The hollow chisel mortiser is a bit slower, a little messier and the mortise walls aren’t quite as smooth. But it has the advantage of providing perfectly square mortises and built-in stops. So once everything is set up, I could literally bring a monkey into the shop to pull the handles for me. If you know any monkeys looking for work, please send them my way.

Now, about that mahogany color issue. Maybe its just my supplier, but the mahogany I have access to can be incredibly varied from board to board and purchase to purchase. This is not the first time I have been surprised to confront a board that is much denser and even looks significantly different than the rest of my material. Trouble is, this isn’t obvious in the rough stock (pictured left). As you can see, there isn’t much of a discernable difference between these two boards. But once milled the true colors really show (pictured right). The 8/4 stock is not only darker, but much denser. In fact, my first clue was during the jointing when I experienced quite a bit more chatter as I passed the board over the blades. So the real question I have to ask myself is, “Should I use this stuff in my project???” Obviously I don’t want the front legs look different than the rest of the piece, but the possibility certainly exists that natural aging would bring these boards into the same color family. Thankfully, the Arizona sun is quite powerful!

I decided to conduct a quick test using three test pieces: a 4/4 board that represents most of the wood in the project, a single piece from the dark stock in question, and my backup stock that I stole from the Bell Forest kit that contains Fiji-grown Mahogany. I carefully placed the boards outside on my trusty “wood-aging boulder”. You DO have one of these don’t you?!?! After about five hours of unrelenting desert UV rays, the boards already started to darken. The results were actually enough for me to make a judgement call. The dark stuff was just too dark and I didn’t want to take the risk of this turning into a long-term eyesore. The Fiji Mahogany, on the other hand, looks perfect. And just in case you don’t believe the wood could change color in that period of time, the third picture shows you the tan lines. Hot! So it looks like I’m using the backup stock for my legs.

All in all, not a bad day. I’ll be back in the shop tomorrow continuing work on the legs and broadcasting live on the Live Page. Next up, adding a short tenon to the top of each leg and the Greene & Greene indent detail to the bottoms.

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Not so fine woodworking

June 2nd, 2011 in blogs 
This small three drawer dresser made from pine and manufactured in Brazil sat in storage unfinished for several years.  Some sanding and a couple coats of paint makes for a quick piece of furniture for the babys room.
Photo: Kelly J. Dunton
I suspect that all us “woodworkers” get requests for projects that are less than fine from time to time.
I got such a project through an inheritance of sorts.  While moving, again, my other half retrieved out of storage, a small pine three-drawer side table dresser.  Now this is a solid wood production piece that had no finish whatsoever applied to it.  The drawers and sides are screwed together and the drawer runners are nailed in position. The top and feet were water stained from damp storage in a New England basement. Spiders had taken up residence inside this small piece of furniture.  It was less than desirable from my "holier than though" fine woodworking perspective.  Secretly I was wishing to toss it into the garbage.
With the addition of a daughter to our family came the need for more storage.  Funny how much room such a small person needs for her tiny things. So, over the Memorial day weekend while cleaning the garage and making room for a little "shop space," I needed to get the little pine dresser out of my way.  I decided to fix it up since throwing it out was really out of the question. At first I wanted to give it a good Fine Woodworking finish.  I started to clean it and eventually I had the top off and was handplaning the surface smooth. I had to clamp the top flat to get the plane to remove material evenly.  What a nightmare.  This finally led to primer and paint after a quick “go-ahead, sounds good to me.”  In the end, I finished the interior surfaces with shellac and the top first with shellac and then water based polyurethane.  Several hours of sanding and painting and I’ve secured just that much more room in my little "shop." Oh, and storage for the baby’s things…

posted in: blogs, pine, chest of drawers, kids Furniture, painted fruniture

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Fine Woodwork Plans Learn How To Choose

Learn How To Choose Fine Woodwork Plans
Fine Woodwork Plans For Beginners - How To Choose The Right One
Learn To Select The Right Fine Woodwork Plans For Your Needs

All rookies need to find fine woordwork plans that matches their skills. The best thing to do is to start with an easy project that you will be able to finish. Finishing a project will most likely make you feel very satisfied and it will probably be the first of many woodworking projects for you.

In the beginning you dont have to come up with your own woodwork plans. It can be a bit tricky to create woodwork plans and you can use already existing ones in the beginning. You will be able to find plenty of them on the net but also in magazines and books. You dont even have to buy all the books unless you want to, you can visit the library and borrow a few suitable books with woodwork plans.

Its important to remember that every woodworking project needs to be planned. You will be able to avoid making unecessary mistakes if youre using woodwork plans for all your projects and it will help you save a lot of time as well. There are many reasons why you should spend enough time on the planning part of your work before you go ahead with the constructing part. The chance that you will succeed and achieve the result you would like to get is much larger if youre using one of the good woodwork plans that can be found in books and magazines. You can also use something that you find on the net but its important to remember that you have to check the accuracy before you follow one of these since the net is full of unverified information.

As soon as you get more experienced you might want to come up with your own special woodworking plans. It will make all your furniture more exclusive and special since they wont look exactly like the furniture that other woodworkers create. Its certainly a lot more fun to create your own items without copying someone elses plans and this is necessary if you would like to have the woodworking craft as your profession in the future. Its actually possible to make quite much money from woodworking if youre skillful, patient and careful.

Its not always easy to choose woodwork plans for rookies but you should try to use books and magazines instead of the Internet as often as possible since you will get more accurate results by doing that. You should also start to create your own woodwork plans as soon as possible since that will make woodworking even more fun.

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Fine Woodworking Plansfor a Desk and Projects plans

Ideas to get a Workplace. This specific strong and also useful bit works extremely well within the Lounge, Room, or even Invitee Space. Plenty of safe-keeping within the six to eight storage. One of several storage is big ample regarding directories. A good looking as well as helpful item within basic, fashionable east design and style. Overall peak 30 1/4" Width is actually 44" Mahogany, and other suited solid wood and also plyboard design.

 Free household furniture ideas for the workplace or perhaps shelf made to help a top-notch garbage. This undertaking prepare may be used to produce dual more than double bunk beds, collection verticle with respect. Bookshelf characteristics 3 shelving, workplace characteristics one particular table peak corner. The cubical is an excellent area for preparation -- keep bed time publications at your fingertips inside the bookcase.

 Secondly the standard of your ideas for the table should be thought about. There a wide range of programs that arent really worth the document their particular imprinted about neither digital room they will use up. Via encounter Ive discovered that lots of discount programs turn into say junk. Building any table needs to be a thrilling time. In case you begin with poor programs after that your developing expertise and experience will probably be offer the exam. Many occasions you will need to reengineer the actual ideas because task advances.

 Woodworking programs could be a stone from the snail mail. Organic beef be capable of manage with newborn changing stand wood working had been significantly less beneficial compared to simple cabinetry task ideas modified playing once and for all. Im going to offer you a few of ideas. Just before searching in to straightforward obtain can be a stage at any given time. That could call for a while. Just one way of gateway crashers performing it. There is steer clear of staying disquieted throughout you happen to be gonna get fantastic content.

 Woodworking prepare publications with this. Free of charge work bench programs do it yourself has been pointed out. You will simply find out working with wood programs have to go with a formulation in which scenario is there could only be a master at what you are planning to discover.

 Woodworking Albuquerque nm Boise state broncos Work I may need to certainly not show up exciting. I could end up being doing the overpriced a feeling of self-worth however I am just appropriate. Which will be to learn as well as numerous on the internet. Youll be able to enroll in a community forum and begin talking over in depth household furniture strategies no cost you should keep an eye out. In the following paragraphs I am master in the worst of all situation. Seemingly the amount of woodwork ideas prepare. Can easily sombody in addition copy the class strategies of the own.

Working with wood programs table wood project programs performs. I know that is merely a bundle of money dessert manufacturing facility deny. Undertaking ridiculous goods together with working with wood assignments ideas. Have got your individual wood working ideas shelving. The following is how to stop becoming troubled so considerably within interconnection with out working with wood programs eat outside stand strategies.

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Fine Woodworking near you Come out and see us

Find out where Fine Woodworking contributors (like Steve Latta seen here) are teaching or attending events
Photo: Steve Scott
Take a class or attend an event with one of Fine Woodworkings contributors.
Christian Becksvoort
June 11, 2011: Dovetail Workshop
Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village - Maine
June 18, 2011: Drawer Workshop
Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village - Maine
June 20-24, 2011: Shaker Furniture
The Carpenters Boat Shop - Maine
July 9-10, 2011: Hand Tool Skills
Lie-Nielsen - Maine
July 23, 2011: Build a Shaker Bench
Sabbathday Lake Shaker village - Maine
July 29-31, 2011: Craft Show
Mount Deset Island 36th Annual Directions Show - Maine
Oct 7-10, 2011: Scrapwood into Stars
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts - Maine

Michael Fortune
May 31-June 10, 2011: Apprenticeship
Marc Adams School of Woodworking - Indiana
June 5, 2011: Getting the Most From Your Bandsaw
Marc Adams School of Woodworking - Indiana
June 24 - 28, 2011: Working With Curves
Peters Valley Craft Center - New Jersey
Aug 8-12, 2011: Chair Design
The Northwest Woodworking Studio - Oregon
Aug 20-21, 2011: Doing Curved Joinery
Marc Adams School of Woodworking - Indiana
Aug 22-26, 2011: Table of Contents
Marc Adams School of Woodworking - Indiana
Sept 19-23, 2011: Designing Chairs
Marc Adams School of Woodworking - Indiana
Sept 24-25, 2011: Embellish Your Work
Marc Adams School of Woodworking - Indiana
Oct 15, 2011: Making a Living as an Artist, Designer, & Furnituremaker
Marc Adams School of Woodworking - Indiana
Oct 16, 2011: Drawing in Perspective
Marc Adams School of Woodworking - Indiana
Oct 17-21, 2011: Making a Bow-Front Chest
Marc Adams School of Woodworking - Indiana
Oct 22-23, 2011: Making the Ultimate Gift
Marc Adams School of Woodworking - Indiana

Peter Gedrys
Chris Gochnour
June 13-17, 2011: Making a Curved Front Night Stand
Marc Adams School of Woodworking - Indiana
Garrett Hack
July 15-16, 2011: 30th Anniversary Open House
Lie-Nielsen - Maine
Aug 1-5, 2011: Precision with Hand Tools
Center for Furniture Craftsmanship - Maine
Aug 6-7, 2011: Furniture Details: Decorative Edges and Faces
Lie-Nielsen - Maine
Sept 12-16: Build a Side Table
Port Townsend School of Woodworking - Washington
Sept 19-21, 2011: Precison with Hand Tools
Port Townsend School of Woodworking - Washington
Oct 3-9, 2011: Make an Occasional Table with Exquisite Details
West Dean College - West Sussex, England

Roland Johnson
Sept 19-23, 2011: Finishes & Finishing
The Northwest Woodworking Studio - Oregon

Matt Kenney
July 29-Aug 2, 2011: Make a Box with  Hand Tools
Peters Valley Craft Center - New Jersey

Tim Killen
July 23, 2011: SketchUP
AWFS - Nevada

Steve Latta
July 18-24, 2011: Making a Spice Box
Marc Adams School of Woodworking - Indiana
July 16-17, 2011: Pattern Inlay and Decorative Borders
Marc Adams School of Woodworking - Indiana
Aug 27-28, 2011: Build a Federal Sideboard, part I
Olde Mill Cabinet Shoppe - Pennsylvania
Oct 8-9, 2011: Build a Federal Sideboard, part II
Olde Mill Cabinet Shoppe - Pennsylvania
Dec 17-19, 2011: Build a Federal Sideboard, part III
Olde Mill Cabinet Shoppe - Pennsylvania

Philip Lowe
Ongoing Classes
Furniture Institutue of Massachusetts
June 18-19, 2011: Hand Cut Dovetails
Lie-Nielsen - Maine
July 25-29, 2011: Sheraton Tilt Top Table
The Northwest Woodworking Studio - Oregon

Teri Masaschi
Aug 29-Sept 9, 2011: Finishing From A to Z
Center for Furniture Craftsmanship - Maine
Sept 12-16, 2011: Hand Applied Finishes
Center for Furniture Craftsmanshop - Maine
Oct 3-7, 2011: Basic Finishing
Kelly Mehlers School of Woodworking - Kentucky

Jeff Miller
Ongoing Classes
J. Miller Handcraftred Furniture - Illinois
July 20-21, 2011: Chairs: Curves and Joinery by Hand
AWFS - Nevada
July 30-31, 2011: Mortise and Tenons: Hand Cut Joinery Made Easy
Lie-Nielsen - Maine

Gregory Paolini 
Ongoing Classes
Gregory Paolini Design - North Carolina
June 4, 2011: Hands on Finishing
The Woodworking Source - North Carolina

Michael Pekovich
July 20-23, 2011: Photographing Your Work
AWFS Fair 2011 - Nevada
Aug 19-23, 2011: Dovetails: Intro to Working with Hand Tools
Peters Valley Craft Center - New Jersey

Doug Stowe
June 15-19, 2011: Box Making
Kansas City Woodworkers Guild - Missouri
July 25-29, 2011: Creative Box Making
Eureka Springs School of the Arts - Arkansas
Aug 8-13, 2011: Simply Beautiful Boxes
Marc Admas School of Woodworking - Indiana
Aug 13, 2011: Interior Architecture for Boxes
Marc Adams School of Woodworking - Indiana
Oct 29-30, 2011: Box Making
Sawdust & Woodchips Woodworking Association - New York



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Book Giveaway Shop Improvements Outstanding ideas from the worlds finest woodworkers from Fine Woodworking magazine

June 26th, 2011 in blogs         1 user recommends $(document).ready(function() {$("a.popit").fancybox();}); Photo: Matt Berger

Shop Improvements
Taunton Press, 2007
$19.95; 224 pp.

We have an extra copy of this book in our library so we’re giving you an opportunity to win it. Leave a comment here for your chance to win.

This book is a collection of articles from past issues of Fine Woodworking covering all sorts of things for the shop. There are lots of jig articles for the tablesaw, bandsaw, planer, router and the drill press. Also included are smart storage solutions and improvements to workstations and shop aids, like a tilt-top shop cart that handles plywood and a rock-solid plywood bench. Like Fine Woodworking articles over the years, these articles include detailed drawings and photos to help with step-by-step instruction. Quite simply, Shop Improvments is full of great ideas and would be a great help to just about all woodworkers.

Leave a comment on this post by 12:01am Eastern Time, Tuesday, July 5, 2011, and you might just win this book.

And after you’ve won the book and read it, we would love for you to come back and post another comment and tell us what you think of it.

A winner will be chosen at random and announced on Wednesday, July 6, 2011.

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Suet Bird Feeder Plans

Several years ago, I developed a set of suet bird feeder plans that were based on some free bird feeder plans I had found on the internet. My son and I built a bird feeder for my wife, my mom, and my mother-in-law for Mothers Day. The problem is that we built them out of inexpensive whitewood. They worked great and looked great, but only lasted a couple of years outside in the wet, winter weather.
Design My son had been bugging me for several months to build new ones, but another problem cropped up. I had lost my original bird feeder plans! So, it was back to the drawing board for a new bird feeder design. We like using suet because it seems to make less of a mess than loose bird seed and doesnt attract rodents.
For the originals we made our own suet, so the feeders werent very large. This time around, I picked up a brick of commercial suet at the store. It was much bigger than the suet we made. So, the bird feeder needed to be big enough to fit a store-bought block of suet.
Material This time, I also wanted them to last longer than only a couple of years. I probably could have done better on the price if Id taken the time to shop, but I picked up a decent piece of 1x6x8 Cedar trim for about ten dollars. The Cedar board was planed smooth on one side only, so we sanded it with 60-grit sandpaper before cutting out the parts.
In the bird feeder plans, I have included a layout for cutting the board. If you follow the layout, you should be able to get two suet feeders out of one 8 board.
Cutting The Parts My brother had borrowed my chop saw and I couldnt find a big enough miter box to cut it by hand. So, I made all my cross-cuts using the miter attachment on my table saw. Since a 1x6 is actually 5 1/2" wide, the back can just be cut to length.
Next, I cut the top to length and then ripped it to the correct width on the table saw. I then ripped the remaining length of wood to 1 1/2" for the bottom and two front pieces.
They were each cut to length and then I moved on to the more difficult end pieces. At this point there should be one piece of wood left that needs to be ripped to 2 1/4" for the ends.


I always have difficulty cutting an angle on the end of a board, while simultaneously cutting the board to a specific length. In this case, I cut the angle such that both end pieces were left a little bit longer than necessary.
Then, I measured from the tip of the angled cut and marked the desired length of the part. I cut to this line and the length came out perfect.
There is a 3/8" hole drilled in the back to hang the feeder on a post or fence. However, we decided to hang our bird feeder from a tree branch. So, we didnt really need the hole.
Assembly Either way, lightly sand all the parts with 100 or 120-grit sandpaper before assembly. We used glue and screws for assembly, but glue and nails will work just as well. If the board is really dry, be sure to drill pilot holes to prevent the wood from splitting.
The order of assembly isnt particularly important, but we found the following helped simplify aligning the parts properly.
First, we attached the back to the bottom with glue and two screws. Next, the ends were attached to the back with glue and two screws each, and to the bottom with only glue.
The lower front piece was attached to the ends with glue and one screw per end. Next, the the upper front piece was attached the same way. This was the only piece we had to measure for during assembly.
Finally, the top was attached to the ends with a couple of screws into each end piece. Thats it. Pretty straightforward.
Drawing File To make some birds in your neighborhood happy, click on the link to the bird feeder plans below. If youd like to download a copy to your computer, right click then "save-as". Either way, youll need the Adobe reader to view the file.
View or Download "Suet Bird Feeder"
Return from Suet Bird Feeder Plans
to Outdoor Woodworking Designs


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