The Woodworker & Woodturner – September 2019

TURNING

46 The Woodworker & Good Woodworking September 2019 http://www.getwoodworking.com

Recycled bird box

T

his month’s project was a result of

my morning walks with our two lovely

border collies, Kato and Indy. The sun

was shining, the fields had been cut,

and the bailer was making those huge round bails.

I was speaking to the farmer and noticed some

plastic tubes about 1m long × 100mm diameter

and asked what he did with them. He told me

that they just had to be disposed of in landfill

as they couldn’t be recycled, and this was when

a little eureka moment came up. I wondered if

Coming across some discarded plastic tubing that was destined

for landfill, Andrew Hall has the idea to turn these 1m lengths into

novel bird box designs, complete with an oak pagoda roof and base

RECYCLING + TURNING

= HAPPY BIRDS

they could be used for the main body of a

bird box. We have a great selection of birds

around and often have blue and grey tits in

the nesting boxes in our garden. It’s great if

you can recycle rather than just throw things

away, and combining turning and recycling

is an added bonus. I used some old oak that

I’d harvested about six years ago; it was still

stable but had one or two cracks in it. I was

sure the birds wouldn’t mind, though.

Turning tools used for this project were a

SAFETY TIP

Always make sure your callipers have rounded

ends. Doing so ensures they will not grab the

timber when cutting a spigot while the lathe

is running. If in doubt, stop the lathe to check

the dimensions

1 I started with a square section of oak and turned

it into a cylinder using my new skew chisel, which I

am very impressed with. It’s nice to handle and keeps

its edge well. I normally turn square to round with

a spindle roughing gouge and position the toolrest

6mm below the quill, with the tool at an angle of

45° to the toolrest, which ensures it cuts on centre

2 When using a skew, my preferred position for

the toolrest is 6mm above the quill; this produces

a shaving that is similar to using a smoothing plane

on the top surface of the material. I use the bottom

third of the skew to create the cut. Avoid using the

entire surface or positioning it above centre as a dig-in

is likely to occur, which is not a pleasant experience!

3 Next, using a 10mm beading/parting tool – mine

is ground at an angle of approximately 6° to reflect

the dovetail jaws – I turned a spigot/tenon to fit my

chuck jaws

spindle roughing gouge, parting tool, bowl gouge,

spindle gouge and a 15mm round M42 razor-edge

skew chisel from Crown Hand Tools.

My two border collies, Kato and Indy Farmer’s bails, all stacked up