one piece or multi piesces?

[amazingkevin]

Looking at the mini bird house has the wheels turning now long enough.I've lots of small hard wood chunks,scraps,pieces to use.Getting the shapes needed from the ones i've seen i'll need to have a pattern to draw up or work from.What do you think would look better?One solid piece or glued up multi pieces?

[WayneMahler]

Kevin

Seen a lot of these and they are cute. Some bigger some smaller.Can  you share a photo of what you have in mind ? Might help understand better what your looking for.

[dgman]

Kevin, I use solid blanks because I have access to them and glueing up boards to make the blanks takes a lot of time, however, glued up boards certainly could be very creative if done in contrasting woods. You could glue up longer boards together to get the thickness needed, then cut to size. Good luck and let us see what you come up with.

[edward]

I glued two pieces of  3/4" Popular together and still having trouble cutting them on my dewalt saw, after using FD#5ultra, blade seems to dull quickly, have the speed up higher. Am I using the right blade. Just wondering if I could reduce the pattern to fit 3/4" wood, would this work. Just curious.  edwartd

[NC Scroller]

For my pine bird houses I use scraps of 2x4 material. Just make sure you selection portions with no knots. While some knots give it character most will fall apart after cutting. DAMHIKIT.

[dgman]

I glued two pieces of  3/4" Popular together and still having trouble cutting them on my dewalt saw, after using FD#5ultra, blade seems to dull quickly, have the speed up higher. Am I using the right blade. Just wondering if I could reduce the pattern to fit 3/4" wood, would this work. Just curious.  edwartd

Edward, I use FD Polar #5's. They have a slight set to the teeth and tend to clear the sawdust out better. Also if you trim your blank down to 1-1/4" it will cut a little easier.

Depending on the hardness of the wood, I can cut anywhere from three to seven birdhouses per blade.

[Lucky2]

Kevin, personally, I think I would prefer the solid wood ones, with the little birds made from colored woods.

Len

[amazingkevin]

Kevin

Seen a lot of these and they are cute. Some bigger some smaller.Can  you share a photo of what you have in mind ? Might help understand better what your looking for.

I started out making them in teak but that was slow cutting ,So i switched to white pine 2"x4" and still the cutting took forever.Photo's in bragging rights.

[amazingkevin]

Kevin, I use solid blanks because I have access to them and glueing up boards to make the blanks takes a lot of time, however, glued up boards certainly could be very creative if done in contrasting woods. You could glue up longer boards together to get the thickness needed, then cut to size. Good luck and let us see what you come up with.

The time spent seems not cost effective in cutting 2" x 4" white wood.And then getting the same shape on all four sides ,more time wasted.

[amazingkevin]

I glued two pieces of  3/4" Popular together and still having trouble cutting them on my dewalt saw, after using FD#5ultra, blade seems to dull quickly, have the speed up higher. Am I using the right blade. Just wondering if I could reduce the pattern to fit 3/4" wood, would this work. Just curious.  edwartd

I'm not even sure what thickness woods i should be using.@x4 seems to be too thick to make time scrolling.Maybe i'll try glued up,plywood .That looks great on seashells?

[amazingkevin]

For my pine bird houses I use scraps of 2x4 material. Just make sure you selection portions with no knots. While some knots give it character most will fall apart after cutting. DAMHIKIT.

I'm finding that out quick about knots,lol Thanks

[amazingkevin]

Edward, I use FD Polar #5's. They have a slight set to the teeth and tend to clear the sawdust out better. Also if you trim your blank down to 1-1/4" it will cut a little easier.

Depending on the hardness of the wood, I can cut anywhere from three to seven birdhouses per blade.

I've still problems with my new saw .Blades break way way way to soon.I'm used to cutting hours and not breaking one Now it's minutes ???

[amazingkevin]

Kevin, personally, I think I would prefer the solid wood ones, with the little birds made from colored woods.

Len

I'm going to have another stab at this bird house thing.Yeah if i only had some colored wood .that's been a rarity since i started to scroll,Thanks Len!

[CharleyL]

Whenever compound cutting, like making bird houses, reindeer, etc. I always use a clamp. Just two strips of 3/4 birch plywood with threaded rod through them spaced apart enough to fit the block of wood that will be cut. The 10-32 stainless all thread seems to work best for this because the steel version stretches and bends over time. I use wing nuts to pull them together. The clamp holds the pieces together as they are being cut, keeps the block perfectly square to the saw table, and also provides more surface to hold onto while doing the cutting. It makes a big difference when making small compound cut pieces.

 

Charley

[amazingkevin]

Whenever compound cutting, like making bird houses, reindeer, etc. I always use a clamp. Just two strips of 3/4 birch plywood with threaded rod through them spaced apart enough to fit the block of wood that will be cut. The 10-32 stainless all thread seems to work best for this because the steel version stretches and bends over time. I use wing nuts to pull them together. The clamp holds the pieces together as they are being cut, keeps the block perfectly square to the saw table, and also provides more surface to hold onto while doing the cutting. It makes a big difference when making small compound cut pieces.

 

Charley

I'd like to see works in progress of this being used .A picture is worth a thousanfd words .I think i'm missing something here.Thanks

[NC Scroller]

I'd like to see works in progress of this being used .A picture is worth a thousanfd words .I think i'm missing something here.Thanks

As requested.

 

 

 

Here is a bonus tip at no extra charge. Add a small strip of sand paper to the inside of the clamp. Any grit will do. I use M77 spray to attach mine. It makes the clamp hold better and the sand paper will last for thousands of projects.

Edited May 31, 2016 by NC Scroller

[CharleyL]

Scott has posted a good photo of what we use. I have an older photo that was part of my LED light bracket post earlier this year and posted here again. You can see one of my clamps in use on my saw with a compound cut reindeer block clamped in it and ready for cutting. It's not the best photo for the subject, but what I already have in my computer.

 

It's basically the same as Scott's clamp, but I prefer making my clamps from 3/4 birch cabinet ply because the clamp doesn't bow as easily. I also prefer 10-32 stainless all-thread when making this size clamp because it doesn't stretch or bend over time. I buy the stainless all-thread in 8" lengths from Lowes. They have it in the bolt specialty drawers.  For very small clamps I cut them shorter if I find that the excess length gets in my way as I'm cutting, but I usually just leave them 8".

 

Be careful when using the sandpaper that Scott suggests. It works great to hold keep the work from moving in the clamp, and I too use it sometimes, but any grit that falls off the paper and onto your saw table will scratch the table surface. This is another good reason to use a zero clearance table cover that completely covers the table as scratching it wont matter.

 

Charley

 

[amazingkevin]

As requested.

 

compound jig.JPG

 

 

Here is a bonus tip at no extra charge. Add a small strip of sand paper to the inside of the clamp. Any grit will do. I use M77 spray to attach mine. It makes the clamp hold better and the sand paper will last for thousands of projects.

Yes ,The clamps made all the difference in the world.I couldn't find my coin cutting jig and revers the holding blocks so a trip to the big box store cured that.I'm a happy camper now and if i'd stop nibbling food which puts me to sleep i could knock out a box full of these fast.They are so delightfully cute and heart warming to own.I can't wait to add the little birds and stain or paint .Looks like my supply of  bronze eye end screws is going to have to be replenished very soon. :D

[DWSUDEKUM]

Kevin if you have two small pieces of wood that have flat edges available and a hand clamp you can use this method to do your compound cutting. This is the method I use.

 

DW

[amazingkevin]

Kevin if you have two small pieces of wood that have flat edges available and a hand clamp you can use this method to do your compound cutting. This is the method I use.

 

DW

Kool beans! Thanks!