a birdfeeder

[jueston]

my bosses wife came to me some time ago and asked me to make a birdfeeder as a birthday present for my boss.

she provided me a picture of a cedar birdfeeder, but i prefer knotless hardwoods, so i decided on Ipe which should last a very long time outside.




i spent almost a month trying to figure out how to do the angles on the joint to fit perfectly, but in the end i figured it out and it worked out pretty well, the joints ended up very tight.

the feeder was well received, but the box was very very well recieved everyone in the office talked and talked about how much they liked the box.

i have never built anything for exterior use before. so i wasn't sure what glue was best. i used CA glue because i thought that would be the most water resistant, but i talked to one person who thought i should have used epoxy. what glue would you guys have suggested?

[Bill Gaiche]

That is one nice bird restaurant. Good job. bg

[mesquite buckeye]

Cool. ;D  8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

[PC-Urban-Sawyer]

... what glue would you guys have suggested?

Titebond III

Nice job on the bird feeder and the gift box...

[samandothers]

I like both!  Nice job on all the joints/angles. 

That box is nifty and will be passed on within that family after the bird house has gone back to the earth!

[yukon cornelius]

I have no recommendation for the glue but your craftsmanship is outstanding! very nice lob!

[Lud]

Very nice.    Titebond III ,  I concur.  For the birdhouse, I  recommend ONE time finish but  oil and wax for the gift box which is ever so tasty! 8)

[jueston]

i was under the impression that titebond 3, although water resistant, would not stand up to being continually rained on....

Using Ipe for the birdfeeder means that the wood will last many decades, and i have no idea what glue i could expect to last for decades outside, possibly getting bird poop on it, and being hosed off.... i had considered a polyurethane based glue, like liquid nails, but i have no real experiance using it, and i have no idea how it will last...

i'm an experimenter, and i may glue a few boards together with various glues and leave them outside to see what happens. i tend to believe my own experimentation and experiences much more then lab experiments done under controlled conditions and what i read on the packaging.

as for the finishes, i put nothing on the Ipe, it doesn't' absorb much the way cedar does, and i don't think it will need anything. and i sprayed shellac on the box, the box was really just an after thought, and i would have put a lot more thought into it, had i realized so much attention would be paid to that instead of the birdfeeder.

[hackberry jake]

I hear that gorilla glue is extremely waterproof. I don't like using it because it foams up, but when I was researching making my own wedding ring, gorilla glue was the one most often recommended for wet environments.

[beenthere]

I don't think Gorilla Glue is waterproof. IMO

Maybe the advertising says so, but any known testing that shows it is "waterproof" and to what extent could it be used?

[21incher]

Fantastic job! I have a tendency to use a good epoxy for outdoors use and clean the mating surfaces with alcohol to remove any oils prior to gluing.

[jueston]

Fantastic job! I have a tendency to use a good epoxy for outdoors use and clean the mating surfaces with alcohol to remove any oils prior to gluing.

i heard, after i finished, that any time your gluing really oily woods like ipe they should be cleaned with alcohol first to get better adhesion...

i asked the current owner where he intends to place the bird feeder, he said he's not sure he has the right spot in his yard, so he is going to hang it inside the house until he find the right spot outside. that sounds like it will never make it outside.

if thats the case, no need to worry to much about the glue... 

[m wood]

I have field tested GG and it is my choice for log tenons going outside.  Jake is right, it expands by 3 or 4 times original volume, but my product is rustic, so putting a razor blade and sand paper to any overage is all I need.  Nice package jueston.