How to make a whistle

 Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.   Ours was quiet and I enjoyed it.   Today I have a quick and easy project, but one the kids will love.   Take it on a hike... just in case you get lost or find yourself in trouble.  I enjoy making things with and for kids.  Call me a big kid, and I won't argue the fact.  🐐

Step 1-   I started with a piece of hardwood measuring 1" x 1" x 4"  (A pen blank for woodturning is just about the right size)   If I had needed to cut it I would have used Proxxon's mini table saw.

Step 2-  Using the Proxxon vise clamp to hold my wood piece vertical I drilled a 3/8 inch hole down the center, stopping 1" short of the end.

Step 3- Using the Proxxon mini band saw I made a 90 degree cut approx 1 inch down from the hole side of the wood just deep enough to meet the hole we made in step 2.

Step 3.  Starting approx 3/4" down from the 90 degree cut, I used the Proxxon mini band saw to make a cut at about 45 degrees that met up with the 90 degree cut. to take a wedge out of the top of the soon to be whistle.  

                              hope you can follow my drawing 🠞🠞🠞🠞🠞🠞🠞

Step 4.Take a 3" piece of 3/8" dowel and cut the top so that it has a flat top.  Insert it into the hole in the whistle.  Moving it in and out find the sweet spot.  You will know when you find it because it will whistle loud and clear.  Hold it in place and drop a couple drops of super glue around the dowel. where it meets the wood.  Let it dry then cut it flush with the end of the whistle.  The whistle is now complete.       

But wait... there is more.  Just for fun lets doll it up a bit.    I am still learning my new Proxxon engraving device, so I set it up and engraved on the little whistle.

Then I took it over the Proxxon disc sander and rounded all my edges.

Then more smoothing with the OZI/E delta sander

And a coating of butcher block, which is non toxic and a key ring.   Now give it to the

 boy or girl scout of your choice.

Again, this was easier to make that to describe.  Give it a shot, it won't take but about an hour.

Thanks for visiting.   Thanks Proxxon, Your tools are the best!

Catch you next time.   Carol

Easy to make wooden castanets

 Hi everyone.  Hope you had a nice Halloween and didn't get tricked too bad.  Our's was very quiet.  I guess the virus has everyone hiding out in their own homes.  Oh well... more leftover candy for me. 

  I have a neat little project today.  I made this with Proxxon tools then used Plaid paints to decorate. It was ever so easy and turned out nice.  I leave it sitting around and everyone plays with it.  That includes me.  It has a nice sound and is so easy to play with.  Anyone can add to the music.

We are going to make some castanets.  

Supplies and Equipment

Proxxon mini bandsaw

Proxxon Disc sander

Proxxon OZIE delta sander

Proxxon mini drill press with drill bit.

3//8" oak or other hardwood

8" length of leather lacing

Plaid paints for decorating

spray sealant of your choice.

Tape

Let's get started:

The first thing I did was to create my pattern.   To make a drawing a symmetrical I use a little trick I learned in grade school.  I folded a sheet of paper then drew half my pattern on the fold.  Then I cut it out and when I open it up I have a pattern that looks the equal on both sides.  (Remember drawing half a heart on Valentine's day?)💗

I want the paddle part to be about 2 x 3" and the handle about 3" - 3 1/2" long..  And we need 2 square pieces measuring 2 x 3".  See cutting layout below. 🠋 only 3 pieces total.👍

Cut them out on the Proxxon mini bandsaw.  Have I mentioned before how I love this tool?   Cuts like butter but is not scary like a big bandsaw.

Next we take the two outside square pieces over to the Proxxon Disc Sander and bevel one edge on each one.  Unlike the picture I took bevel the edges all the way across.  😆

Next, tape your pieces together.   Using the Proxxon mini drill press make 2 holes through all 3 pieces. (outside of the handle part)

Sand everything well with the Proxxon OZI/E delta sander.  Make sure to round the edges of the handle so that it is comfortable in the hand.

Time to decorate.   I always use Plaid paints for their vibrant colors.

front and back

Seal your painted pieces, then using the leather lacing tie it all together with a knot at each end.  Pull it tight and cut off the extra lacing.    Lookie  🠉👀 🠝 its all done.  

I want to thank you for visiting.   I hope you will try out this super simple project.  Great for kids and beginners.   Thank You Proxxon, and Plaid.  Great products!!     

 

Catch ya next time  Carol  

How To Make A Candle Sconce

   Hi everyone! Continuing on with working on a few things for my powder room. Today I'll be making a candle sconce.  Let me show you how I did it.

Supplies:
  Proxxon Micro Band Saw
  Proxxon Drill Press
  Proxxon Delta Sander
  3/4" scrap pine
  Wooden candle cup
  Plaid paint black
  Plaid Inspirations clear wax

1. I drew out a pattern on paper

2.  Transferred my pattern to the scrap 3/4" pine board.                                                                       

                                                                                                           
3. Using the Proxxon Micro Bandsaw I cut out both pieces.                                              

 

4. I sanded the pieces using the Proxxon Delta Sander                                                                            

5.  I then attached  the wooden candle cup to the base using a wood screw .                             .           

                               

6.  I drilled a hole for hanging using the Proxxon Drill Press.                                                              

                                                 

 7.  I then glued and nailed the base to the back.

8.  Paint with black Plaid paint and wax with clear Plaid Inspirations Wax.                                           

Thanks for following along with me.... Colleen           

Up-Cycle a Soda Can and Make a Fruit Feeder for Birds

I'm having a blast preparing for spring and making birdhouses and bird feeders for our yard. In my most recent Proxxon posts, I built an Up-Cycled Wine Bottle Bird Feeder and a Mid Century Modern Bird House.

Today we're building a fruit feeder using a scrap of lumber and an empty soda can. Baltimore Orioles, Brown Thrashers, Bullock's Orioles, Catbirds, Hooded Orioles, Mockingbirds, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Scarlet Tanagers, and Western Tanagers all love orange halves and this feeder is a great way to serve them up.

Be aware that attracting fruit-eating birds can take time and patience. If you have mature fruit trees or bushes, or if you have seen fruit-eating birds in your yard or nearby, you will more readily attract fruit-eaters. And, Mockingbirds can be territorial, so fruit feeders may need to be placed away from other feeders. With those tips in mind, let's get started.

The Pattern/Measurements

Rough Cedar 1x6 is about 5.5" wide. For this project, you'll only need a piece about 6" long. Start by marking out all the center lines on your scrap. The goal is to cut the biggest circle possible out of the scrap (in this case, 5.5" in diameter because it's limited by the width of the lumber) and to cut out a hole in the center big enough to hold an orange (about 3-4" in diameter).  You'll need horizontal holes through the center of the circles to hold the skewer, which holds the fruit. A small hole at the bottom lets you put a dowel through the piece to use as a perch on both sides of the fruit.

For my geeky friends, here are the facts and the math. A standard soda can in the US is 4.83" high, 2.13" in diameter at the lid, and 2.60" in diameter (D) at the widest point of the body. If you cut off the top and bottom to make it 4 inches high, and cut down the side, you’ll have a piece about 4” x 8.17”. Remember, the circumference of a circle is 2πR or πD. Pi or π is about 3.14159. So, 3.14159 x 2.6" = 8.17"

The circumference of our feeder, a 5.5” diameter circle, is 17.28”. That means half way around the circle is about 8.64”. So, we only need a a strip from the can about 5-6” and we've got about 8" long. Trim it down and it will work perfectly!

Of course, you don't worry about doing the math. Just wrap a tape measure around whatever can you have and you'll see how long a piece of aluminum you can get out of it.

This diagram shows the lines you should draw and the plans for the feeder.

What You'll Need

• Rough Cedar 1x6, about 6" long. I cut a scrap to size using the Proxxon Table Saw FET, but the Proxxon MICRO Bandsaw MBS/E would work too.
• An empty soda can that's been rinsed clean on the inside.
• A 4" length of dowel. I used 1/4".
• A bamboo skewer cut to about 8-9" in length (keep the pointed end and cut off the blunt end)
• Compass
• Ruler
• Square
• Pencil
• Wood glue (I prefer Titebond)
• Staple gun
• Tin snips or scissors that can get lightweight aluminum
• Corner rounder (optional)
• Sand paper (to sand the inside circle)
• Steel wool
• Linseed oil
• A small screw eye or hook to use to hang the feeder
• Gloves (these are optional, but can be handy when handling the aluminum can - it has sharp edges).
• Proxxon Scroll Saw DSH/E
• Proxxon MICRO Bandsaw MBS/E
• Proxxon Bench Drill Press TBM 115
• Proxxon Original German Chuck for the TBM115
• 1/4" Drill Bit
• 9/64" Drill Bit (or whatever size you need to make a hole big enough to fit the skewer)
• Proxxon Disc Sander TG 125/E
• Proxxon Rotary Tool with a small drill bit - big enough to fit the skewer (like Complete Model Building and Engraving Set)

Steps To Follow 

1) Use the ruler, square and pencil to mark the center lines on the smooth side of the rough cedar. Using the compass, draw the two circles. Mark the hole for the perch. It should be along the vertical center of the two circles and centered between the 3" and 5.5" circles, as shown in the illustration above.

2) Create 3" in diameter hole in the center. 

1. Drill a pilot hole using the 1/4" bit and Proxxon Bench Drill Press TBM 115 on the perch mark.
2. Use the Proxxon Scroll Saw DSH/E to cut out the circle. Fit the blade through the pilot hole and then cut around the pencil mark. Sand the finished hole with sandpaper.

3) Use the Proxxon Bench Drill Press TBM 115 to drill a hole through the piece. Be sure the hole is big enough to fit your dowel.

4) Use a Proxxon Rotary Tool with a small drill bit (e.g., 9/64) to drill a hole in each side of the "donut" to slide the skewer through. Be sure you drill deep enough to go in to the inner circle you drew. We're drilling these holes now because it's much easier to handle the piece while it's a square (compared to after you cut the outer circle and make the "donut.")

5) Cut out the outer circle using the Proxxon MICRO Bandsaw MBS/E. When you're cutting large curves, be sure to cut "relief cuts" around the curve. These allow waste pieces to fall away as your cutting, making it easier to follow a long curve. When you're done, you should have a "donut" shape.

6) Sanding around the "donut" with the Proxxon Disc Sander TG 125/E makes it easy to smooth the edges.

7) Test to make sure the dowel and the skewer fit and make any necessary adjustments.

8) Once your confident everything fits, put a little wood glue in to the hole for the perch and insert the dowel through. Wipe the part of the dowel you pushed through clean of any glue residue. Do not glue the skewer in place. You have to be able to slide that in/out to fill the feeder.

9) Seal and protect all parts of the feeder with linseed oil. Rub it in using a cotton cloth (rag). Let it dry completely. While it's drying, you can work on the aluminum roof.

10) Use tin snips to cut off the top and bottom of the can (make finished piece about 4" tall). Then snip up the side of the cylinder. Then trim the length of the strip to about 5-6" long.

11) If you don't want the soda can label to show on your feeder, use a piece of steel wool to burnish it off. This is easiest if you're working under a small stream of water, like in your sink.Remember, the aluminum is sharp, so be careful! You might want to wear heavy gloves while you're doing this, to be safe.

12) Use a corner rounder punch or the snips to round the corners of the rectangle. This will also help sharpen your punch!

13) Find the center of the aluminum rectangle and line it up with the center top of the "donut." Use the staple gun to attach the rounded rectangle around the top half of the "donut." This makes the roof of the feeder.

14) Drill a small pilot hole at the top of the "donut" (through the aluminum roof and in to the wood). Insert the screw eye.

15) Cut an orange in half and use the skewer to hold it in the center of the "donut," hang your feeder and patiently wait for fruit-loving birds to arrive! Dinner is served! Bon Appétit

Happy Crafting!
Joe
www.createNcraft.com

Wine Bottle Bird Feeder - Up-Cycle a Bottle and Make a Bird Feeder

I love seeing and hearing the birds in our yard. This spring I want to be prepared to make our yard a great neighborhood for our winged friends by providing plenty of houses, feeders and baths. In my last posts, I made a Mid Century Modern Bird House. This time I up-cycled a bottle to make a feeder.

I've seen similar feeders on Pinterest but they looked a bit "rustic" with hard edges and exposed joints. I also wasn't sure how functional the ones I saw were, because I didn't see any that provided for drainage in the seed tray. I knew the time was right to tackle this re-purposing project when I came across an empty gin bottle at an estate sale today (free!) and my new
Proxxon MICRO Bandsaw MBS/E was sitting in my living room, waiting to be used.

I grabbed some scraps of rough cedar 1x6 left over from the bird house project and set to work on a table in our spare bedroom. Most of the bench top Proxxon tools include an adapter to connect a vacuum cleaner, making them great to use in the house. Practically all the saw dust collects in the vacuum! While I worked on the wood pieces, Joe Morgan worked on the metal embellishments.

The Pattern/Measurements

The bottle I used was about 12" tall, so these measurements are based on that. This is a bird feeder, not a fine piece of furniture, so don't worry about being precise.  Here's how I figured out the measurements for my feeder so you can see how you might adjust them to fit the bottle you're using.

Rough cedar 1x6 is about 5-1/4" wide. So, a circle that fits over that would be 5-1/4" in diameter. The half-circle would be 2-5/8" tall.

You need 3/4" from the bottom of the bottle to the top of the feed tray so there's room for the seed to come out.

The feed tray base (without counting the "lip") is 3/4" thick.

So, the length of the back piece is: 18-3/4", which is 2-5/8" (top half circle) + 12" (bottle) + 3/4" (space from neck to tray) + 3/4" tray + 2-5/8" (bottom half circle)

The base trays are 4-3/8" long (from the back piece to the tip of the half-circle). The part that holds the neck of the bottle is 3-1/4" long.

What You'll Need

• Rough Cedar 1x6, cut to these lengths. I used the Proxxon Table Saw FET, but the Proxxon MICRO Bandsaw MBS/E would work too.:
• (1) 18-7/8"lengths (back piece)
• (2) 4-3/8" lengths (to make the seed tray)
• (1) 3-1/4" length x 3" wide (bottle neck holder)
• A wine bottle. I used a gin bottle because I liked the flat sides
• A piece of metal decorative tape or flashing about 1" wide by 12" long. If you use flashing, you can cut it on the Proxxon MICRO Bandsaw MBS/E and then run it through an embossing machine to give it a neat texture. I found 1" metal decorative tape at my local big box craft store.
• Compass
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Wood glue (I prefer Titebond)
• Staple gun
• Clamps
• Long zip ties (about 5)
• Sand Paper
• Linseed Oil
• Screws or sawtooth picture hanger to hang the feeder
• Bird seed
• Small funnel
• Proxxon Table Saw FET
• Proxxon MICRO Bandsaw MBS/E
• Proxxon Bench Drill Press TBM 115
• Proxxon Original German Chuck for the TBM115
• 1/4" Drill Bit
• Proxxon Disc Sander TG 125/E
• Proxxon Rotary Tool with a small drill bit (like Complete Model Building and Engraving Set)

Steps To Follow 

Read these steps before you begin the project so you understand why they are in this particular order. I found this order really makes this project simple and quick.

1) Using the compass, draw the half-circles at both ends of the back piece and on one end of one seed tray and one end of the bottle neck holder.

2) Draw a line 3/4" inch in from the sides and half-circle of the seed tray from Step (1).

3) Use the Proxxon MICRO Bandsaw MBS/E to cut the curves on the ends of the back piece and on the end of the bottle neck holder.  When you're cutting large curves, be sure to cut "relief cuts" around the curve. These allow waste pieces to fall away as your cutting, making it easier to follow a long curve. 

(4) Use the Proxxon MICRO Bandsaw MBS/E to cut the inside line of the seed tray in Step (2). When you're done, this will look like you cut the letter "U" with 3/4" thick sides out of the rectangle. This will become the lip of the seed tray. Sand the cut with sandpaper. You should still have one seed tray that is untouched.

4) Use the wood glue to bond the tray lip to the feeder tray. Be sure the flat ends of the "U" line up with the end of the feeder tray. Clamp these two pieces and let them dry.

5) Use the Proxxon MICRO Bandsaw MBS/E to cut the outside curve of the tray assembly from Step (4). The Proxxon bandsaw can easily handle this thick piece (about 1-1/2" thick!) and by cutting them when they are assembled, you are guaranteed the edge will be perfect across both pieces.

6) Use the Proxxon Rotary Tool with a small drill bit to drill lots (about a dozen) small holes in the bottom of the seed tray for drainage. I didn't think to do this until after I glued the pieces together. It would be easier to do that now while the piece can lay flat on your work bench. Keep the holes small enough so seed doesn't fall through them.

 

7) Create a 1-3/8" hole in the bottle neck holder. 

1. Mark the center of the hole with the pencil. The center is 1-1/2" from the edge and 1-1/2" from the top of the half circle.
2. Use the compass and pencil to draw a 1-3/8" circle around the center mark.
3. Drill a pilot hole using the 1/4" bit and Proxxon Bench Drill Press TBM 115 on the center mark.
4. Use the Proxxon Scroll Saw DSH/E to cut out the circle. Fit the blade through the pilot hole and then cut around the pencil mark. Sand the finished hole with sandpaper.

8) Sand the edges of all the exterior curves. The Proxxon Disc Sander TG 125/E really made sanding the curves easy. It smooth out any jagged parts of my cuts. I held the pieces flat against the sander to get the curves smooth. Then I held the pieces at an angle against the sanding wheel to round the edges of the pieces.

9) Glue the feeder tray and bottle neck holders to the back piece. I positioned the feeder tray so the bottom of the tray was at the start of the bottom half circle. The bottle neck holder position will vary depending on the bottle you want to use. You want this piece to hold the bottle up so that the opening is about 3/4" from the top of the feeder tray. This is far enough from the base so seed will flow out of the bottle, but no so far that it just pours out. I didn't have clamps that would reach that far so I improvised and used zip ties. They held the pieces together until the glue was completely set and worked great!

10) Seal and protect all parts of the feeder (except the inside of the seed tray) with linseed oil. Rub it in using a cotton cloth (rag).  I didn't do the inside of the seed tray because I wasn't sure if the birds would like that oil against the seed they are eating. Let dry completely.

11) Attach a length of metal tape across the top of the bottle and on to the sides of the back piece using a staple gun. You want the metal tight enough to hold the bottle in place, but not so tight you can't slide the bottle out to refill it.

12) To hang the feeder, you can use screws to attach the back piece to a tree or fence, or attach a sawtooth picture hanger to the back.

13) Embellish! We changed the color of the metal tape with spray paint. We had a little owl necklace  and thought that would look great hanging in front of the bottle. So it didn't look so "new," we distressed it some paint to make it look a bit older.

 

14) Use the funnel to fill the bottle with seed. Then slip the bottle back in to the feeder. If you hang the feeder using a sawtooth hanger, you can take it down, turn it upside down, slide it over the bottle and then flip it right-side-up to hang. If the feeder is attached with screws, just hold your fingers over the bottle opening or put a small piece of masking tape over the opening just until you flip it over and have it in place.

I think this will be a great addition to our backyard! I hope you'll try making one and let me know how it turns out.

Happy Crafting!
Joe
www.createNcraft.com