Flying Saucer Pet House

This project is just for fun, and is useful for small dogs, cats and space chickens. Can also be used for pranks, as in putting it on your neighbours or workmates lawn while they are out, taking photos of it abducting  his gnomes then emailing him photos of the the saucer and gnomes in different locations.
I got the kids to make it to get them away from there ipods for a few hours.

We were recently flooded out here it a picture of the flood water after it had receded somewhat it was up to the bottom of the windows and all manner of crap floated into our back yard, but this thing was the most interesting.  After lots of inquires I think its the front wheel off an  aqua bike, something that we don't see around here 3 hours inland. I'm annoyed it didn't come with the rest of the bike as I could have used it in the flood.

I spent a long time thinking about what i could make with this wheel, I saw this flying saucer fruit bowl on a web site, I thought looked pretty cool, but I  don't have use for a four foot diameter fruit bowl so pet house came to mind.
You will need
1. drill
2. jigsaw
3. pvc pipe
4. gaffa tape
5. paper
6. paint
7. hinges
8. string
9. aqua bike wheel
10. around 2 hours
11. wire
12. space pet.

First thing to do is to mark out the door and the holes where the legs fit into. I made a paper template  to keep the door straight and square and taped it to the wheel then just drew around it.
 Next I made a compass out of some wire and taped on a marker pen. I then drew a circle around the bottom and then use the compass to mark six points around the circle. Every second point is where the legs go

Next I drew circles with a scrap piece of pipe where the legs go, I didn't have the right size hole saw so i cut the holes with a jig saw. To cut the door opening, I first drill a small hole in each corner to let the blade pass through and then cut where the hinge will fit.

Before cutting the rest of the door I fixed the hinges into place, as this is an easy way to make sure that the door open and shuts properly and is straight. I then cut the holes and made sure every thing fits properly. I also drilled some small holes to attach the string for the door support when open.

Next I measure the legs and cut them to length I also notched the ends so the would grip on to the centre support pipe and just gaffa taped the legs  into place.

Next I added the string so the door would stay open at the correct hight, and had a look around for something to put on top. I decided this weird looking ball on a stick would make it look like a death ray on top. The mixing bowel of death also looked cool. I was also thinking of putting weapons on the sides but I didn't want the cat getting any ideas about world domination again after what happen last time.

Next I wiped it down with some mentholated spirits  to get any grease off and spray painted it silver, just out of a can. Its a bit scratched in places but I'm doing this just for fun with the kids and they think its great, and are fighting over who gets to fly it first.

I then drew some crop circle looking things on the sides, to take your eye away from the scratches

The cat quite like his space ship, and surprised me by jumping straight in. It should be reasonable warm and dry.
the kids had a blast making it and the neighbors freaked out when they saw it on their  front lawn, so mission accomplished.