Wing 67 Bird House

A fancy decorative birdhouse, made for indoor display or outdoor use. Design is based off of the famous Habitat 67. Habitat 67 photo credit https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9... I designed the file using AutoCAD to create a DXF file for laser cutting. Using a series of cutouts and extensions, similar to finger jointing for a stronger assembly.

Tools and Materials:

Computer and AutoCAD

Laser Cutter or access to laser cutting services

Plywood

Plexiglas

Stain

Polyurethane

Wood Glue

Plexiglas Adhesive

I used two sheets of 12"x24" craft plywood 1/8" thick

Sanded and stained them with Minwax Golden Oak.

Smoothed the finished stain with fine steel wool.

Created a laser cut file for the wood and Plexiglas.

Laser Cut the Wood and Plexi.

Smoothed the edges with fine sandpaper and coated with Polyurethane.

First assemble the Plexiglas pieces using the Plexiglas adhesive.

Coat the edges of both pieces let stand for 30 seconds before attaching.

After holding the pieces together for two minutes apply an additional bead along the edge. The adhesive will fall into and fill the cracks.

Assembly all sides of the Plexi and let stand.

Lay out the wood pieces for assembly after they have thoroughly dried from the Poly.

Use the wood glue, apply a light layer on the inside edges of the grooves before assembly.

I used a Q-tip to apply the light layer as seen in the photographs.

To begin I laid the back side of the birdhouse face down and glued the sides to it, one by one.

As seen in the photographs the pieces fit within one another using the grooves.

I used the wood glue and assembled each piece individually until all the sides were installed.

Lastly for the wood assembly, lay a light layer of glue on all the edges (facing up) already installed.

Install the front face of the birdhouse.

Let the wood assembly dry over night.

The last step is to attach the Plexiglas and Wood to one another.

The Plexiglas contains three L shaped connectors on each side.

These slide into the six holes on the front face of the birdhouse, and down to lock into place.

The last piece is the "key" also made of Plexi it is 1/4" wider than the pool and contains two small teeth.

After sliding the pool down, two small 1/8" square holes are exposed above the pool from where the L connectors slid in. The key slides into this gap, fills the holes, and keeps the pool from being able to rise.

The clear Plexi is able to hold water if used outside, a source of drinking water or bird bath.

The front edge is 1/2" shorter than the sides to allow the overflow during rain.