Woodpecker on a Pole(Updated)

Update: 10.06.2021

Woodpecker on a pole goes Large!

Upped the scale a bit to see if it would still work ok, It does, design and build is same as the Initial Instructable apart from making everything bigger.

In this Instructable I will show you how I made this Woodpecker on a pole, I did cut the Woodpecker out on the CNC Machine but purely because I have one and it had the right size router bit in it. (Ok I'm lazy)

A fret or scroll saw would do the same job.

I had the wood for the base which is oak and it was already cut into a circle, the dowel rod is approximately 5.5mm diameter and 250mm Height.

CNC Machine or Fret/Scroll saw

Piece of Timber for the base.

5/6mm Dowel rod

Spring

CA Glue

Small drills

In Vetric Cut2D Start a new sketch and input the dimensions of the wood you are using to cut out the woodpecker, in this case its 100mm x 40mm and the depth is 9mm.

Find a free Woodcock silhouette online and Import the Bit map into the sketch then trace bit map and delete the background, leaving you with just an outline, we don't need the legs as such so I deleted what I could before creating an arc between where the legs protrude and trimmed the rest off with the scissor tool, it should look something like the last screenshot.

Highlight all Vectors and select the join Vectors tab, the sketch will go from a dotted line to a full line, then in the profile tab the depth of cut will be 9.2mm we select the Tab box as we want to leave Tabs around the piece to hold it in place.

Calculate, Review and rename the file, we can now send this file across to the CNC machine and cut the woodpecker out, the wood for this is walnut and oak glued together 9mm depth.

A sanding with the dremel rounds the woodpecker off nicely.

Onto the assembly:

Whilst I was on the CNC machine I quickly sketched up the wooden ring which slides up and down the pole, the centre hole needs to be slightly bigger in diameter than the dowel or it wont work correctly, a hole was drilled in the wood pecker and also the side of the wooden ring, I used brass inserts to connect the spring to the woodpecker and the wooden ring, I had to shorten the spring to bring it closer to the dowel, and a few minor tweaks later the Woodpecker was doing as it should.

We need a hole in the base to accept the dowel, this was glued in place using CA Glue, I glued another ring onto the top of the dowel to stop the woodpecker falling off.

All in all, a very enjoyable little project with some basic components, also a project which put a smile on my face which is always good.

Hope you enjoyed the Instructable and thanks for watching.