THE NEW BIRD TABLE

I finally got round to making a new bird table last week, the continuous rain providing the perfect excuse.

Some old floorboards that were left from a job last year were just the right size for the table that I wanted. As each board was 6ins wide, I only had to cut them eighteen inches long and I had a perfect square. With the addition of a little wood glue these tongued and grooved timbers were easily slotted together and then clamped in position until the glue had set.

Tongued and grooved pine panelling was used for the roof, and the fact that this timber would not stand up to the weather was irrelevant as I intended to cover it with a piece of the pool liner that had been trimmed of when constructing the pool.

One inch angle pieces were used to make an edge for the eating area to stop the food falling of, and these were cut half an inch short at each end to facilitate the drainage of any surplice water that might accumulate, and also for cleaning purposes.

The angle pieces that were left over from making the edging were just long enough to make the uprights for to hold the roof, which had been made earlier and glued together with triangle pieces at each end to hold it square.

Putting the two pieces together and fitting the roof was a little difficult without help, but I managed to hold it securely in a wood vice until the job was complete and the glue had set.

The piece of pool liner was easily attached and secured underneath the roof with thumb pins. A couple of coats of wood preservative and the job was finished.

Now I come to the hard part of putting it in position. You will notice that I did not mention making a base for the table. In this area with constant strong gales sometimes up to eighty miles per hour, nothing stays standing for long unless well secured.

With that thought in mind I decided to put the stake that I had attached to the table into the centre of a concrete roller that had stood on end to support a birdbath. The only problem was that the hole was too small because there was a polyurethane pipe down the centre of the roller.

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