Bluebird House may have reached peak design.

Bluebird houses continue to evolve (R to L), and get cheaper per unit; now down to about $5 per house as I stopped using new wood and pieced together an alternate design with leftovers.

Too many to line up on the bench!

The first three of the next gen were the same interior dimension as the blackened new originals, this dimension was a byproduct of the wood dimension of the new originals. This results in a nesting space that while adequate, doesn’t allow the parents to both fit easily in the box at the same time- which the bluebird society mentions as a concern. I made a triple set, then realized the size constraint was artificial and made the final three at a larger dimension.

The thin walls are house panel, with a build logic similar to making a crate where structural supports are external. The blackened wood is the structural aspect, from runs of rough-cut hardwood. These materials are from the previous homeowner, including a hardwood floor, and sub-roof made from old pantry shelves.

The door is switched to the opposite side of the house, so that it will open to the South. This makes the Northern windward side more secure. The door is store-bought pine. I could have ripped a wider plank down, but that seemed a waste of wide wood.

An extra inch on one side of the floor makes an exponentially larger dimension. An additional support for the house runs at the top, for structural attachment of the roof. I just realized I’ll need to add a similar kicker-board at the bottom so the house mounts flush to its post. All sorts of little cascading effects when Frankenstiening from the original.

The white paint is an oil based primer to seal the ends of the panel board. To really do these right they’ll “need” a topcoat of exterior gloss paint.

Lets hope this has birdy curb appeal. The new houses could fledge around 100 birds per year, if they have their usual two broods. The Bluebirds all flock together on the ranch in early fall, and it is remarkable enough that even the neighbors notice. I’ll be replacing some old houses that are too far gone, unused, as well as some of my “new” houses from a few years back that have become flimsy with deer/elk/bear damage and weathering- and the design had issues that choosy birds recognized and left them unoccupied.

These are for the ranch. Any guesses? Made from hardwood to live outdoors and provide a function. The function makes things easier for people to get around the property. No, not peg-legs.

It has this area smoothed down for easy hand grippage, like a baseball bat.

This welded bit is from an old MFA sculpture-mold, salvaged before I threw the mold out this winter. The eyelet will be anchored with wire to a post.

Each end has a metal knick-nack or geegaw for hooking over wire.
If you guessed “gate sqeezer” then I’d like you to guess the next powerball lottery on my behalf. An Aussie fencing you-tuber shared this “piece if kit” shown to him by a grizzled old outback rancher (his was made from a stick). It is a lever arm for opening those bruiser barbwire gates, and it leaves the gate super tight so livestock won’t pressure it.

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