Make: Bird feeder & bath

When you have a gazillion hobby projects lined up but just want something simple: construct a bird feeding station! Our old one was the lid of a plastic paint bucket. While the birds didn't seem to mind, we did. The birds do seem to love the new European themed one more.

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1. A garden folly

Basically this is a neoclassic roman empire bauhaus inspired weatherproof bird feeder and bird bath with a solid base that fits 50mm wooden poles. It's part folly, part utterly useful.

This page is a combination of my build and building instructions to construct one yourself.

1.1 Components

- The feeder is somewhat modular and can be constructed from simple 3D printed components, PVC piping (16 or 20mm) and some wood. Optionally a 10mm metal or wood bar can be inserted to act as a flagpole / attachment point for a hanging feeder. The 3D parts are designed to be easy prints, fit on a small printbed (150x150mm), and with minimal waste in support structures.

- The bath is again constructed from simple 3D printed components and PVC piping (16 or 20mm). It uses a (removable) IKEA Kalas childrens plate for the bath component. Optionally it comes with a little clip to lock in the plate. The bolt holding the clip can double as an attachment point for a hanging feeder.

- The 50mm feeder base with the 10mm metal or wood bar inset can also be used separately for whatever bird house you design yourself. It's an easy print and rather strong.

1.2 Files and materials

The 3D .stl files can be downloaded (see left column). They're licensed CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

Additional materials:

• Component Part
• feeder & courtyard Wood / plastic plate 220x140mm. Max 10mm thick.
• feeder no courtyard Wood / plastic plate 140x140mm. Max 10mm thick.
• feeder Bunch of screws, 3x12 works fine.
• feeder (optional) 10mm metal or wood bar. About 40cm.
• bath IKEA Kalas plate
• bath 6x60mm bolt
• both 50mm pole for mounting the feeder and bath
• both Bunch of screws for pole, 4x15 or so
• both 16 or 20mm PVC tubing / pipe / conduit. About a meter.

When using 16mm tubing (which is prettier and more historically accurate, which the birds do consider an important thing) you need 16 to 20mm printed sleeves.

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2. Assembly

The photos kinda speak for themselves. Here's some general tips though.

The 3D parts can all be printed with minimal supports. I printed most with a two or three layer wall in PLA. Two layer is probably fine. Unless you expect eagles or extremely heavy pigeons to sit on this 15 or 20% infill should do.

As this is outside all year round parts are glued ("welded") with cyanoacrylate adhesive/glue. You.. want to look up how to protect your health as you use this. I've spraypainted the completed structures and after some days finished with a transparent UV coating.

I used a wooden plate for the base as that's what I had laying around. Some type of plastic will probably hold up longer. Don't forget to drill some drainage holes.

The roof (2x the same plate, glued together) can also be a flat plate of plastic. Might look nice. One of the photos of the unpainted feeder has an example as I originally aimed to do this.

2.1 Part: bird feeder

The feeder / BirdCastle2000 can be constructed WITH (220x140mm floor) or WITHOUT (140x140mm floor) a courtyard. The little round balcony is charming but optional..

The roof can either be 3d printed (2x the sloped roof part, paint them before glueing into the rest of the structure) or a plastic plate (135x140mm, as seen on the photo above).

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Required printed parts for the grand version:

• # Part
• 1 Great hall front courtyard
• 1 Great hall base
• 1 Great hall ceiling
• 1 Great hall pediment star
• 2 Great hall roof panel
• 8 20 to 16mm sleeve
• 1 Balcony

The length of the PVC tubing is whatever works with the local birds. Ours are normal garden birds and not one meter tall freaks of nature so I did 12cm. It looks nice.

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2.2 Part: bird bath

The photo shows everything. You can probably get away with only using the top, horizontal, parts. If you do so I don't think the structure will survive long though.

Required printed parts:

• # Part
• 1 pole top bracket
• 1 pole bottom bracket
• 1 extension top bracket
• 1 thingy to hold plate
• 3 20 to 16mm sleeve
• 1 20 to 16mm sleeve, sliced

The length of the PVC tubing is rather precise. 22 and 12.5cm worked for me. With the sleeves you can adjust the fit. Make sure to fit an IKEA plate before you glue things.

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2.3 Part: 50mm base

The photo shows everything. The aluminium rod I used is about 40cm long. It's optional. If you use the rod for hanging heavy stuff it's probably best to print this with three outer layers.

Required printed parts:

• # Part
• 1 the base
• 1 or 2 10mm endcap thingy for the rod

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3. Photos!

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