Thread: Angled panel joins

Hi, noticed your question last night but stayed clear hoping that someone else would chime in with something encouraging but it doesn't seem to be happening. So I will voice my concerns.

1. Fence palings are about the bottom of the timber chain, the only thing I can think of that is lower would be woodchips. Yes they are cheap(ish), but rarely straight and flat when supplied and they generally move a lot while exposed. I suspect that you would be struggling to assemble your tube from palings in the first place using any joinery technique and get them to stay airtight, let alone keep them airtight for a season or more. You seem to be attempting coopering or barrel making, and coopers are very big on using high quality timber that has been very well seasoned under well controlled conditions, palings are generally the exact opposite.

2. When you mention palings, you do not distinguish between softwood or hardwood. This could be significant because softwood ones are generally treated with some form of preservative to deter short term destruction by critters. But parrots are notorious for chewing on timber, so I have to wonder about the possibility of nest boxes harming the birds thatey are intended to support.

3. I think 15mm thick would be too thin to join with dominoes because the dominoes will be penetrating the face of the paling because of the bevelled edges of the boards.

Just my 2c, sorry I can't find anything positive to contribute other than admiration for your willingness to help the birds.

Thanks Malb, that's exactly the sort of heads up I need - the only other woodwork project I've done was with marine ply and mdf over a treated pine framework, so I didn't have any of those sorts of issues.

1. I will look at other options, though your mentioning coopering has got me thinking, a few bands of sheet metal around it might help to hold it together in the long term - like they do with barrels, only shoddier.
2. Yep, definitely hardwood whether I go palings or something else. If not palings, what would you suggest?
3. This was my concern too. Here's what one join would look like, to scale: http://bludgin.com/filedump/domino.jpg it looks OK to me, but I really can't judge, as I don't know the wood.

Here's a quick sketchup of what i was planning: http://bludgin.com/filedump/birdhouse.png

Hi, I have done some more thinking and checking. What size domino did you use in the scale drawing, I'm guessing 5x 30 by the look of it. If so, and by moving the domino in from the midpoint of the joint, the concept should work and exposing the domino (and glue) shouldn't be an issue.

Can you get access to hardwood palings around Sydney, and actually select the dozen or so you want from a bundle? If so you might be able to select straight flat ones for the task, but you would get a lot of practice at restacking palings I suspect. Down here hardwood are virtually a thing of the past, and the softwood palings in Bunnings and a lot of the wholesalers are often twisted, cupped or bowed, and literally dripping water so could go anywhere as they try to dry out.

With coopering, they generally use a lot more staves to form the circle, so they tend to be narrower and thicker. They are normally hand shaped and simply rely on good handfitting, the bands, and the timber expanding with moisture absorbsion to hold them together for long periods, no fancy joinery, glues etc used.

What machinery can you access? I see a jointer as being helpful to machine the bevels and get an initial straight edge, and probably a tablesaw as well to get the second edge straight and slightly overwidth, followed by a light pass over the jointer to finish to an accurate size. A digital angle box gizmo would be handy to set the fence angle and tablesaw tilt as well, it would need to be quite accurate. I figure that you would need to allow at least 10mm machining allowance accross the width of your palings, possibly more, so you would get say a 100mm W bevelled stave from a 115mm W paling. Still not sure that you could keep the joints weatherproof once exposed tough.

Remember - that the parent parrots have to be able to climb both in and out of the nesting box.

When they nest in a hollow log - the rough interior hollowed out by termites leaves little rough edges that they grip with their beaks and claws to climb in and out.

If you make a cylinder out of palings and its too smooth inside and too deep they won't use it if they can't get in and out!

From experience - youd be better off finding a hollow log on the forest floor that's the right dia and has a big enough hollow & cut a section out with a chain saw & just nail a wooden lid and floor onto it.

The smell of damp rotted interior with chips from the inside where they chew it out a bit more to make it suitable with their beak - is a bit of a trigger for nesting / breeding in some parrot species.

For others no dampness at all is crucial (smokers spring to mind the chicks can suffer from rickets if it gets damp inside).

So when you cut your log - cut the roof end with a slope to run water off!.

Also when you mount it in your aviary mount it with the entrance hole so water can't blow in during a storm i.e. on the underside slightly - also some sort of a perch where the parents can fly and land them climb in and out helps them.

Mount it so rats and mice and lizards etc cannot get up and into it if you want the parrots to use it.

I wouldn't personally go to al that trouble to make an artificial one when a hollow log works so much better.

Just the light wind and water that might get thru a less than perfect joint can be what makes the birds decide not to use it.

I did keep a few parrots in a big aviary in a previous life and was also a wildlife officer.

My 2c.

Parrots dont like the smell/taste of glue either. You may have to look at cooperage as a method of assembly.May be better to go with TT's idea and find a hollow log.