Something With Nails

When my nephew came to me a few months ago wanting to build something with nails, I was at a loss. I would ask him what he wanted to make, and he didn't know. Knowing that he wanted to just make something - anything - with his uncle I knew I had to come up with something.

Living over 600 miles away makes moments like building something with your hands as a family difficult. This instructable is a means to bridge the gap and bring together my nephew and myself to build the same bird house for Christmas.

In your present you will find all the necessary parts and tools to build this bird house.

If you are interested in making this bird house too, you can find the same design just scaled down in my previously published Scrap Wood Projects Instructable.

Parts:

1. Front and back
2. Sides and bottom
3. Roof
4. Perch

Tools:

1. Hammer
2. Glue
3. Nails

Supplies:

1. Old clothes and shoes that won't be the end of the world if you get glue on them
2. Wet Paper Towel (for cleaning up glue drips and wiping glue off your hands)

You will need to assemble and decorate this in a 'mother approved' location that you won't damage the surfaces you are working on. You need somewhere that can support your hammering and maybe some glue squeeze out. You can mitigate the risk of glue squeeze out by using something to cover your work surface like a layer of cardboard or a plastic bag.

Your mom has the final say on your work surface.

Find the front of your birdhouse. This piece will have the door and perch hole drilled in it and have label 'Front Inside'.

On the outside of this piece, start two nails on the left side as shown by carefully tapping them in with your hammer. These nails will correspond to the 1 labeled on the inside of the front.

Once your nails are started, apply a thin line of glue inside the border marked in pencil.

Find the side with the 1 and 3 label on it. Align the 1's together and carefully tap the two nails in.

Repeat the previous step of starting nails for the second side, applying glue, and tap the nails in fully.

For the back of the birdhouse, you will need to first start all four nails for both sides at once. Flip over the back and apply two thin lines of glue as before. Align and nail one side at a time.

This step is slightly different. You will first need to apply glue to the inside of the bird house then start driving in your nails into the pilot holes.

Start by tapping in all the 6 nails for the roof piece with an A and C on it. Once ready, apply a thin line of glue down one entire side of the bird house as shown. Line up the A with the A and C with the C to ensure that the mitered edge is pointing up. Align the top of the roof with the top of the front and back of the bird house. Once aligned, tap one of the top nails into place. Then proceed to finish securing the other nails in place.

Once the first roof piece is installed, follow the same process to attach the second roof piece with a B and D label on it. Align the roof with the first roof piece and be sure that it overlaps the first piece at the top as shown in the last picture.

Apply a small amount of glue inside the small hole on the front of the bird house. Carefully push the perch into the hole. If it is being stubborn and not wanting to fit, you can use your hammer to carefully tap it into place. You only need to tap it in until you can feel it coming out on the inside of your bird house by putting your finger through the door. Keep in mind that you will likely get some glue on your fingers when checking the depth of the perch.

Once your perch is installed you are ready to decorate. You can leave the wood natural as I have done, or you can use markers, paint, or even colored pencils to customize it as you like. You can keep your bird house inside or find somewhere outside in the spring for it to go.

Be sure to take some pictures and show your building process, I'd love to see it!