Just A Round Circle

    Sometimes I'm asked to build a little something for someone.  Generally those somethings are a project that they could do themselves, but just don't have the time or the clamps or some other tool.   So I get asked if this is something I could help with.     To be honest, I like working on projects like that.   Most are pretty basic and yet if I want I can tweak them to make them a little challenging.    For the next few weeks I'm just going to blog about some of those things that I'm working on that maybe helped someone out but also there was a little "experience" lesson in it for for me.
   You might question the reasoning behind writing about such trivial projects, but I often use my blog as a personal diary to track the different things that I worked on.

    My friend, Don, has this interesting bird feeding station that he uses to feed our little feathered friends in his back yard.   I will try to describe how it works, but most likely it is one of those "you got to see it to believe it" things.    He has a wooden post that sticks up out of the ground almost six feet.   On top of that post he has this round base that has a diameter of 4 feet. On that base he has a couple of bird feeding stations that he keeps supplied with various bird food.

    He likes this little feeding station because squirrels that climb the post to get to the bird feed find it impossible to get around the circled base.   Also any bird seed spilled on top of the base does not fall to the ground.   The base provides a floor area for birds to walk around.
   In the past for a base he has used some pressure treated  1/2 inch plywood.  As a year or two go by, this plywood base begins to break up and deteriorate.

   So Don called me up to see if I could make him a four foot circle made out of boards - hoping that solid wood would last longer than plywood.    He delivered me six four foot boards that are six inches wide.   I glued them up and made him a circle.  (The negative side of this project is that I am trying to use up wood from my wood scrap pile but everything thing here is new lumber.)    While this sounds like it should have been a simple project - things have a way of becoming a little complicated for me.   I used biscuits to joint the boards together.   First I glued up two panels using three boards each and then I glued the two panels together making one four foot square.  

  After that I drew a circle and used my saber saw to cut off the outside of the circle.    I took my router and round over the outside edges,    I would not have needed to, but I spent a little time sanding the edges and joints smooth.   It was exactly what Don was looking for (or so he said)
     There is no bracing across the end grain of this circle board so I am curious if this circle won't warp a little after being exposed to some of Iowa's rainy weather or next winter's snow.    We will have to wait and see.

Have a good week.