Covered Tray Bird Feeder

The roof is on one plate and the base is on a second plate.  They are sized to fit each other perfectly.  If you resize please do so together at the same time.  It is difficult to do each one on their own.  I provided simple settings that have printed with no issues.  The main profile has been test printed 14 times and each piece came out great.  I used Bambu PLA Basic, Bambu PLA Tough+ and Sunlu PLA+ 2.0.  

 

The 4 posts are fairly sturdy and I have not had any break yet.  I was cautious due to the posts being tall and slender. To assemble all you do is put a couple drops of cyanoacrylate glue (super glue or similar) on the inside walls of each post opening and then gently put the roof down on top of the base while carefuly lining up the posts into the holes.  Then push downward on the roof until it has reached the end of the holes.  Let is sit the appropriate amount of time to let the glue cure.  Thats it.  As a side note, before applying glue I would try to assemble the roof and base to assure the pieces fit together.  If they do not then you may need to lightly sand around the very top portion of the posts that enter the roof until the pieces fit nicely.  Then proceed to glue.

 

I recomend using about 1' or 30cm of chain to connect to each loop and join all 4 together using a loop or hook.  Then hang from that point.  Similar to what I am doing in my pictures.  It is difficult to get the rope to be equal because of the knots.  They are never the same for some reason.  

 

If possible try to hang out of reach of somewhere a squirrel can climb.  They like to chew things.  I made one of these for my neighbor and hers is chewed up.  It still works but you can see where the little critters are having fun nawing on it.  

 

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A little story around this project,  

 

I love birds.  I love having a variety of species around my house.  You would never guess how many types of birds are around until you sit and watch a heavily used bird feeder.  The right seed makes the difference.  For personal reasons my family has a strong attachment to the spiritual Cardinal.  They are beautiful.  I would watch several pairs (mates)  ground feed under the feeders eating seeds that fall.  The Cardinal has a short stocky thick beak.  It doesn't work well with the feeders tiny holes and such.  So to fix this problem I would sprinkle extra sunflower seeds (their favorite) on the ground below so they could feast as well.  The only problem is I would get around 6 or so squirrels at a time scrounge for the seeds I left my cardinals.  3D Print to the rescue.  As always I turn on the creative gears in my head and try to see how I can make plastic filament fix my problem.  I would work live in 3D to get some ideas to melt together into a viable solution for my problem.  And eventually I would come up with something.  It really is a privilege to be able to create and produce items at will with these awesome machines and materials.  Ok, I will stop.  

 

I  have several feeders hanging from chains or ropes attached to a cable I have running from tree to tree across my entire yard.  This keeps the squirrels from getting to them and chewing them to pieces.  This feeder is nice.  It can be scaled to any desired size as long as you scale them together so the changes take place on them both exactly the same.  If you do not do this the roof will not fit onto the base.  I am providing a profile of a scaled down version for the Bambu Lab A1 Mini.  That size still works and is a nice feeder.  To keep the feeder balanced I created 4 connection points (loops) on the roof.  This way when a bigger, heavier bird sits on one side it does not tilt.  There are drain holes in the bottom of the tray for water to drain out.  The roof hangs out well past the tray so I have not seen any water enter the tray. Even in a heavy storm.  I also provided a type of rail around the entire well edge that is rounded like a branch.  This is so they are comfortable while they eat.  As you can see in the pictures the birds are extremely comfortable and enjoy hanging around the feeder.  They even get inside and sit on the seed while they eat.  The best part is I was successful in providing seed for our Cardinals.  They love it.  The female will get into the feeder and pig out while the male sits very close by keeping an eye out for her.  A lot of the time the female will sit on the fence and the male will go to the feeder and get seeds and then fly them to the female and give them to her.  It is really cool to watch him feed her.  

 

Please enjoy this feeder.

 

Boost MeIf your print turned out great and the feeder works well for you please consider sending me a Boost.  Thank you