Modern Birdhouse for 3D Printer, Lasercutter, or CNC

Do your part to address the housing crisis - for the birds in your neighborhood. Easily construct this safe home for birds large and small so that they can build a nest and raise a family in your yard. This house has been architected to be constructed using any combination of 3D printer, lasercutter or CNC.

This is a great gift idea for any nature lover, and it's easy to make in a classroom setting or on your own. 

Take my word for it... This birdhouse will be a chick magnet. But if this one doesn't ruffle your feathers, then fly on over to this birdhouse design.

Print Settings

Rafts:

Doesn't Matter

Supports:

Yes

Resolution:

0.2mm

Infill:

25%

Filament: See below

Notes:

The only part of this kit that kinda needs to be 3D printed is the front perch.

You can print the parts of this kit using either PLA, PETG, or ABS. However, if you do use any of these materials then you should use light colors and not leave the birdhouse in direct sunlight, as it could overheat, melt or otherwise deteriorate over time because of prolonged exposure to the sun's UV rays. We've printed the perch and roof panels using ASA filament, which is much more heat, weather, and UV tolerant, using our Creality CR-10S printer with a MicroSwiss high-temperature all-metal hotend upgrade. (An all-metal extruder is needed because ASA filament needs to be printed at 250c or higher.)

Rather than printing them, the roof panels can be cut from a 1/8 inch thick acrylic sheet using either a lasercutter or CNC machine. But if you do use acrylic, try to stay away from any shiny materials, which might scare birds away when the sun reflects off of it.

The other panels of the kit can be cut from two sheets of 3 mm inch thick birch plywood.

Post-Printing

Make it yourself or buy the kit on eBay

The only part of this design that kinda needs to be 3D printed is the perch. All the other parts can either be 3D or cut using a lasercutter or CNC.

You can also purchase this kit on eBay. (Note: The kit includes the optional pole mount parts, but doesn't include the 1" PVC pole.)

We recommend that you protect wood panels by spray painting them before assembly to protect the wood from the weather and to match or contrast with other elements of your landscape.

How I Designed This

Looking for an easy remix? Don't hesitate to make a copy of the public Onshape document.

Assembly Tips

Front panel & perch

The size of the 3D-printed perch must match the size of the hole on the front face. Whether using a small or large face panel, be sure to also choose the perch of the same scale. Be careful about removing all the supports generated when the perch is printed. It'll be difficult to impossible to add the perch to the front face if any supports remain.

The perch must be slid into the bottom slot of the hole in the front face. Try to slide the part all the way down, while being careful not to damage the front face, which may be fragile.

Adding the optional pole mount to the bottom plate

There are several different ways that the birdhouse can be positioned around the yard. The kit includes 3D printed pole mount and clip parts that can be attached to the wooden base plate of the birdhouse. This mount allows the birdhouse to be mounted on top of a 1" PVC pipe, which itself can be either put in a hole in the ground, attached to a fence post, or held up in some other sturdy way. Alternatively, you could hang it by attaching wires to the screws of the roof panels.

Just to state the obvious, if you use the pole mount you'll need to buy, beg, borrow, or steal the 1" PVC pipe, as it's not included in the parts list of this kit.

The 6 "fingers" of the pole mount should be slid into the holes in the bottom of the baseplate, as shown. But sure that the mount is pushed all the way into the holes of the plate, while also being careful not to break the plate in the process.

Once the mount is in the baseplate, slide the mount clip through the series of 3 finger pairs so that the mount is securely attached to the plate.

Assembling the roof panels

The panels can be 3D printed or cut using either a lasercutter or CNC machine. The design includes two roof panel shapes. The first roof panel is meant to be in the upper left and the second panel in the lower right.

As shown in the photo below, panels are meant to be assembled offset from each other. They're also meant to be tilted so that the front of both panels are higher than the back.

Each panel has four holes that accept M3 screws. You can just use six 50mm screws. But shorter screws could be used in the back.

Note that sections of [carbon fiber tubes(https://amzn.to/2Ci5Q9N) can be used to keep the panels positioned. Figuring that each panel and the wooden hangers are all 3mm thick, and the spacing between the top and bottom panel is 12mm, you can cut the carbon fiber tubing into the following lengths...

7mm (2) - short ones in back

12mm (2) - between panels

22mm (3) - long one in back, and short ones in front

34mm (1) - long one in front

The wooden slats, called hangers, are the final piece added to the screws before adding a washer and finally the nut.

Note: Don't tighten the nuts on the screws on the back screws, because they need to be loose until the hangers have been installed

Assembling the frame

Attached the front face panel to the notches of the side panels. Be sure to slide the front panel down to "lock" it into place.

And you're done.

Category: Outdoor & Garden