1. Prepare your gourd. Soak in a wet towel for about an hour and then scrub the mold off with a pot scrubber. Let dry thoroughly before beginning your project.
2. Draw the opening for the feeder in an arc, 3 inches long and 2 inches tall. Note this is for small birds; chickadees, redpolls etc. You will need to make a larger opening for larger birds :) Decorate your piece. I like to woodburn as I have not found a finish that will protect the paints from the outdoors environment.
3. Cut the arc and clean the inside of the gourd. Melt beeswax, heat your gourd to about the same temperature as the wax, in a slow oven. Watch it carefully don''t let it scorch! Pour melted beeswax inside the gourd and swish around to cover the inside. I use a Q-tip to spread the wax around the opening.
4. Drill two holes in the top of the gourd, about 3 to 4 inches apart. Insert one end of wire into each hole, attach the wire to the button on the inside of the gourd. See picture below. (This protects the gourd from the wire cutting into it in the wind).In the second pic you can see the button flush against the gourd. If I am hanging the feeder from the neck of the gourd I insert a dowel and attach the wire to the dowel. See feeder at bottom of the page.
5. Finishing. Don't forget to sign your piece before you put the protective finish on it. Give the gourd a good coat of paste wax, buff and repeat. Drill drain holes in the bottom of the gourd. Use a pencil to put a few twists in the wire, and that is it, they work wonderful for the smaller birds, as you can see from the pic to the right.
6. Care of the feeder. Bring it inside at least once a year and wipe it down with a mild bleach and water solution, let it thoroughly dry and rewax it. If the weather is particularly wet you might want to bring it in more often.
Mark and cut a bowl shape from your cleaned gourd, making it as shallow or as deep as you want. You can cut the gourd using any tool you prefer, exacto knife, small exacto saws, dremel or mini- jigsaw, making the edges straight or scalloped, according to your needs.
Remove the seeds and pith with a scraper, either flint, sharpened spoons or purchased cleaning tools, always moving from the centre out, to avoid scarring the remaining pith. When you've removed all the soft pith, sand several times starting with course grade (60-80) and finish with fine grit (180-220) again, moving from the inside to the outside. Use the sanding burr tip on the dremel tool to smooth the bump in the centre, to as low as it will go. Be sure to check the depth of the centre from the outside, so as not to make it too thin in the centre.
Sand the cut edge and then soak the bowl in warm, soapy water. Sand and soak a few more times to remove any soft pith, and the bitter taste. A brew of sage tea can be used to do this as well.
If you wish to decorate by wood-burning, inside or out, do it before the last sanding and finish, as burning raises the grain.
NATURAL FINISH
Your bowl is ready to use as-is with no sealer, but all cut edges must be sealed by burning. After use for soups, stews, beans etc (avoid boiling hot liquids), rinse well, let dry, and if necessary give a light sanding.
OIL FINISH
If you want to use a salad bowl finish, then both inside and out must be treated the same. Re-apply several times, to deepen the coating and maintain the waterproofing.
VARATHANE
Ask for latex varathane for baby furniture, to ensure it is non-toxic.
After sanding, coat the interior with a harader gloss finish, at least 3 times, lightly sanding between coats. Seal the exterior as well, with either gloss or satin finish.
EPOXY
Use a 2-part epoxy called Enviro-tex from ACE hardware. It requires an alcohol solvent for cleaning up. Seal the exterior and edges with epoxy or varathane.
SPOONS AND LADLES
If you wish to make ladles or spoons, use the tops of bottle gourds. Ladles are cut using the stem end as the scoop and the handle runs down the side of the gourd top. Spoons are cut from the top bulge, the handle being the indentation and the flare from the bottom bulge. You can get several spoons out of one top. These utensils are stubby and bent, but sit well inside the bowls. Sand and seal the same as the bowl. Decorate with wood-burning, for natural or oil finish. Painting can be used under varathane or epoxy, but must cure at least a week before sealing.
Cindy Lee has graciously agreed to share her method of faux raku on gourds. Cindy is a California artist, visit her website Cindy Lee Art Studio
Cindy wrote:
You can see some of my faux raku on my website in the vases and bowls gallery.
I do this with metallic decorative acrylic paints, copper foil (from Michael's) and a sea sponge.
1. Using copper acrylic paint and a fairly damp paper towel, spread the paint like stain over the entire gourd.
2. Start with black gesso and sponge onto areas to look like raku. When the black is dry, sponge on a deep metallic blue, let dry, and follow with a metallic turquoise.
3. Once the paint is throughly dry, sponge on metal leaf adhesive. Let it dry until tacky, then press on and pull away copper foil. You can redo the adhesvive and foil until you have the amount you want.
4. I always let this dry 24 hours, then finish with polyurethane.
I hope this makes sense! Good luck.
-- Cindy L.
For replacement saw blades for your tiny microsaw, simply buy scroll saw blades for wood, and using the original blades which come with the saw, cut the new replacement blades to the same length. One particular brand Ed has used is by Vermont American, #30425, 12 piece set, 5"/127mm - just regular blades-nothing special-from Home Depot. You can get similar ones in Canadian Tire, Sears or Lee Valley. It would be better to buy blades longer than 5", from which Ed got only two new blades- still MUCH cheaper than buying the actual replacement blades.
Faux raku with gilders paste:
Using cheese cloth (and rubber gloves to protect my hands) I applied African Bronze all over the gourd. Because the gourd is bumpy I didn't worry about covering all the little spaces. I then applied Iris Blue with the cheese cloth dabbing it all over, like sponging. Buff. I use an old shoe brush for buffing. I then applied Rich Gold, again with cheese cloth and dabbing it like sponging. Buff again.
I didn't seal the gourd. I didn't wait between coats for it to dry as it seems to dry and polish as I was buffing.
Just as stunning as the paint method, and much quicker!
Functional Gourd Birdfeeder
by Rhoda Forbes
Tutorial on the useable gourd finishes by Catherine Devine
Information from a workshop that Catherine attended, which was given by Lynne Slack at the
Indiana Gourd Show
Sawblades for the Micro saw...From Darienne McAuley
