Attaching a parrot to a wood base
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 4:28 pm
I know there are tons of great ways to do this (plenty of great posts by you folks), but I thought I would share my method. I actually get frustrated when something that seams so simple turns out to be a pain in the ass. When I built my first parrot...I found attaching to a wood base to be a pain in the ass.
Anyway, I am gifting this parrot to a person that works at a local brew shop. Those folks are so damn helpful, and I am sure they don't make a ton of money ( he said he was saving money to buy one from Brewhaus)-- so I put one together for him.
Take a cap that fits the pipe of your parrot's body. Cut it with a hack saw down the long way until you have 8 tabs. I cut one of the tabs out where the parrot's tail is going to extend out. Bend the remaining tabs back so they octopus out from the body of the cap. Hammer down flat the curved nature of the legs..and tap the cap to even things out as best you can. Here is a photo.
Leave enough of the actual cap left so that it fits on the end of your tube. Kinda like a beer cap -- it will be plenty enough to make a strong join -- solder still flows nicely.
I found that taking a fence post leveler and screwing the legs of this down starting with side I need to parrot to lean works the best. Check the level again and put the screw in where you want the parrot to lean. After the first few screws it should be level. Only tighten the remaining screws enough as not to throw it out of level.
Here is the level I use:
I used a fence post cap 2bucks at homedepot. Used a hole saw so that the remaining cap would be countersunk and the legs would lay flat so that I could screw them down-- Cedar is nice soft wood, so you only pre-drill the copper. Here is the finished parrot:
Anyway, I am gifting this parrot to a person that works at a local brew shop. Those folks are so damn helpful, and I am sure they don't make a ton of money ( he said he was saving money to buy one from Brewhaus)-- so I put one together for him.
Take a cap that fits the pipe of your parrot's body. Cut it with a hack saw down the long way until you have 8 tabs. I cut one of the tabs out where the parrot's tail is going to extend out. Bend the remaining tabs back so they octopus out from the body of the cap. Hammer down flat the curved nature of the legs..and tap the cap to even things out as best you can. Here is a photo.
I found that taking a fence post leveler and screwing the legs of this down starting with side I need to parrot to lean works the best. Check the level again and put the screw in where you want the parrot to lean. After the first few screws it should be level. Only tighten the remaining screws enough as not to throw it out of level.
Here is the level I use:
