Wren House - The Woodcrafter Page© 2004

Steep Gable Martin House
Here is the original article from the
May - June 1957 Deltagram
ROCKWELL MANUFACTURING COMPANY - A DELTACRAFT PULICATION

2 Martin House Designs
Part 1 - Steep Gable Design

Plan now to build one of these martin houses to make your yard a haven for colorful martins this summer. Featured here are two types of martin house designs, one is a steep gable roof design, made in three sections and the other design is made from a standard nail keg. Either one will make a very interesting project that will add the charm of nature to your back yard.
A martin house is usually placed on a 4 x 4 pole about 14 to 20 feet high. It should be placed a few feet away from trees or buildings. A means for lowering the house should be provided for cleaning or storing for the winter months. If it cannot be stored, the entrance holes should be covered with building paper to keep out starlings or sparrows until the return of the martins the following year.
The entire gable design bird house is made of 1/2 inch waterproof (exterior) pine plywood except for the base board which is 3/4 inch thick. Cut all pieces to size as indicated on the drawing. The front and back ends are angle cut on the circular saw with the miter gage set at 67 degrees.

The division boards in the bottom and center sections are half lapped, see Fig. No. 1. To make the taper cuts on the side pieces (see drawing for widths), set the blade or arbor at 23 degrees. Be sure to bore the entrance holes as well as the vent holes in the end and side piece before assembling the sections. The assembled sections are mounted one over the other and held together with #10-32 x 3/4" flat head machine screws and 1 x 1 angle brackets (see Fig. No.3 and Photo No.3). The entire assembly rests on a support made of 3/4 x 3 inch stock. This support is assembled with half lap joints and rests on 1 x 1 angle iron bolted to a 4 x 4 foot pos, see Fig. Nos. 1 and 2.
Finish the project with a coat of wood preservative before applying two coats of white outside paint. Trim the platform edges. roof extension, platform supports, as well as the base supports with a green paint.

Photo #3
Here the top and center sections are shown removed from bottom
section of the martin house. The bottom section is raised to show the
angle brackets used for fastening the sections together. Note the narrow
cleats nailed to the baseboard. These help hold the sections in place.

Photo #4
Mark off the lengths of the front and back end pieces using
dimensions given in the drawing (below). The pieces are cut on
the circular saw with the miter gage set at 67 degrees.

Photo #5
After cutting the stock to width, the sides are bevel cut on the
circular saw with the blade tilted at 23 degrees. The
pieces for the bottom and center sections are 6-7/8 inches
wide. top section pieces are 11-3/4 inches wide.

Photo #6
Entrance holes for each compartment are made on the
drill press wiat a barrel saw or with a 2 inch multi-spur
bit as shown in photo above. Note the inch vent hole.

Photo #7
The crosspieces of the bird house support are assembled with
half lap joints. These slots are made by making two passes
on the circular saw and then finish cut on the band saw.

Bill of Materials

# Pieces	Name	Size
2	Ends (Bottom Section)	1/2 x 6 x 18-7/8
2	Ends (Cener Section)	1/2 x 6 x 13-1/4
2	Ends (Top Section)	1/2 x 9-3/8 x 7-3/4
4	Sides (Bottom & Center Sections)	1/2 x 6-7/8 x 22
2	Sides (Top Section)	1/2 x 11-3/4 x 26-1/4
2	Crosspiece (Inside Bottom Section)	1/2 x 6 x 18-7/8
2	Crosspiece (Inside Bottom Section)	1/2 x 6 x 8-15/16
2	Crosspiece (Inside Bottom Section)	1/2 x 6 x 6-1/2
2	Crosspiece (Inside Center Section)	1/2 x 6 x 13-1/4
1	Crosspiece (Inside Center Section)	1/2 x 6 x 21
1	Crosspiece (Inside Top Section)	1/2 x 9-3/8 x 7-3/4
1	Base Board (Top Section)	1/2 x 17 x 26-1/4
1	Base Board (Center Section)	1/2 x 22-1/2 x 26-1/4
1	Base Board (Bottom Section)	3/4 x 22-1/2 x 26-1/4
14	Base Board Supports	1/2 x 3-1/2 x 6
4	Cross Brace House Supports	3/4 x 3 x 24-1/4
10	Angle Iron Brackets	1/8 x 1 x 1 x 4
2	Angle Iron Brackets with Nuts & Washers	1/8 x 1 x 1 x 4
20	Flat Head Machine Screws (Brass)	10-32 x 3/4
4	Lag Bolts	5/16 x 1-3/4
1	Sheet Metal Ridge (Aluminum)	22 gauge 3 x 26-1/4
1	Post	4 x 4 x 15 or 20 feet

Right-click here to download the drawing as an Adobe Acrobat (pdf) file.

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