Bird Coat Rack

If you’re looking for inspiration on how to entertain the children during the Summer holidays, why not try our latest Beat The Boredom project? With just a small selection of tools and lots of inspiration, have a go at creating this super cute bird coat rack. Suitable for older children, under adult supervision.


Part 1 - Mark out

First things first, you need to select your chosen pieces of wood. You can make the birds any size you wish. In our example, the blank we used was roughly 100mm long, 80mm wide and 40mm thick.

Here it is a good idea to make a note of the grain direction. The tail needs to follow the direction of the grain as it will take the weight of your coats. Next, mark out your birds.

Part 2 - Cut out

The next step is to cut out the bird shapes. You can do this on a scroll saw, coping saw or a bandsaw. Simply opt for whichever piece of equipment you have available, or prefer to use. Clamp the bird in a vice, mark the centre and make two marks with a 10mm spacing either side of your centre mark. This will give you 20mm on the front (beak section). Use a handsaw at an angle to cut from the left hand pencil mark out toward the edge of the bird. Repeat this on the right. This will give you a taper for the bird's head. 

Part 3 - Sand and clean up

Next, sand each bird on all sides. Here you have a choice; use an orbital sander, a sanding stick or using a sanding block with abrasives. 

To round off and smooth the edges of the birds, gently use some abrasive to hand sand.

It's time to finish off and decorate your bird coat rack!

Part 4 - Drill the eyes and decorate

Clamping each bird on their sides, drill a hole for each of the eyes. You are then ready to decorate the birds in any way you would like. Here we have used acrylic paints, but you could use stains or Pyrography (woodburning) as an alternative. Whilst your decorations are drying, you can choose your piece of wood to mount onto.

Part 5 - Mount to the backing board

When your birds are dry, align them on the mounting board. On our board, we chose to stagger them against one another. But you can lay them out how you would like. 

Once you have decided where they are to sit, move them over to the left half the width of a bird. On the left side of the bird, use a pencil to mark two lines, one at the base of the tail the other roughly half way up. Mark out each hook. 

Once you have done this step, drill the holes all the way through your mounting board. Countersink all the drill holes on the back of the board. This way the board will sit flush to the wall when mounted. When you choose your screws, ensure that they aren't too long and go through the bird's tail. 

Squeeze a thin line of glue onto the back of the bird and clamp the bird over the appropriate holes on the mounting wood board. Use a larger screw to secure the bird at the bottom of the hook and use a smaller screw to secure the bird tail. Once you have secured all of your hooks, make sure to clean away any excess glue that may have squeezed out.

Part 6 - Finish

To finish up, apply a coat of finishing oil. Make sure to go over your decorated sections last. Here we have used Chestnut Food Safe Oil. Apply liberally and wipe off any excess oil. Allow it to dry. Your bird coat rack is complete and ready to use!


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Discover more…

If you’ve enjoyed reading this article, keep an eye out for our next woodworking project for kids as part of our online Beat The Boredom series. Watch this space for more details! Furthermore, why not take a look at all of our previous projects below?

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