birdsmouth

This simple joint, called a "birdsmouth" can be useful in building hollow forms. This month's Wooden Boat Magazine shows it being used to make hollow masts and spars for wooden sailboats. In that case the birdsmouth would be formed using a table saw. There are also router bits for cutting the same joint.

I am using this technique to help a student build a music stand. The hollow will house a six sided shaft that will slide within it, making it adjustable in height. The birdsmouth joint offers additional gluing surface over a coopered joint, thus giving it greater strength.

The photo suggests where it got its name. My thanks to Larry Copas for peaking my interest in the technique and my student for offering an opportunity to try it out.

Happy Mothers day to those who are mothers and to those who have mothers. I can remember my mother as being somewhat different from many. When I would go to friends houses as a very young child, we would be left alone to play with toys. When children would come to my house to play, my mother had all kinds of interesting things for us to do that came from her training as a Kindergarten teacher.

Friedrich Froebel had noted the special quality of mothers, recognizing in them the ideal teacher. The same was noted by Pestalozzi in his book, "How Gertrude Teaches Her Children."

Make, fix, create, and plan for others to learn likewise.