I found a local welder who's making me a bow perch for about $50 out of 1/2" stainless, cannot wait to go pick it up tomorrow. I sent him some plans I had drawn up and he was happy to oblige. Might have to have him make a few more for me once I get the chance to see how well he did on this one. I'd make it myself but i do not have a welding machine that can do 1/2" stainless. Probably won't have one for a long time either. I'll probably end up making some of my other perches, but I really wanted a nice stainless bow perch that I could use and abuse(I'd take care of it though). I'll post pictures when I have it in hand. Here are some of the plans I had modified, the measurements for the actual bow are more like guidelines, but the original design had actual angles that I did not like as it seemed like the ring could get hung up and I like the rounded design a little more. Hope you guys like it.
Post by robhawkyyz on Sept 13, 2013 18:42:55 GMT -5
cool! always good to have a local welder, one of our customers likes to build bbq pits and he made me a bow perch out of 5/8 inch rods off of my design for free, I was lucky!! last time I saw him he was just happy to hear the perch was still in use, apparently some let big bbq pits just rust out..
I should have it by Monday night, the poor guy had a funeral to go to, but he said he was just going to drop it off Monday night. Perfect housewarming gift as we'll be closing Monday and moving stuff into the new house.
When he laid out the pieces for me it definitely looked too tall and the angles were too sharp for the ring to go over, so I had him cut off 4" from the height and now it looks like the ring should actually slide like it's supposed to. I'll probably be ordering another one from this guy after a while once I get the design perfected. All in all, he was fine with $45 dollars for the whole thing. Not bad at all!
Well, it got modified from what the final design was, and it was for good reason. Having something 12" tall, and expecting the width to be under 3' in unrealistic. I'll come up with better plans in the future, but here's how it turned out. This was kind of a fast thing that got thrown together, but it will work and it should be safe once I wrap it so that the ring can slide without getting caught on the perch wrapping. Still not bad for being stainless steel and only $45. I'll measure the width when I get home tonight.
Post by Falcon Boy on Sept 19, 2013 22:23:39 GMT -5
Can you please let me know how it works out with a flat top? I got one that is similar at the last falconry picnic but am not flying anything right now. I was a bit worried the ring wouldn't move across properly.
Falcon Boy Apprentice Falconry Administrator
Ethics make the individual, not the other way around.
I haven't really decided, I just got some long-leaf astroturf in today, and I have Manila Rope that is also suitable for perches. I was planning on putting some cut foam pipe insulation over it, taping that down to help form a taper and increase the diameter a little bit. Then if I decide to go with long leaf astro turf, I'll use zip-ties to secure it to the pipe foam, tape the edges down with tape and try to make it taper. Then lastly I would wrap the taped section with electrical tape to make it nice and smooth.
If I go with the rope, I'll still probably use the pipe foam, and try to make it so that the rope tapers nicely down towards the edge while keeping it as tight as possible. Then wrapping the ends with duct tape to taper it further, followed by electrical tape to smooth it out.
I hear cocoa mats could work pretty well too, I just need to find them.
Here's the preliminary results, I thought it was going to round out enough once I got the zipties on there, but there's just not enough turf. So I'm going to take it all off, and make sure there's enough turf to wrap almost all the way around. The ring seemed to slide pretty easily provided the bottom of the perch smooths off nicely. Won't really know how well it works until I get a bird on there and observe him for an extended period of time.
Post by echotadog on Sept 23, 2013 17:46:15 GMT -5
Looks pretty good. I personally would want more of the material covering the exposed pipe insulation as well. I would be worried the hawk would pick at that if they got bored while tethered . Good decision to re-wrap it . I also use zip ties to secure turf to all my perches whether in the mews or GH. One suggestion I have is to use a match or Bic lighter to singe the cut zips just above the lock. If the plastic is exposed to the direct flame for a few seconds it will bubble and round off reducing the sharp edge. Generally the ties when cut leave a sharp edge that can cut or puncture the pads of the raptors feet. The match is a smaller flame an reduces the chance of melting the Astro turf with the zips. A step I learned while melting some astro with a Bic
It is good to have an end to Journey towards, but it is the journey that matters in the End. - Ernest Hemingway
Appreciate that advice, when I re-wrap it tonight I'll be sure to take that into account. We've been so busy moving out of the apartment I didn't even have time to re-wrap it last night, but hopefully tonight and tomorrow I will be able to devote enough time to get the facilities raptor-worthy and call the DNR out. I'm fortunate in that my DNR agent is really responsive and he said to call him out any time I'm ready to have them inspected. Other than that, just need to put in an order for some hawk food.