Tools for making birdcages usually include contempt knives, scrapers, carving knives, hand saws, hand drills, support plates, steel ring molds, steel files, vises, wood chisels, small vises and so on.
Materials are usually bamboo, wood and metal. Bamboo, Phyllostachys pubescens and Phyllostachys pubescens are commonly used bamboo materials; Wood is mostly nanmu, camphor wood and walnut; Metal materials mostly use lead wires with a diameter of less than 2.5 mm. When making bamboo materials, we should choose Phyllostachys pubescens and Phyllostachys pubescens with long bamboo joints, scrape off the wax layer on the surface of the bamboo pole with a scraper, split the bamboo pole into bamboo poles slightly larger than the hole of the supporting plate with a spatula, insert it into the hole of the supporting plate, clamp the exposed tip with wire cutters, and pull the bamboo pole out of the hole with great strength and pull it several times, so that it can be drawn into a bamboo pole with a diameter of 2-3 mm. Square cage bars are slightly thicker, with a diameter of about 3 mm; The round cage is slightly thinner, with a diameter of 2~2.2 mm, and then a frame or bamboo ring is constructed according to the shape of the required birdcage.
1. When constructing a square cage, a square frame can be combined with a square structure. Firstly, four pieces of square materials of 8mm× 10mm or 7mm× 9mm are planed with a small plane as four columns of the square frame. Then, the upper and lower rungs of the square frame are made, and the thickness is 8mm× 10 respectively. Glue the square sample, and the joint is fixed into a square frame with beef tendon and hemp rope through the small hole of the rod. After the frame is completed, drill holes through the cage bars, or make side fans first and then combine them into cages.
2. The production of circular cage is complicated and difficult. First, the cage is well processed, which is the key. Whether it is the bottom ring or the top ring, bamboo strips should be coiled along the outside of the steel ring. If it doesn't roll well, soften it with water first. When coiling, it should be heated and boiled with steel mold. After the bamboo strips are softened, the bamboo rings should be rounded one by one with pliers, so that there is no gap between the bamboo rings. Then tie the bamboo ring and the steel formwork together with a rope and hang them in the shade to dry and shape. Then small holes are drilled in the cage ring and cage bars, bamboo pins are used on the cage frame, and two long cage bars are inserted into the holes at both ends of the upper and lower transverse frames and the bamboo plate of the cage door, so that they can move up and down. Then install cage clips (claws and cage hooks) made of copper, aluminum alloy bars, wood carvings and large screws. Finally, paint the metal cage and paint the bamboo cage, even if it is all finished.