Balancing Bird - Desktop Toy

Hi peoples!

Have you ever looked at your empty and boring desk, and wished you had a cool balancing bird desktop toy?

Probably not.

But build one anyway...

This is a pretty awesome desktop toy and decorational ornament. It's really easy to make and yet a stylish addition to your desk.

I found this idea on Pinterest and had to make one myself.

To actually see how to works check out the video!

Step 1: What You Need...

For this instructable, you'll need the following:

1. Wood (you could use some offcuts, really)
2. A saw
3. A wire of some kind (I used a copper wire, but anything bendable which will keep its shape will work)
4. A ball bearing or some other small object
5. A pair of pliers (Leatherman)
6. Some paint
7. Sand paper (optional actually)
8. Glue (glue gun, adhesive, etc.)
9. Some small feathers (two to be exact)
10. A drill

That's it!

Step 2: Make Your Bird's Body.

First step is to make a basic (or complicated, but I went with basic) bird body. I just cut two pieces of wood, one for the body and one for the head. Easy right?

Step 3: Paint and Give It Wings!

It's now time to paint your bird and to stick on some wings.

• You can decide on what colour you want your bird though I would suggest they match or compliment the colour of the feathers you got. I just gave mine a black spray, as I had some blackish feathers
• Trim your feathers with a scissor to be in proportion with your birdie.

• Then glue on the wings(feathers) along with the head of the birdie. I just used a glue gun.

Step 4: Attach the Wire.

Drill a hole into the side of your bird (don't worry it won't hurt him) with a drill bit which is about the same size as the wire you are using. Then apply some glue to the end of the wire and slide it in.

Step 5: Add a Counterweight.

Now add a counterweight to the other end of the wire. You can use anything that has about the same weight as the bird. I first used a glass marble but as that proved to be to light I switched to a ball bearing.

To attach your weight you could glue or solder it but I found that it even worked by simply bending the wire tightly around the weight. This, however, does mean that sometimes when the device falls, the ball bearing would come out.

Step 6: The Tricky Part...

Find the center of gravity and mark the spot with a marker. To find the center of gravity you can simply balance the device on something thing like a pencil and mark the spot where it balances perfectly.

Then make a 'bump' in the wire at the spot you marked, with the spot being at the top of the 'bump', as shown in the picture. Make sure the 'bump' is facing down in perspective to the bird.

Now bend the end of the wire with the counterweight on, down in a curve, making sure it is bent down in perspective to the bird.

NB. In this step, you really have to play around a lot until the device is balanced and the bird is in line with the horizon.

Step 7: Add an Eye.

Simply paint an eye unto your bird and if you are more artistic, you can even paint some patterns or feathers on the bird.

You could also buy two of those googly eyes if you want a more goofy look.

Step 8: You're Done!

Now you can try it out on different objects and make your own cool looking base. If made correctly it will balance pretty well on anything which is level, and if you balance it on something which has a little crevice in (like a screw) it will balance really well.

This will make a cool desktop toy and could even work as a decoration. This could also make a pretty cool gift to someone who appreciates interesting desktop toys (like me!).

Thanks for looking over this instructable and please feel free to leave any questions or critique.

Don't forget to vote if you liked this 'ible!