Idea for a Natural Gourd Tunnel

[Guest]

I posted this idea on the Clubhouse and wanted to get opinions from this forum as well. A lot of folks like a 2" tunnel for their natural gourd entries and it seems to require a diameter of 4" to cut a WDC entry.

Why coudn't an S&K access port be used as an entry tunnel? It's 2" long, it's 4" diameter, the lid could be used as the entry plate, and the threads inside the tunnel provide traction if you rough them up with sandpaper (not as pronounced as on the outside of the tunnel and sheets of cork could be used to line the tunnel if you wanted an all natural tunnel and gourd) It's much easier to screw on a lid than to glue it on or fasten with screws (no time wasted glueing blocks to accept the screws). The lid is tough and should last as long as any other plate. The lid has ridges around the perimeter (as well as the tunnel) so the martins would have traction to perch on top of the tunnel. Also, you could buy extra lids and swap entrances easily. And the they cost only $0.99.

I took one of the access ports and scewed the lid on and marked the perimeter of the lid and made an alignment mark on the tunnel portion. I screwed the lid on and off several times. The first couple of times the lid rotated a little further than the initial mark. Subsequently, the lid tightened to the same spot (just past the original alignment mark). It appears you could loosen and tighten the lid 5 or 6 and it would tighten consistently. The lids appear to be identical, but the tunnels vary a little depending on how they are cut. If true, consider the following.

Cut a jig so it fits inside an Access Port tunnel. Cut a SREH entrance in the jig with the hole located so it is in the correct position when mounted inside the access tunnel. Glue the jig inside the access tunnel positioned so it's even with the end of the tunnel. Draw a witness mark on the outside of the tunnel and this will be your jig to cut all SREH into the Access Port lids. Screw a new lid onto the jig. Drill a hole somewhere through the middle of the entry so the lid can be slid over your router bit. Place the lid over your router bit and cut the SREH. Draw a witness mark on the lid that aligns with the witness mark previously drawn on the tunnel. Unscrew this lid and you are done. Screw on another lid, drill the hole, route the SREH, and you done with the second one. Should be quick once the jig is made since you wouldn't need to remove screws and mount the next one......the lid can be mounted and dismounted precisely using only your hand, ie., no tools required!

Now it's time to mount the tunnel in a gourd. Screw a lid (with SHEH already cut and witness mark made in step above) on the tunnel about to be mounted. Tighten and loosen the lid 5 or 6 times so it tightens consistently then leave it tightened. Draw a witness mark on the tunnel aligned with the witness mark on the lid. Insert the tunnel in the gourd and rotate till the SREH is square with the gourd then glue the tunnel in position using your favorite glue. When it's dry, unscrew the lid and mount the porch (and cling plate if desired) to the lid. Your done!

Using this procedure, any lid would fit any gourd and the porch/entry would be square when you tighten the lid till the witness marks align.

How would you mount the porch? 2 options: 1, glue it directly on the lid; 2, Create a cling plate for the inside of the lid and run screws through the porch into the cling plate mounting both with the same 2 screws (this might mean drilling two new holes in the porch aligned with the cling plate).

Using this method, you could have an Access Port, tunnel entrance with SREH, and porch for $3.00.

Hmmm.........thoughts?

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

HogWild, the access ports at one time were part of S&K's entrance assembly, but most people like the access port at the top of the gourd so that they can see the babies. Since then, most people have gone to the access port being separate from the entrance.

Otherwise, it sounds fine. Hope it works for you

[Guest]

Oh, I wouldn't skip the the access port mounted in the rear! Use a seperate hole in the back of the tunnel and add an S&K access port there as well. The total cost would be $2 for two Access ports (one for the entrance and other actually used as an access port) plus $1 for an S&K porch for a total of $3 per gourd and I think a big time savings building a custom entrance tunnel.