# dowel construction in loft



## aarongreen123 (Jan 26, 2005)

i love the look of the old school dowel construction, maybe its not even old school but it sure is cool. i am planning a new loft that is still small but big enough to create a couple sections so i'd love to use the dowels to build stuff. does any one have a printed or online resource for dowel construction or is it all trial and error thing?

help the rookie merry christmas in advance


----------



## johnnyksspeedshop (Oct 12, 2007)

Its pretty straight forward, space the holes accordingly and its much easier with a drill press. Its a very time consuming process, I believe mine are spaced around 2.5". I love the dowel look as well but it can be hard to make predator proof and sparrow proof depending on where you live.


----------



## xaivang (Nov 21, 2011)

here is my loft from starting to end and just click to the next page for my inside 
http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f38/new-breeder-loft-64843-2.html


----------



## Matt M (Mar 2, 2011)

Dowels are great for interior work. I wish I had a drill press to do my interior doors, without one it was slow and painstaking work but the results were worth it. For homers 2.5" spacing is fine, for rollers or other smaller breeds 2" is required to keep some of the smarter ones from slipping through the bars. And one other tip, I wish I had used dowels that were one size thicker diameter. I think I used 1/4 and wish I had gone bigger to at least 5/16 for added strength. I have handles on the doors to slide them open and with myself in the loft I had no problems but when others have babysitted my birds or visited my lofts they have a tendency to grab the dowels first to use when opening the doors and some have gotten bent or broken. With slightly thicker dowels I wouldn't have had the problem with people grabbing them to slide the doors.


----------

