A Baltimore Oriole, Part Three

In the two previous articles, I carved and painted the Baltimore oriole. In this article, I'll demonstrate the design and construction techniques for the silver maple branch. 

Almost any tall deciduous tree that grows within the oriole's range would have been suitable habitat. I decided to place the Baltimore oriole on a branch of a silver maple (Acer saccharinum) as that is where I most often see them in my backyard. When constructing habitat, it is always a good idea to collect lots of samples of the object you are trying to replicate. I found some silver maples and cut several branches that closely resembled the sketch I had done when planning the overall project. I then selected the best branches from these samples. 

I made the branch for this project from brass tubing of various sizes. For the leaf stems, I used copper wire. I soldered all of the joints, and I used wire reinforcements for those that needed extra strength. While soldering does not provide as strong a joint as welding or brazing, you should be able to get all the strength you need using these methods.

This article is from the Fall 2010 issue. For more information on our issues, check out our issues page.