Okay, so I’ve been wanting to build one of these automatic pet feeders for a while, the kind you see online, but I wanted to make it a little more…rustic. I’m calling it the “Pet Lodge Feeder” because, well, it’s gonna look like a tiny log cabin. I think.
First, I gathered my materials. I had some scrap wood lying around from an old project – mostly pine, I think. I also grabbed some hinges, a small latch, and a couple of those plastic containers you get takeout in. Oh, and the most important part: a cheap, battery-powered clock mechanism. The kind you can rip out of an old wall clock.
The Build Begins!
I started by cutting the wood into pieces for the base, sides, roof, and a little door. I’m not the best carpenter, so I kept the design pretty simple – basically, a box with a slanted roof. I used wood glue and some small nails to hold everything together. It wasn’t perfect, but it was starting to look like a…well, a lopsided box.
Next, I worked on the feeding mechanism. The idea is to have the clock’s hour hand push a little platform that holds the food container. As the hand moves, it slowly tips the container, spilling food into a bowl below.
I cut a small hole in the front of the “cabin” for the clock face to poke through. Then, inside, I built a little ramp/platform thing out of more scrap wood. I attached one of the takeout containers to the platform with some glue. This part was a little tricky, lots of trial and error to get the angle right so the food would actually slide out.
The Tricky Part…
The clock mechanism was the biggest pain. I had to carefully remove it from the old clock without breaking anything. Then I glued it to the inside of the cabin, making sure the hour hand was positioned just right to push the food platform.
- Step 1: Dismantle the clock. (Be gentle!)
- Step 2: Secure the mechanism. (Lots of glue.)
- Step 3: Test, test, test! (And adjust.)
After a lot of fiddling and adjusting, I finally got it working! It wasn’t pretty, and the food didn’t always dispense perfectly, but it worked! I added the hinges and latch to the little door on the front so I could refill the food container easily.
Finishing Touches (or Lack Thereof)
I thought about staining or painting the wood to make it look more “lodge-like,” but honestly, I kind of liked the rough, unfinished look. It has character, right? Maybe I’ll add some little decorations later, like tiny pine trees or something. But for now, it’s functional, and that’s what matters.
My cat seems to like it, at least. She was a little confused at first, but she figured it out pretty quickly. Now she just sits there and waits for the magic food cabin to do its thing. Success!
