Repost: Wide necked home made bird feeder

I edited the initial post, where upon the forum software decided it was spam/abuse and removed it.  Support haven't responded to my appeal, hence the repost.
My old bird feeder was playing up. I couldn't get the top off (it had rusted on) and I got fed up of pushing crushed peanuts through the small opening where the birds fed. It took a fair bit of time and spilled nuts everywhere. This became a tedious chore when having to do this every other day or so.

I wasn't much taken with any of the home made feeders I found on t'internet. A lot were made out of plastic drink bottles which...have narrow tops.  So I devised my own. Here is the finished article, and a build sequence (heavy on photos) follows.

Click on any photo for a larger image.

Note: NOT suitable for a child to make on their own - unless they are incredibly adept at craftwork.  The plastic in a container is surprisingly thick.

Start with a container with a nice wide neck.  I have chosen to use an old peanut butter plastic jar. I've seen nut containers with very wide necks, but I'm sure you can find other suitable ones.

Mark out guides on the bottom of the jar where the perches will be positioned.

Mark out feeding holes. You do not have to be super accurate. A ruler and indelible ink pen (e.g. Sharpie) was all I used. Note the old towel used for anti-slip.

Now to start cutting out the bird feeding hole. The plastic is surprisingly thick, and the tubular shape of the jar hard to support.  It is best to score the plastic repeatedly rather than trying to cut through in one go.  I did devise a method to slice through the plastic AFTER scoring. Just be careful as it is very easy to slip.

This is my method. Start by scoring the vertical lines of the feeding holes. I do them all in one go.

After scoring each line four to six times, concentrate on the top of the line and work the tip of the blade through it.

Holding the jar firmly upright and gripping the craft knife, exert pressure downward. The scored line is a line of weakness which the knife will naturally follow.

Now to cut the bottom line of the feeding hole.  I turned the jar on its side, repeatedly scored the line then pushed the knife blade through and cut. It goes surprisingly quickly. Once cut through, push the flap into the jar, bending it at the top. You can adjust how far in the flap goes. If it is in too far then seeds/nuts will fall out. If it isn't in far enough then the birds can't get at the seeds.  Trial and error gets you to the sweet point.

Now mark out holes for perch supports and drainage holes. I started marking out the drainage holes but soon gave up as I deemed it pointless. I simply drilled holes where I thought they should go.

The holes for the perch supports need to be placed fairly accurately as the wires have to wrap around the supports.  Due to the slippery nature of the plastic, I started off each hole with a small hand drill - just a dent sufficient to top the bit skidding. Then I used a small craft drill to drill all the holes.  This is actually the trickiest part of the whole operation.

Here are the holes all drilled through, along with the ones in the lid. I find a reasonable sized hole (say 2.5mm to 3mm) is sufficient. Too small a hole and they get clogged easily. Too large and seeds drop out, as well as weakening the plastic too much.

Now on to the perch. I must admit I reused a perch from an old bird feeder, so I do not have a complete build sequence. It is fairly straight forward. Use some form of dowel or solid cane. If your craft skills are up to it, cut a groove in the middle of each rod to form a join whereby the rods sit flush when glued together. Don't worry if you can't cut this groove, it's purely aesthetic.

To join bits together, I used tie wraps. you always get them if packaging, and we recycle them.  Other forms of wire (e.g. garden) will do.

Now to insert the wire (tie wraps) for the perch supports.  If you have fat fingers like me then some tweezers or needle nose pliers come in handy.  I feed the wire up through the bottom of the feeder, using the hole furtherest away from the feeding hole. Push a fair amount in then bend the inside bit over into a nice swan neck shape.  The tricky bit is to now feed the wire out of the second hole so it pokes out the bottom of the feeder. This is where the tweezers or needle nose pliers come in handy.

With the tie wraps or wire in place, offer up the perch and tie in.

Now on to the lid. I happened to have a rather long tie wrap. I would use coated garden wire if I didn't. String or twine would also work.

I fed the tie wrap through twice. But that was me.

Keep it all nice and neat by putting the 'knot' on the inside of the lid.

Ta dah! All done. I whacked it on the bird feeder and the birds 'discovered' it within minutes. To fill the feeder, I unscrew jar from the lid in situ i.e. the lid is still connected to the bird feeding station. Pouring seed/nuts into the jar is quick and easy and painless. I then screw the jar back onto the lid.

I notice that many of the birds in these photos are, perversely, not facing the right way to make best use of the offset perch. The Blue Tit behind the feeder is doing so 'properly' i.e. it simply has to lean forward a little to select a peanut.  The Great Tit has to lean back to do so. Perhaps it finds it easier this way?