November workbench

D

Don Mintz

Active member
Lots of stuff in the works in the shop these days. Weather is great and there are no ducks here yet, a good time to get some stuff finished up. I've got a pintail/mallard in a new pose, I'm well over 50 poses now from one pattern, I'm calling this one the "sleepy scratcher". It's kind of like your retriever doing a 4 diver limit day on the snake river, worn out, half asleep, but needing to scratch his ear, just not enough energy. Nearly all of my custom decoys tell a story, I guess it's the artist in me, but I'm not big into standard poses, I want something that speaks to me.
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This next pair is one that I call "the chase". Wigeons are one of my favorite ducks, good eating and think they are divers. You get plenty of activity, they are always splashy active birds, either eating for fighting. The upright looking over his shoulder is the propulsion bird with a reinekeel, in the river current he will swim back and forth with the scolding bird in tow on a cord behind him. I can also use this set up on a pull cord. IMG_5339.jpg
 
Finally getting out in the shop with the boys. It's snowing hard outside yet the wood stove is toasty in here. Carving time. I have an order for a pair of harlequins I need to get working on.
More to follow as I round them out.
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under 50 days, it's getting close. I find myself in the shop all the time, but that was the case before retirement since I'm doing the same thing I've always done the last 45 years, make stuff. It's real nice to be able to do what you want when you want and not have to wait till after work or days off.
 
I shipped 6 decoys to cali ($105) and 6 to NY ($114). I traded duck calls for the 6 each I made, so its a fair trade I suppose since thats roughly the cost to buy the calls from these guys. But yes, shipping is outrageous!!! Its a big reason i dont make for sale and will do the occasional trade here and there for my decoys.
 
It was $48 to ship these two to North Carolina. I've shipped boxes of 6 blacks to maryland last week for $70. We use pirateship.com it has saved us a lot in shipping. Six mallards to California is routinely $35.
 
Don Mintz said:
It was $48 to ship these two to North Carolina. I've shipped boxes of 6 blacks to maryland last week for $70. We use pirateship.com it has saved us a lot in shipping. Six mallards to California is routinely $35.
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I really need to look into this. I rarely ship decoys, so ive been lazy. But I think next time I ship decoys, im going that route.
 
I do it just to save customers money, they pay the shipping, so it's not out of my pocket, but sometimes shipping is prohibitive for a customer to pull the trigger on buying decoys. When you are trading decoys for stuff, it comes straight out of your own pocket, it makes saving money more important to you personally. It's so easy to navigate pirateship even I can do it.
 
We used fedex for years and our bill was always over $20k a year and that was with a discount. When a friend clued me into pirateship the savings was stunning. I was paying $80 to ship 4 crane decoys to Texas, it would be under $50 now with pirateship. We also had to drive to the city to deliver to fedex (100 mile round trip and 2 hours of time) or pay a fee to pick up out here in the middle of nowhere. With pirateship it's usually UPS and we have a UPS store about a mile from the house here in our little town.

Speaking of shipping, I've got to clear eyes and pack these decoys today. UPS is open till 7 so I can get them to the store after my wife gets home from work at 6pm.

Speaking of glass eyes, I'm half way through my fourth package of 200 glass eyes since the first of January. I wished I had kept count of how many decoys we made this year. At $5 per pair, it would have cost me $1750, however I buy my clear glass eyes for ten cents a pair, so the same eyes for 350 pairs cost me $35, but I do have to paint them which means I'm more likely to get a proper color instead of the pre painted eyes.

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More good news, this is my drying room, otherwise known as the guest bedroom, it has a great ceiling fan for drying. It's extremely rare that anyone stays at our house, maybe twice a year, so I feel like it's just a wasted room. I've basically taken over my wife's craft room and she's finally decided to give me the boot and give up the guest room after Christmas when Caleb's family will actually spend the night. The craft room is just packed to the point you about have to turn sideways just to get to the work table.
 
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