What's On Your Workbench? - May

[William Reinicke]

Guess I'll get this one started. Finishing up this run of mallard. Waiting on some hardware to come in to get heads to bodies. Bought a new compressor and its Whisper quiet compared to my old briggs. Was able to watch my buddy fish for 100k and spray without my headphones in. He might actually pull it off today. Probably a lot less decoy making this month and more mold making. I’ll be working on a bird or two but the assembly process is going to slow way down until I end up with a few other projects instead of mallard. Need to add the white to the mallard tails and necks on the heads. Theyll hunt… I hope.

 

[Jayden Crudele]

Not exactly on my workbench, but on a pair of horses. Getting my Bauer Boat ready to go for this upcoming season, have a good idea on what I’ll be doing to her but not sure about what I want to do with the motor board, I know I want to make it removable but also want to put a locking mechanism so it can’t pop out. Any ideas?

 

[JasonM]

Guess I'll get this one started. Finishing up this run of mallard. Waiting on some hardware to come in to get heads to bodies. Bought a new compressor and its Whisper quiet compared to my old briggs. Was able to watch my buddy fish for 100k and spray without my headphones in. He might actually pull it off today. Probably a lot less decoy making this month and more mold making. I’ll be working on a bird or two but the assembly process is going to slow way down until I end up with a few other projects instead of mallard. Need to add the white to the mallard tails and necks on the heads. Theyll hunt… I hope.

Looks like a MLF tournament. Who's your buddy?

 

[William Reinicke]

Looks like a MLF tournament. Who's your buddy?

I’ve known and hunted with Zack Birge for 3 or 4 years now. Good good group of dudes there in Oklahoma. Wish he wasn’t fishing for the wrong league but it’s his career path and I just support and kill ducks with him. One of the realest most down to earth guys I’ve met. Big big monkey off his back this weekend. Happy for him and that group of guys he runs with.

 

[JasonM]

I’ve known and hunted with Zack Birge for 3 or 4 years now. Good good group of dudes there in Oklahoma. Wish he wasn’t fishing for the wrong league but it’s his career path and I just support and kill ducks with him. One of the realest most down to earth guys I’ve met. Big big monkey off his back this weekend. Happy for him and that group of guys he runs with.

Makes sense, knew he was a duck hunter. Always thought he seemed like a good dude. I'll watch some of the tournaments but don't keep up with it.

 

[William Reinicke]

Makes sense, knew he was a duck hunter. Always thought he seemed like a good dude. I'll watch some of the tournaments but don't keep up with it.

I wish it wasn't MLF. I actually like the format, but I have never agreed with how that organization was run. Lots of preventable drama and ultimately, if things do not change, I'm not sure MLF will be around much longer. But that topic is for a different thread.

Bet if Zack could make a living killing ducks or catching bass, he'd pick duck hunting. Dude is born a killer before an angler. Just happens to be really good with a rod and reel.

 

[bob welsh]

Working on remaking canadas and specks into giant pintails. Cut heads off and molded a huge head. Made the tails from red cedar shingles and glassed with some scrap pieces of cloth and epoxied into position. so far 14 under construction.

 

[JasonM]

Working on remaking canadas and specks into giant pintails. Cut heads off and molded a huge head. Made the tails from red cedar shingles and glassed with some scrap pieces of cloth and epoxied into position. so far 14 under construction.

Those are awesome! I like big decoys. What are the bodies made of? Cork or foam I assume. Post a picture with something for better size reference. Look forward to seeing these when you are finished.

 

[bob welsh]

Those are awesome! I like big decoys. What are the bodies made of? Cork or foam I assume. Post a picture with something for better size reference. Look forward to seeing these when you are finished.

Those are a mix of restle geese and Otter geese. On the back of the painted bird there is a sharpie for size comparison.Body size is about 26 inches from tail to breast.14 done so far

 

[William Reinicke]

Carving up little oddities to add to my decoys to give character. 100% unnecessary but I want to play around with some product that will increase strength as well. Made this curl feather, this is the start of a master that I’ll eventually mold and make an onyx tail feather out of. Might play around with some other little quirky thinks to add to decoys. Will never have enough time in my life to carve, but molding is a separate story and keeps me in the game.

 

[D. Hinton]

One of two or three things I have going . Was hoping work was going to be slow. But doesn’t look like it.
Working on some teal to add to the rig for early season. These will be hunted alongside the rig I just commissioned from George W. However these will be painted in the “ Greasy kid stuff”

Really going to try and go outside the box with this carving

 

[William Reinicke]

Didn’t touch an airbrush all weekend but played with a few things. Made some custom molds, adding some fun little additions to birds. Really just learning how to really make my own molds was the goal this weekend. So I carved a few little things and learning to turn them into onyx parts to incorporate into my decoys. I’m really not very good at the mold thing, but I’ll get it down. You can see I have made a master to replace the tail. I’ll cut out the foam and glue in an onyx tail, it’ll take the abuse much better. Necessary? Prob not, but I can cast a tail in about 10 min. I can make a pile of these and be ready to go into decoys the next day.

Also put heads on mallards from last weeks run of airbrushing. These ones are ready to hunt.

 

[Huntindave McCann]

mold and make an onyx tail feather

Please educate me. My only encounter with "onyx" is as a stone. What, in your context, is "onyx"?

 

[William Reinicke]

Please educate me. My only encounter with "onyx" is as a stone. What, in your context, is "onyx"?

Smooth-Cast™ ONYX™ FAST Product Information

Ultra-Black Urethane Resins

www.smooth-on.com

@Don Mintz introduced me to this and I am just now starting to play with it. Its tough tough tough stuff! He molds custom bills for his decoys with it. He told me he would store his decoys face down in a slotted bag and when I asked about it, he said it was the toughest part of his decoy. HMMMMMM...........Really? Yes really, its pretty amazing stuff.

Because I work 60 hours a week, it makes sense to mold for me. If I carved all my decoys, I would be lucky to get one bird done a month. I can cast a dozen decoy bodies in less than a day, and this onyx sets up in 10 min (but it really needs a few hours to cure and get really hard), but I can make a pile of stuff with onyx pretty quickly. It is certainly stronger than foam and I plan on making decorative inserts as well. You can see I carved a tail, I plan on making that out of Onyx and then cutting off the foam tails and inserting there. I am also figuring out how to make in drop in bills for head molds I have out of onyx. Basically I am trying to find ways to strengthen the weaker parts of foam decoys.

Hope this helps, reach out with any other questions. I am sure Don can explain it better as he has used it a lot more than I have, but I will be using it a ton more in future decoys. One day if life ever slows down, I want to carve a decoy or two from start to finish. Until then, my carvings are going to be really small and quick to get done.

 

[george w]

Carving up little oddities to add to my decoys to give character. 100% unnecessary but I want to play around with some product that will increase strength as well. Made this curl feather, this is the start of a master that I’ll eventually mold and make an onyx tail feather out of. Might play around with some other little quirky thinks to add to decoys. Will never have enough time in my life to carve, but molding is a separate story and keeps me in the game.

get shed of the lumpy on the back. just for once!!!

 

[William Reinicke]

get shed of the lumpy on the back. just for once!!!

lol what does this mean? Too new to this game still, only been decoy making for 4 months now. Bare with the lack of knowledge.

 

[D. Hinton]

get shed of the lumpy on the back. just for once!!!

Was that meant for me

 

[zane Every]

Not exactly on my workbench, but on a pair of horses. Getting my Bauer Boat ready to go for this upcoming season, have a good idea on what I’ll be doing to her but not sure about what I want to do with the motor board, I know I want to make it removable but also want to put a locking mechanism so it can’t pop out. Any ideas?

That's a nice looking boat. Please keep us updated with your project.

 

[tyhood]

Got the first of six cans painted tonight. I’m planning on doing all drakes because they are prettier. These were mostly worked on in April but are starting to come to fruition in May.

They won’t be perfect.

What I lack in drawing patterns, I also lack in carving and painting lol

 

[William Reinicke]

Got the first of six cans painted tonight. I’m planning on doing all drakes because they are prettier. These were mostly worked on in April but are starting to come to fruition in May.

They won’t be perfect.

What I lack in drawing patterns, I also lack in carving and painting lol

Looks good to me. Any way you can post a pic of your keel design? It looks like you have the eyebolt semi covered and protected. I am curious what this looks like. As far as the decoy goes, its got great contrast and I bet it tricks a few birds next season. This decoy will do decoy things.