Scott Farris
Well-known member
Ah, where's the head and galley? Just thinking with that large of a crew there will be needs. Looks SUPER!
What's on your workbench? July
- Thread starter jode hillman
- Start date
jode hillman
Well-known member
Man that is one heck of a blind! Pretty awesome construction.
And I'm taking that that is Thomas? He looks like you going back 30 years ago!
Jode
Yes, that's Thomas in the pictures. Our crew is him and his friends and a father or two at times. Everyone has talents they bring and we accomplish a ton each year before and during the season. Thanks.
Yes, that's Thomas in the pictures. Our crew is him and his friends and a father or two at times. Everyone has talents they bring and we accomplish a ton each year before and during the season. Thanks.
Very nice!! By the looks of it you could live in it.
William Reinicke
Active member
As many know, I’m not a carver. I’m barely a decoy maker as I just started in February. So I’m literally a nobody in the game. Molding is my only way of making a decoy as I work 60 hours a week and have way too many hobbies in life. But I refuse to copy people and solely rely on my own processes. Of course I’ve gotten a lot of pointers and have had an incredible influence in Don with the air brushing. But all the molding and creative aspects are 100% from my brain. Don’t laugh, but these little cones I can get 50 for like $10. The pvc will make 40 decoys for $17. Im using 5oz of onyx per mold and I found a white version that is 1/3 the price of the black stuff. I’ve taken the time (and it’s been a process) to cast in onyx bills on all my heads, cast onyx tails on all my decoys, and cast my own cup for the stake to sit in. By doing it this way, I can use about 3 oz less foam when casting the decoy and I get just the slightest amount of foam slip under the cone. About 10 seconds with a dremel and I clear out the foam for the stake to go in. Theres been a lot of mold making to make all the pieces work, but I had 3 hours to work in the shop this weekend and I was able to make, and glue together, 18 feeder snows. Itll take me about an hour to put all the apoxie sculpt on and then will restle coat and hand paint flat white paint and black. If my math is correct, I’m able to make 2 dozen full body snows for ~$120-150. Most important part is that I truly believe I’m putting in the correct pieces for the decoy to last a good long time. As I’m pretty darn tough on my decoys, especially snow goose decoys.
Attachments
patrick mccarthy
Active member
That's cool Patrick. One of the most interesting, well composed carvings I've ever seen.
Josh Jenson
New member
dog ladder for a mud boat build I’ve been working on
Work on the duck blind continues. Over the weekend we got the dog box and ramp built and made and installed the rear-entry ladder. A test run shows we got the dimensions correct. The rear door is at the shop and glue drying. We will install it next weekend.
Vince Pagliaroli
Well-known member
Patrick,
WOW..... just ******* WOW.
"The purpose of art is to stop time." - Bob Dylan
Best regards
Vince
I'd be proud to put that bench in my dining room!
Good work all the way around.
Patrick, that isn't a decoy, that is sculpture.
Eric, that blind is built better than most houses.
I'll bet it took 8 young guys' income to pay for the materials. There is some serious cash in that blind. I'm not sure I know 8 guys I'd want to hunt with all at the same time but it looks like a great project. I hope many ducks are shot in front of it.
Patrick, that isn't a decoy, that is sculpture.
Eric, that blind is built better than most houses.
I'll bet it took 8 young guys' income to pay for the materials. There is some serious cash in that blind. I'm not sure I know 8 guys I'd want to hunt with all at the same time but it looks like a great project. I hope many ducks are shot in front of it.
Brad
Thanks. Luckily my employer is covering the cost of materials while we supply the labor, equipment, and know-how. The final cost should stay around $3500 which isn't that bad given the improvement in hunting comfort and hours it will be occupied over the coming years. You know, when you consider the price of turn-key duck properties these days it isn't a bad investment. Not that he plans to sell, but there is value added beyond material expenses.
The man-hours to build the blind is probably more surprising. We have become efficient at building blinds, but there are a lot of logistical considerations. Getting materials and equipment from the store and my shop to the construction site there and back is no small effort. Probably 1/4 of my time is spent on the road or at the store, maybe more. We do a lot of the construction at my shop and then take those items to the site and erect them. But not all can be done like that. Some things have to be done on site and that adds the overhead of a generator and such. Our trailers have been seeing a lot of use these past few weeks. I think when it is all said and done we will have over 500-man hours in her. If you were paying for such a build that is where the biggest expense would be.
Thanks. Luckily my employer is covering the cost of materials while we supply the labor, equipment, and know-how. The final cost should stay around $3500 which isn't that bad given the improvement in hunting comfort and hours it will be occupied over the coming years. You know, when you consider the price of turn-key duck properties these days it isn't a bad investment. Not that he plans to sell, but there is value added beyond material expenses.
The man-hours to build the blind is probably more surprising. We have become efficient at building blinds, but there are a lot of logistical considerations. Getting materials and equipment from the store and my shop to the construction site there and back is no small effort. Probably 1/4 of my time is spent on the road or at the store, maybe more. We do a lot of the construction at my shop and then take those items to the site and erect them. But not all can be done like that. Some things have to be done on site and that adds the overhead of a generator and such. Our trailers have been seeing a lot of use these past few weeks. I think when it is all said and done we will have over 500-man hours in her. If you were paying for such a build that is where the biggest expense would be.
Last edited:
I finally finished something. Today is the first time in I don't know how many weeks it's that it's been under 100 degrees. I brought what I could into the house to hand paint. It looks like it may even be in the 60's in the morning so maybe I can get something done although the air quality is terrible. The whole world is on fire out here.
what I don't like about the heat is it's not cooling off at night, usually I can get up early and let some 50 degree air in the shop, it's only been in the upper 60's and 70's for over a month. I've had two frosts on my garden since the middle of may and now everything is burning up, hard to decide what to do.
