attaching head to body

R

Robie Gardner

Member
I haven't carved a feeding decoy yet and I was wandering if anyone had any advise for attaching a head like what is in the pic. With the decoy I have done, the head is screwed and glued to the top half of the decoy body. In this case, after the decoy is hollowed out, the joint would seem to be right in the middle of the neck of the head where it attaches to the body. Should I hollow out the decoy from the bottom and not split the body in two halves? Thanks.

Robie Gardner

View attachment feeding black duck.jpg
 
Robie, Let me welcome you to non picture posting goofs. Your not alone. I may run for Club President. As for your question I have no idea I just paint premades or burlap. Good luck though, some one will help on both counts.

Gene R.
 
Welcome Robie. I would make the decoy in such a way as to attach the neck to the top half. However, if you decide to affix the neck between the two halfs you could do so temporarily with a screw. Once the decoy is shaped and the body/neck transition is good remove the head and hollow the two halfs but stay clear of the neck area. I'm sure that others will chime in here.............................Best of luck with it.......................Kevin
 
Robie, the way I do them is to drill a hole from the forhead of the bird...just over where the bill meets the head, right through the head, down the neck, and into the bird. Then I counter sink a long screw about half way through the head securing it into the body. Then I fill in the hole with a dowel and clean it up.

I can take a picture if you cant follow that, let me know.

Bill
 
I'm a new carver and haven't tried this, but here's my opinion. Why not drill a 1/4 inch hole a couple inches into the body, and match it up to a 1/4 inch hole drilled into the bottom of the head and then use a hardwood dowel glued into each piece?

Just a thought.
 
I'm a new carver and haven't tried this, but here's my opinion. Why not drill a 1/4 inch hole a couple inches into the body, and match it up to a 1/4 inch hole drilled into the bottom of the head and then use a hardwood dowel glued into each piece?

Just a thought.
Click to expand...

Charles, it sounds good on paper, but its a pain to match it up!!! Unless someone has a method I haven't thought of to accomplish that!
 
Definitely would be tough to match it up properly. What if you just rough carved the body piece, leaving it a little bigger then needed then did a final carving/sanding after the head was attached?

Second thought, what about a double sided screw, like the kind used in furniture. screw it into the wooden head first, then twist it into the body?

SH551.jpg

 
I've done a couple of similar poses. What I did on those is the same as I do on my swan and goose neck/head constructions, which is based on a tip I got from MLB some time back. Cut them out (you can precarve the head, but leave some extra material at the base of the neck to make a better transition later) and fit them such that you have two surfaces than match and give you the 'look' you want. Glue them together with quick set epoxy, holding the pieces by hand until they bond. Once the epoxy has set, drill out with a long bit and dowel with a good wood glue. Cut the remaining dowel off flush to the bottom, or in the case of my necks, grind it to flow with the neck curve.

Chuck

See the drill bit, I use 3/8 on most necks, as I am too chicken to use the 1/2 inch most of the time from a fear of running out the side:

swan006.jpg


Dowels set on a neck:

swan012.jpg


Here is a mallard I did a while back, don't seen to have a shot of the bottom where the dowel comes out:

bench004.jpg

 
Keep in mind, the head WILL probably be used as a handle when picking up. No matter how you decide to do the attachment, make sure you provide adequate interior protection..Did a few of them in cork a few years back, enjoyed the engineering part, especially the screw and washer problem. Even with glue and screw, the handle aspect alwys seemed to loom into play.
Try one of the stretch necks, then give thought to some other types of feeding postures, including one with no head. It will certainly provide animation to your rig.
 
I always use the dowel method. But I come from the MLB/Bob Furia school. I've even used dowels over 1/2 inch. There's usually lots of neck to keep inside of, and even if you do run it out (which I have never done) you can carve the dowel to fit the outside contour anyway. I sometimes drill them without epoxy so that I can work on the head further. That works OK if the pieces can fit into the drill press without slipping. I don't think that method would work well with a feeder.
 
Robie, after looking at the pic that you have attached again I realize that at least half of the bird's body is under water. At least in the front end. So therefor as I mentioned earlier you should be able to attach the head/neck to the top half. The rump should be much higher than in a traditional pose. Your decoy will look much more streched out in the water than sitting on the bench since much of the breast will be under water.

Here are a few pics to demonstrate. Not as dramatic a pose as you will have but you should get the idea. The bench photo shows the head in a semi-upright position. But once in the water the bill nearly touches the water. This neck/head was attached to the top half.....................Kevin
View attachment IMG_4251.JPG
View attachment IMG_0977.JPG
 
Theres a lot of things to think about. I appreciate all the input. I'm currently makeing a rig of black ducks and I'm running out of poses. One idea was to make a feeder without a head. I'll have to look into that. I've never seen a pattern for one or even a good pic of a side porfile to get an idea. If anyone has a good picture of one from the side, I would greatly appreciate it.

Robie
 
Robie,

I try to run a dowel through from the bottom board for the strongest joint; however, if you are skittish about trying to drill from the bottom to run a dowel, you can always drill the dowel hole in the unattached head (much more accurate) then use a dowel center that matches your dowel size ( DC won't cost you more than a few bucks and is a handy item for decoy carvers) to align the head and mark where the body (neck in this case) will have to be drilled. Since you're working with a cork body, you'll be able to easily adjust any slight mis-alignment at the joint line, even after all the holes are drilled (just wiggle your spade-bit in the cork). Glue 'er up with a good 5 min epoxy, let it get tacky for a few minutes, then apply hand pressure to compress the joint 'til the glue has set. Carve off the excess and you're in business.
 
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