Steve Sanford
Well-known member
Good morning, All~
As some of you have probably gathered, my last several months have been consumed by a host of NDR projects from Lake Champlain down to Long Island. Susan and I have stayed on-the-move. Many of my customers are no doubt anxious about their decoys and duckboats left in my care.
So, I just made a bit of progress on some corkers visiting from Jersey. The dozen - 4 Mallards and 8 Blacks - were in pretty good shape. They needed some sealing and new finery after just a few minor repairs. I thought I would post most of the steps in my process to answer many of the questions I get.
View attachment JAB - 01 BEFORE.JPG
Any black cork decoy needs to be sealed during its lifetime. Otherwise, the cork dries out and can begin to crumble. So, I seal with spar varnish (not polyurethane), prime with a flat oil paint, then topcoat with flat latex (mostly Behr flat house paint from Home Depot).
Bean's decoys - first made by George Soule in the late 40s (I think) - have changed over the years. Although always a nice big working decoy, the details have changed. One thing I look for is how the bill is established. Often, the bill begins too far forward. The break between the cheek and the bill can be too close to the tip of the bill. It makes the bill look too short and prevents achieving The Look of the species.
The bill on this Drake is fine.
View attachment JAB 02 - Drake bill line OK.JPG
The bill on this Hen is too far forward.
View attachment JAB 03 - Hen bill line far fwd.JPG
I burn the key details onto each bill: the "line of demarcation", the nostrils and the nail. I usually burn in the line between the upper and lower mandibles near the hinge, too.
Only 2 of the 24 eyes were missing. I decided to replace them "in-kind" with 9mm, brown iris, standard pupil. I use Van Dyke's glass eyes from McKenzie Taxidermy. I use flat eyes and set them in water-based filler.
When I am replacing lots of eyes in a rig of oversize decoys, I usually upgrade them to 10 mm - and I like black eyes on most puddlers, Brant and Geese.
View attachment JAB 04 - Missing eye.JPG
The tail inserts - 1/4-inch plywood - were all in good shape. This area frequently needs attention on older Beans.
View attachment JAB 05 - Tail boards good.JPG
I re-bore the anchor line holes with a long 5/16 bit I keep for this purpose. Most of the holes were fairly open and clean. In any event, they can easily take a heavy (72-pound, approximately 1/8-inch diameter tarred nylon) decoy line.
View attachment JAB 10 - Boring anchor line hole.JPG
I made the executive decision to remove the screw eyes. Most were rusted and loose. I like simplicity in my rigs: no hardware or moving parts unless truly needed.
View attachment JAB 06 - Screw eye and new screws.JPG
The heads had at some point been refastened with large brass screws - but all were a little loose - and the flathead screws were a bit proud. In any event, I removed all of the heads. When re-fastened, I used s/s fender washers and longer s/s panhead screws.
View attachment JAB 09 - Head screws removed.JPG
Although I seal and prime the heads and bodies with spar varnish and flat oils, I take a different approach with the bills.
View attachment JAB 07 - Sealed with spar varnish - latex on bills.JPG
I base coat them with 2 coats of flat latex, then finish paint them with latex as well. After at least a full day of drying, I then protect them with a coat of satin spar varnish. This gives just a bit of "pop" to the bill where a bit of luster is natural and helps to avoid the inevitable wear. A second coat of spar varnish would probably be prudent, now that I think about it.
View attachment JAB 08 - Heads sealed - bills base coated.JPG
Continued in next post....
SJS
As some of you have probably gathered, my last several months have been consumed by a host of NDR projects from Lake Champlain down to Long Island. Susan and I have stayed on-the-move. Many of my customers are no doubt anxious about their decoys and duckboats left in my care.
So, I just made a bit of progress on some corkers visiting from Jersey. The dozen - 4 Mallards and 8 Blacks - were in pretty good shape. They needed some sealing and new finery after just a few minor repairs. I thought I would post most of the steps in my process to answer many of the questions I get.
View attachment JAB - 01 BEFORE.JPG
Any black cork decoy needs to be sealed during its lifetime. Otherwise, the cork dries out and can begin to crumble. So, I seal with spar varnish (not polyurethane), prime with a flat oil paint, then topcoat with flat latex (mostly Behr flat house paint from Home Depot).
Bean's decoys - first made by George Soule in the late 40s (I think) - have changed over the years. Although always a nice big working decoy, the details have changed. One thing I look for is how the bill is established. Often, the bill begins too far forward. The break between the cheek and the bill can be too close to the tip of the bill. It makes the bill look too short and prevents achieving The Look of the species.
The bill on this Drake is fine.
View attachment JAB 02 - Drake bill line OK.JPG
The bill on this Hen is too far forward.
View attachment JAB 03 - Hen bill line far fwd.JPG
I burn the key details onto each bill: the "line of demarcation", the nostrils and the nail. I usually burn in the line between the upper and lower mandibles near the hinge, too.
Only 2 of the 24 eyes were missing. I decided to replace them "in-kind" with 9mm, brown iris, standard pupil. I use Van Dyke's glass eyes from McKenzie Taxidermy. I use flat eyes and set them in water-based filler.
When I am replacing lots of eyes in a rig of oversize decoys, I usually upgrade them to 10 mm - and I like black eyes on most puddlers, Brant and Geese.
View attachment JAB 04 - Missing eye.JPG
The tail inserts - 1/4-inch plywood - were all in good shape. This area frequently needs attention on older Beans.
View attachment JAB 05 - Tail boards good.JPG
I re-bore the anchor line holes with a long 5/16 bit I keep for this purpose. Most of the holes were fairly open and clean. In any event, they can easily take a heavy (72-pound, approximately 1/8-inch diameter tarred nylon) decoy line.
View attachment JAB 10 - Boring anchor line hole.JPG
I made the executive decision to remove the screw eyes. Most were rusted and loose. I like simplicity in my rigs: no hardware or moving parts unless truly needed.
View attachment JAB 06 - Screw eye and new screws.JPG
The heads had at some point been refastened with large brass screws - but all were a little loose - and the flathead screws were a bit proud. In any event, I removed all of the heads. When re-fastened, I used s/s fender washers and longer s/s panhead screws.
View attachment JAB 09 - Head screws removed.JPG
Although I seal and prime the heads and bodies with spar varnish and flat oils, I take a different approach with the bills.
View attachment JAB 07 - Sealed with spar varnish - latex on bills.JPG
I base coat them with 2 coats of flat latex, then finish paint them with latex as well. After at least a full day of drying, I then protect them with a coat of satin spar varnish. This gives just a bit of "pop" to the bill where a bit of luster is natural and helps to avoid the inevitable wear. A second coat of spar varnish would probably be prudent, now that I think about it.
View attachment JAB 08 - Heads sealed - bills base coated.JPG
Continued in next post....
SJS
Last edited:
