Burnt Cork Black Ducks

Jode, these are gorgeous. Sign me up for a pair when you go into production.

I'm guessing the burnt cork may be more durable than cork--but have the same concerns about sealing.
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Thanks Jeff, I am going to weigh them as George suggested and see how they fare.


Funny to a wood guy the cork probably takes me longer to shape.....having to grind it rather than hack away big chunks with a drawknife LOL.
 
Jode - I was going to mention how brave you are with the Fire & Shop thing, but waited til you brought it up... Ya just can't stop a decoy addict from doing what they have to do. Burnt cork Black Ducks are about as traditional as you can get. I have a LI burnt cork Black (given to me by a good friend) that is very old and well used. Even as old and well used as it is, pick it up and it's still messy. I am tempted to hunt over it at least once to see how well it works.

Thats a nice flock of decoys you got there, and stay OCD free OK.
 
Jode, Pratt and Lambert have an oil based varnish that is called "Dull", I have used this as a sealer on my burnt blackbucks for years. they do require a new coat every couple of years.

Looking forward to seeing your rig complete
 
Thanks for the tip Mike! I will try and find it. If not I was toying on making my own with some matte agent. It would be easier to find it ready to go.

The paint for the heads is going on today. Hope to be gunning them next week!
 
Final paint pic added. I ended up making my own matte varnish as the one Mike Suggested was not able to be had locally. Final step will be rigging and hunting!
 
Great birds Jode! I know everyone is interested in the burn and it looks awesome, I'm more interested in knowing how you got those dang dowels straight up and down in the heads :D I can never drill the hole straight!
 
Jode, the 15 puts them in the Wiley category. If you can, shoot me a picture of the scrap. The matrix is bigger than the cork now produced.. It should have been a joy to grind on--Shaped quickly, interesting odor when cutting. Waxy on top or bottom side? Hunt them in Chris' memory!
gwdecoys@verizon.net
Pic might tell me what it is, otherwise, drag a scrap piece to ohio if you are coming..If Wiley, NO SEAL NEEDED!
 
Thanks Larry!

Dave, I just hold the head on the body and drill up through both with a real long drill bit. Then enlarge the holes to accept the dowell.

George , I dig around and see if I can find some scraps. I cut them out awhile ago. It did grind very uniformly and pretty fast. Good medium weight and sort of a darker waxy surface on one side of the sheet.


Thanks Doug. Hopefully I'll be floating them in your old stomping grounds!
 
Thanks Steve!

A few from today despite the Challenging tide conditions.

The corks rode nice and performed well. We could of used some weather, and water for that matter!

No keels for just this reason, MUD!








Had some shooting a managed to connect. Bag pics as soon as my buddy emails them.

Thanks to all those who followed along.
 
Have been battling the tide for last few hunts. The low tide is ideal to make what few brids we have fly but high and dry as pictured is never ideal no matter how well the birds fly. Does your tide turn quickly? I would be stuck about 1-2 hours before boat floated in my area never mind run an outboard.

Nice looking decoys especially under the sun.
 
I presume you are "stuck" waiting for the tide to come back in?
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HAHA, No, I actually pushed the boat up there and gunned the mud. When conditions are right the birds will stool great to the mud.

The tide did come in towards evening, letting us get out easily.

When you gun the Delaware bay your either going to have to work on the way in, or the way out.

I prefer to do the grunt work on the front side! LOL!
 
No, that tide swing is about the same, It still went out slightly after the pics were taken. We pushed out 1000's of birds off the mud on the way in. But that is where they feed unmolested. To bad only a small percentage came back to stay.


 
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