Carving Decoys?

B

Blake G

New member
I'm wanting to start carving my own decoys using cork or wood... if anybody has any info on where to get supplies and what paints and other supplies to use...let me know. Also I would like tips or instructions on how to carve the decoys. Thanks.
 
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you cant go wrong with willy mcdonald at the duck blind. www.theduckblind.com he has everything you need including instructional video tapes. give him a call and he will set you up. for cork, go with the tan cork. its much more user friendly. id also reccomend starting with acrylic paints. both house paint and artists colors. best, mark
 
head over to the duckblind.com for starter kit and his videos. get his videos and you'll knock a year off of the learning curve (unless you have someone close by to show you... aren't you in AL... plenty of talented carvers there that live on this page)

Jeff
 
Blake,

I agree with the other guys. You can't go wrong with Willy at The Duck Blind. Call him up and ask away. Great guy.
Tan cork is real user friendly and Willy'l cut out some blanks for you to help you get started. Probably want some white cedar for head stock, but some guys use tupelo. I've also used plain jane 2X4 pine but that is brittle and harder to carve. Paulownia is real strong and very very light weight, but also real hard to find.
Look up some of the balsa suppliers also for bigger pieces that can be glued up and think about using it for teal and other smaller decoys. The light weight sure is appreciated.

Good luck and lets see it when you get started.
 
Basswood for head stock, at least to start.

Cedar can split, tupelo and balsa can be so soft that power tools just eat them up.

Bass can "fuzz", but that's taken care of pretty easily. Takes detail well, too, if you want to fancy up a few birds.
 
I'm in Tuscaloosa and we have MALARKY members in Gadsden, Birmingham, Huntsville, and Demopolis representing AL. Keep an eye out for MALARKY announcements here. We should be having a few get togethers once the season is over to prepare for Westlake. As a matter of fact, I will start a new post.
 
NE Alabama's pretty general.
I'm in Huntsville.
Drop me a line and we can hook up. I'm carving a lot right now. A lot for me is working on three or four birds. Doc Story's in Decatur. He can probably help you out, too. And, like Jon said, we're always having another MALARKY get together.
 
Make sure you make it to a Malarky get together. Ton of knowledge to help get you started. Willy is great. Lou's E-Allens make very nice reference pieces.
I've only been carving for less than a year and would be glad to help anyway possible. 256-350-6222

Brian
 
I have bought some items from The Duck Blind, all good quality and good reference for gunning birds. I really like the DVD but think they are $$$ and would not be needed if you can hook up with some locals. Around here, it turned out a little harder then I thought.

I also like to use a little better (and more $$$) tools supplied with the beginer kit from the duck blind. They will get you going if you are not sure or don't want to spend the money up front. I had a good supply of tools for working with wood and find them superior to what was supplied. I also started collecting books. There are lots out there. I got a copy of the DCF pattern book before they sold out, a Pat Godin pattern book, and a couple others on begining carving.

I am currently roughing out my third bird in the last two days. Hand tools are nice but I am going to make the jump to a foredom power carver to save my hands.
 
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gambe. Keep an eye on the MALARKY carving weekend thread. Come on up and give our tools a whirl. We can get you started. Once you're a little bit familiar with the process and tools and all, you can get with Willy at the duckblind and you'll already know what you want and why. That way, you can only get what you need and not have to go through the mill mutliple times.
 
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