Cedar for decoys???

C

charlie foulds

Well-known member
Since we have so many new carvers here I thought someone might know where I can buy stock locally, to start carving some decoys. I was going to start with cork but was advised to go to wood. Anyone??
 
I can't help you out with a local source of cedar, but was just curious as to the reason you were told to avoid cork? I personally do not carve with it any more but that is just out of personal preference. Lot of guys make some fantastic birds out of cork and many prefer carving it to wood. I would definitely choose the tan cork to the old black stuff but I guess my point is don't rule it out until you try it.
 
I can't help you out with a local source of cedar, but was just curious as to the reason you were told to avoid cork? I personally do not carve with it any more but that is just out of personal preference. Lot of guys make some fantastic birds out of cork and many prefer carving it to wood. I would definitely choose the tan cork to the old black stuff but I guess my point is don't rule it out until you try it.
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Nowhere did I say that I was told to avoid cork. I asked a friend who carves this question.....If you were to start carving for the first time would you use cork or wood? His answer was wood and since I value his opinion I will try and carve my first out of wood. My personal rig of decoys is made entirely of tan cork blocks carved by some VERY talented carvers and I love them and have been VERY successful hunting them this past season. This is not a cork vs wood debate, just a simple request for a supplier. I am sure that I will carve some cork blocks as well as wood, but let me see if I have the patience and skill that I think is required to produce a quality decoy first.
 
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I am in no way trying to start a cork vs. wood debate. I carve almost exclusively Cedar. The only reason I brought it up is that in MY experience, most of the new carvers I have talked to found the cork easier to work with starting out. Not tryin to ruffle any feathers here, and in no way trying to talk you out of carving cedar, just offering another point of view.
 
Charlie, there is a pretty reliable supplier out on the island---i have been playing with some of his cork---it's not Wiley, but seems to grind quite nicely, and does not require as much care when sealing--Let me know if you are looking before havre de grace---i may be able to help you our with some stock.
G
 
Good luck in your search, and your venture into carving. If I can be of any help let me know, my carving skill is not at the level of some of the guys on this site, but I am willing to help whenever I can.
 
Charlie, I'll send you a few #'s for guys in NJ by PM. If you come to Parkertown you will see Ray Norcross. He has the good stuff.....................Kevin
 
A couple of thoughts:

First, never sell your first decoy...no matter how ugly it is and how much some fool offers you for it, keep it...so who the heck cares about holding value, unless you want to sell them.

Second, even when using a dust mask, I am bothered by cedar dust, far more than cork dust. Maybe just me, they all make dust, they are ALL bad for your lungs, cedar has a greater concentration of 'the bad stuff'...same thing that makes it rot resistant.

my two cents

Chuck
 
Chuck is definitely right about the dust... before you buy a "rig's worth", definitely give a couple a try and see if you're going to be ok with it. Many people are allergic to it and some people can "develop" an allergy to cedar as well from prolonged exposure.

Good dust collection and mask can be a life saver.
 
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Charlie,
Next time you going upstate check out the mill off 145? It is past cornwallville on the way to preston hollow on the left side of the road.
I believe there wood is air dryed and ruff cut.
 
Since we have so many new carvers here I thought someone might know where I can buy stock locally, to start carving some decoys. I was going to start with cork but was advised to go to wood. Anyone??
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Reading through the thread, I'll say that I wish I had stuck with wood for my birds. I made my two first rigs out of white pine and then did a bunch out of cork of both kinds. Cork is fine, but I like wood better and if I was investing my time again I would use wood. I'm really glad that my first birds are wood. Once I finish off my cork supply, I'll either carve from salvaged dock foam or from wood.

The wood holds up better to hard use, and when I say hard use it is the kind of hard use where the bills, tail tips, and any other sharp spots of your rig show wood after a couple years of use on the rigs you use most. Most of my rigs are getting on 10 years old now and the cork is showing its age dramatically more than the wood birds in terms of things like bites out of the cork, I haven't had a joint problem on my birds, but I have with others, so I don't think that is soo much of an issue if you take care making them. I personally love that look on my birds worn and the old warriors make me smile when I see them. This is more of an issue if you use them hard - bang them, throw them, drag them, let them bounce when the tide rides out from under them, etc... Your decoys looked pretty scuffed end of season, if I remember, so I guess you are hard on them.

Carve in rigs - you strike me as a rig carver anyway. Carve at least 3 at a time, carve the heads and bodies and don't paint until you are done. I get bogged down if I do a dozen, but in an ideal world I would carve rigs of 7 and never break it up unless it is for a trade. This is from a hunting rig carver that hasn't carved in a few years, but needs to get at it.
 
Since we have so many new carvers here I thought someone might know where I can buy stock locally, to start carving some decoys. I was going to start with cork but was advised to go to wood. Anyone??
Click to expand...


Reading through the thread, I'll say that I wish I had stuck with wood for my birds. I made my two first rigs out of white pine and then did a bunch out of cork of both kinds. Cork is fine, but I like wood better and if I was investing my time again I would use wood. I'm really glad that my first birds are wood. Once I finish off my cork supply, I'll either carve from salvaged dock foam or from wood.

The wood holds up better to hard use, and when I say hard use it is the kind of hard use where the bills, tail tips, and any other sharp spots of your rig show wood after a couple years of use on the rigs you use most. Most of my rigs are getting on 10 years old now and the cork is showing its age dramatically more than the wood birds in terms of things like bites out of the cork, I haven't had a joint problem on my birds, but I have with others, so I don't think that is soo much of an issue if you take care making them. I personally love that look on my birds worn and the old warriors make me smile when I see them. This is more of an issue if you use them hard - bang them, throw them, drag them, let them bounce when the tide rides out from under them, etc... Your decoys looked pretty scuffed end of season, if I remember, so I guess you are hard on them.

Carve in rigs - you strike me as a rig carver anyway. Carve at least 3 at a time, carve the heads and bodies and don't paint until you are done. I get bogged down if I do a dozen, but in an ideal world I would carve rigs of 7 and never break it up unless it is for a trade. This is from a hunting rig carver that hasn't carved in a few years, but needs to get at it.
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Thanks for the advice Todd, I sure would like to see some pics of those "old warriors" that you have. I haven't been a member here that long, (2 years) so I didn't even know that you carved your own rig.
 
This is from a hunting rig carver that hasn't carved in a few years, but needs to get at it
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Exactly where I'm at Tod. Wear & tear on the paint, broken bills, cracks in the wood. Time to make a new rig. But I'm going to mess around with the cork first as I don't have a spot set up to drawknife the wood yet....but I did just order a Power Arm. Once I can figure out what I want for a carving bench and build it I can attack the wood pile. The cork will be my warmup. Should see it tomorrow or Wednesday. This go-round it will be 100% patterns that I sketch up myself.
 
Since we have so many new carvers here I thought someone might know where I can buy stock locally, to start carving some decoys. I was going to start with cork but was advised to go to wood. Anyone??
Click to expand...


Reading through the thread, I'll say that I wish I had stuck with wood for my birds. I made my two first rigs out of white pine and then did a bunch out of cork of both kinds. Cork is fine, but I like wood better and if I was investing my time again I would use wood. I'm really glad that my first birds are wood. Once I finish off my cork supply, I'll either carve from salvaged dock foam or from wood.

The wood holds up better to hard use, and when I say hard use it is the kind of hard use where the bills, tail tips, and any other sharp spots of your rig show wood after a couple years of use on the rigs you use most. Most of my rigs are getting on 10 years old now and the cork is showing its age dramatically more than the wood birds in terms of things like bites out of the cork, I haven't had a joint problem on my birds, but I have with others, so I don't think that is soo much of an issue if you take care making them. I personally love that look on my birds worn and the old warriors make me smile when I see them. This is more of an issue if you use them hard - bang them, throw them, drag them, let them bounce when the tide rides out from under them, etc... Your decoys looked pretty scuffed end of season, if I remember, so I guess you are hard on them.

Carve in rigs - you strike me as a rig carver anyway. Carve at least 3 at a time, carve the heads and bodies and don't paint until you are done. I get bogged down if I do a dozen, but in an ideal world I would carve rigs of 7 and never break it up unless it is for a trade. This is from a hunting rig carver that hasn't carved in a few years, but needs to get at it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice Todd, I sure would like to see some pics of those "old warriors" that you have. I haven't been a member here that long, (2 years) so I didn't even know that you carved your own rig.
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WTF kind of traditional waterfowler doesn't carve their own rig?!?!? :). I'll snap a pic of my brant rig, since it is out.
 
I can vouch for cork wearing quickly with hard use. I have a brant rig that shows some wear after three days of use. I won't have large enough blocks of wood for a year, if everything goes according to plan. I may have to laminate wood for decoys this summer.
 
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