Cork decoy repair?

Jeff Reardon

Jeff Reardon

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I have a handful of cork decoys that I got as gifts. Yesterday, the wooden tail insert broke off of one of them as my partner tossed it into the water. The decoy broke cleanly at the front side of the tail insert joint, with an almost straight break through the cork above and below the insert, right at the front end of the wood insert.

Are there repair options?

Also, is this normal wear and tear, or potentially a construction defect? I hunt but do not abuse these decoys, and have had this one for about a year and half and hunted over it perhaps 10-15 times.
 
Wouldn't happen to be one from that store down in Freeport would it? I had one do the same thing last season. I threw it out and when it hit the water the tail insert broke the cork. Still havent fixed it.
 
No, my decoys from there have been extremely durable--and those ones do get used hard. I'm not sure who made this one--it's one of a pair that were a gift from my sister. It's (to my untrained eyes) a high quality hand made gunning grade decoy. Much better finish, paint, shape than the ones you're asking about.
 
A pic would help but if I understand correctly where it broke off and if it is a diver decoy then I would try to make it into a bobtail. Otherwise you could put a thicker tail insert in it to fix it but it will be more work and either way you will have to do some paint touch up.
 
am guessing you refer to "black" or "pressed cork" birds? Binding of cork bits (unlike white cork) can be inconsistent - less a defect, more to do with grade of pressed cork. You'll see some with big voids, other companies (used to) use higher grade cork, few voids (like Soule era LLBean, Bill Wasson's). Epoxy and a couple long nails to keep the butt on while curing fixed two older Bean decoys for me last year - clean breaks right along the tail board, same as you mentioned. Seal them well - have seen suggestions on this forum from spar varnish to Val Oil products.
 
It is a pain in the butt but you can repair it. Cut a new and deeper tail insert secure the tail with some dowels into the body. once it is dry add cork to the top and bottom and peg those with a couple dowels. carve to match body, fill gaps if any, prime and paint.
 
This is how I would personally do it. Take it with a grain of salt. If the two pieces will still fit together with relatively few gaps. I would titebond 3 the joint and glue the two halfs. To hold them and get a good set, i would peg the joint with a couple of bamboo scewers like you would do kabobs with. Once the glue is set. I would peg from the rear with a couple sharpened doweles above and below the tail. The real problem is that I would want to reseal the bird. So I would then sand, 3 coats of spar varnish and repaint. That is a lot of work through.

if you just want to retire it tot he shelf, I would stop after the bamboo scewers.

I wouldn't expect one of my birds to split in half, but things happen. You never know what might have caused it. maybe it got lightly stepped on by a human or dog last year. and then some water got into a void and then froze. Who knows?
 
Get yourself a couple of xtra long drywall type screws.. you can get them dipped for longer life...mix up some epoxy...slather both sides..join the two parts of the decoy and get your screwgun and run in the screws under the tailboard....Wha..Laa...fixed...you can get fancy and fill in all the joints and holes when dry with wood filler and repaint...we do it all the time..Mostly the result of a new guy onboard that even after the morning "pep" talk about careful decoy handling they dont realize how easy it is to bust up a nice cork block.
 
Glue it back together with epoxy and some thickener.


It will start you on the way to carving decoys...........

Repaint the touch up repair.
 
Jeff,
My original thought was to make it into a bobtail but after seeing pics I wouldn't want to do that. It looks like the two pieces would fit back together pretty well in the pic. If it were mine I would glue the two pieces back together with a generous amount of gorilla glue and a couple well placed dowels. The gorilla glue will expand and fill in some of the voids. If there are any voids left you could fill them with a glue / corkdust mixture or with bondo. I would then coat it with a few coats of spar varnish and repaint the entire body. As thin as the tail looks you may have to handle it with a little more care than normal but this is a much simpler method of repair than replacing the entire rump of the bird. Another option is to make it into a bobtail hen GE by rounding over the rump, coating it with spar varnish and repainting the whole thing. I would be interested in seeing pics when the transformation is complete.

Hope this helps and good luck!
 
That decoy is a perfect example of why you need tail boards to go farther into the body in order to have more support from the cork especially with Black Cork. I would do what Rich suggested but bear in mind that after you do spar varnish you will have to repaint.

Willy
 
not only a deeper tailboard, like Willy said, BUT a bottom board to protect the bsc!
Perhaps you can glue it back, using gorilla, or some other urethane type glue, then, sand gently, reseal, and repaint---Agree with the LONG drywall screws--you might angle them so they go into the bottom board, if there is one.
That, folks, is the biggest problem when messing with bsc..
 
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This thread put me in mind of one of the letters I received from Joe Wooster way back in the day when I first decided to make a rig of black cork decoys (26 magnim blackducks). I constructed them according to this diagram, and they wore like iron. Note how Joe used a solid wood plug underneath both the tail and head to reinforce the area.

George & Willy - Do you remember the "Weldwood Plastic Resin Glue" Joe refers to in the letter? It was a brown powder that came in a big yellow tub ( I think bird guano was a main ingredient). You had to mix it with water. It was a mess to work with, but once it set, it sure wasn't going anywhere. ;-)

View attachment Black cork decoys (594 x 600) (446 x 450).jpg

I have two boxes of these letters written on yellow legal pad paper stored in the basement. Some classic stuff in them. For years he refused to have a telephone, and it was the only way to contact him. I remember his response when I'd ask him why he wouldn't get a phone: "For what - so people can call me and waste my time bugging me about when their decoys will be ready?"

Funny though, if you took the time to write, you'd always have a lengthy reply back within just a few days.... sometimes complete with illustrations.
 
"DAP Plastic Resin" The first 150 or so decoys I made were Black Cork and I used DAP PRG to glue the BB and the tail inserts into and onto the cork. I'm still hunting them so I guess to say it works is an understatement. I still use it for that purpose in tan cork. Works like a champ although it slows down the process a bunch so if you are in a hurry it's not for you for sure. I've only had to replace one tail insert in the last 25 years and never had a delamination of the 1/4 inch plywood BB that I used on those decoys. I love the stuff!
 
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