Cork, spar, and oil paint question

S

sean kane

Active member
I make my gunnin decoys out of tan cork. Once I have them sanded down I rub in elmers wood patch to fill the small holes then seal with spar and paint with acrylics. I want to switch over to oil paint and was wondering if there would be any bonding issues with the spar if I use Ronan as the primer? Is there any difference between Spar Varnish and Spar Urethane? I have heard that they don't make spar varnish anymore and was wondering if it's a different product than Spar Urethane? Does anyone use any other products to fill in the voids in cork other than wood patch. Thank you for the help!
 
As long as you scuff the spar up to knock off the shine (150 grit) the Ronan's should stick fine. I don't do much cork so I can't help on the filler part.
 
Traditions cork sealer does a good job filling the voids in tan cork Don't know much about oils but it may work for you
 
Sean,
I have sealed a lot of cedar birds with first spar urethane and later in my carving career spar varnish. They are both fine but I do believe that the varnish is a better quality. I wish I could qualify why that is but its difficult. Both seal the birds but if you open a can of each you can just tell the varnish is a quality product in comparison. So if you can get varnish I would do it. If you can't the urethane will work just fine.
 
Like Brandon said either one is fine. I don't really use spar as a "sealer" so to speak. I apply one thinned coat then sand. I prefer the first coat of Ronans to penetrate the wood. You avoid the layering effect you sometimes get with a heavily sealed bird. But with cork your in a different situation than me.
 
I don't know how many birds you have done so you would know more about durability of your process than I, but.... I've seen tan cork birds with filler like you mention end up cracking where all the filler is. To avoid this, the guys I know who do this always seal with epoxy instead of a spar or cork sealer to prevent this. The epoxy creates a nice hard shell over all the filler.
 
Thank you all for the help, I haven't had any cracking issues except for one time when I used Bondo to thick on a neck joint. Other than cork sealer does anyone use any other sealers like spar varnish on cork birds prior to oil paint?
 
Sean,
I did lots of cork birds at the beginning with Spar urethane to seal them. Painted with acrylics but I have no doubt it will work fine with oils.
 
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