decoy eyes

L

LI Mike

Active member
what do you use to set your eyes I just started using glass eyes and used plastic wood. I feel their has to be something better. Any help would be appreciated thanks
 
Mike,
I cant help you as I still HATE setting glass eyes. But I have seen it done lots of ways and everyone make it look easy. I say I use tack eyes for the style it give the decoy. Truth is I use them because I don't want to set glass.

I am sure others will chime in with more helpful answers.
 
I like the Apoxie Sculpt better, more working time and can be smoothed out with water and a brush.
 
I've been real happy using FAMO WOOD #1 Professional Wood Filler Water Based Formula. Harry Jobes introduced me to it back in 1982. Been using it since then. Works great ! Because it's water based it easy to clean up around the glass eye with a damp Q-Tip
Harry dosen't use it for eye setting just for filling cracks. Harry paints his eyes.
They also make a solvent based filler. That's what Harry uses. It's made in Pineville La.
Bob H
 
I have 8 set of eye that need to go in. Admittedly not my favorite part of the process. Although I just remembered at least one set will be tacks.
 
Glad to hear that I am not alone in my dislike for setting eyes. I set one pair last night and have 4 more to do. I use apoxie sculpt to set them. Good working time and molds well with a little water, but completely waterproof when hardened. It seems to be holding up well to hunting conditions.
 
Mike,

Try using a good quality wood filler (Plastic wood, etc) and keep it wetted down with solvent (acetone) as you work it. You can work & shape it with small paintbrushes, then fine sand it when it's dry. Makes a very nice set.

View attachment Widhen 001 (600 x 399).jpg

Sounds like Bob Hayden's friend is doing exactly that with the solvent-based product, and I'll wager the chemical composition is pretty much the same.
 
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i set with plastic wood. press the eyes in until i am happy with where they are, then hit the residual material with a hottool, which burns off the spare material and flashes the acetone adjacent to the eye, pretty much setting it.
Come on, it is just a gunning decoy, not a swiss watch!! hehehhehe
 
I love the Apoxie Sculpt. I've used the "plumber putty" wood and PlasticWood and both are inferior to Apoxie Sculpt. The long working time, smooth finish with water, and easy clean up make it a clear winner. Not to mention, if you buy some, you'll have it for years. I used to hate setting eyes, now I hate sanding, hehehe.
 
Mike,
Took these photos for you when I set eyes on a woodie drake yesterday using the wood putty / acetone. Good bird to use because of the exaggerated membrane. 15 minutes start to finish. (...timed it on a Swiss watch ;-))

Fist pic shows eye set in the socket with the putty at a rough stage. At this point, the outline of the mebrane has been defined just by pressure from the side of a knife blade:

View attachment woodie 001 (600 x 405).jpg

Second is after the membrane around the eye has been shaped & smoothed using a fine brush & acetone:

View attachment woodie 003 (600 x 399).jpg

Not all that difficult, and you have plenty of working time. If you mess up, you can pop the eye back out and begin again - no problem with cleaning out the socket, eye itself, or getting it back out to re-align. If you screwed up with a fast-set catalyst type compound, you'd have a mess - not so with this method.
 
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I prefer Bobs method and it works exactly as he described. I have used the Apoxie Sculpt but I seem to be allergic to it. I'm good as long as I use latex gloves. I like to teach with the Plastic wood method because students can reset the eyes as often as they need to......even a year later.

Willy
 
MLBob

How big do you drill the hole compared to the eye? The exact same size for a tight fit or slightly over size? If oversize, by how much?
 
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