Derek Bendell
Active member
I don't contribute much but I have seen such impressive shops, tools, and techniques on display here at duckboats.net I figured I'd open myself up to ridicule and forget about my ego with a thread that shows just a regular guy shop with okay tools and halfway decent tactics & photos. You can all be the judge...
I don't have any tupperware foam blocks, tinfoil windows, or immaculate machines. I've never utilized old bleachers for anything, but in junior high I probably scratched some up pretty good with teenage angst and malice in my heart. I have reclaimed some other things which earn me a few benevolent "hoarder" insults from my Wife. I just try to be thankful and not to hurt myself on a power tool or by tripping over a piece of junk while I wait for judgement day by the Almighty.
Here's a workbench pic. Really it's where I keep the stuff I want to get the least amount of over-spray on, and where I search for smaller tools & items I use often like tape or knives & pokers. I don't think it's too hoarderish personally...
90 degrees to the right is another zone of crud I cover with plastic when I'm spraying stuff or when I need a place to put a can of paint or a duck mount, or my soda. Don't be envious of the pink hair-dryer...
This photo was after I cleaned for about an hour which is my maximum limit for cleaning. I'm more of a George Williams slash Joe Dirt shop guy and less of anything as clean or immaculate as Steve Sanford slash Eric Patterson shop. Gotta keep a hockey stick nearby in case I need to defend myself against a Rat or something. Holding on tightly to my ND/MN heritage with two hands and my blade on the ice...
Here's another angle where you can see how I'm passively camouflaging my bicycle for special area hunts. If it hangs in the spray zone til Christmas it should be hard to find when I stash it in the weeds on WMA hunts. There's lots of dangers in the shop like fiberglass slivers or potential stubbed toes but worst of all is the curtain on the east wall. If you think it's bad to stare into the Sun, then just look at this curtain for a minute and hope you don't go blind...
This is my ultra normal wooden rack on blocks. I heave-ho my barrels of resin into this sucker for easy pouring. If I start getting fat I just rearrange the resin setup and military press some boats and molds around the Garage-Shop. Plus this is a good way for me to gauge whether I need to order a new barrel. If I can move it easily and don't herniate a disc then I know I am beginning to run low...
Since the Patterson-Thread of 2016 summer I thought, "hey I have some cool machines too." So I snapped a pic of these two beauties. One is a Holmes and the other is a Lasko. All I can say is these babies really blow, when you turn em on. I like to run them on notch 3 which is slightly powerful...
Finally I thought I would put up some pics of actual stuff that was built or hunts that were conducted using the things that came out of the Garage Shop starting with some 12' boats.
"Where's Waldo" Black Duck...
Here's some casted foam-filled utility Coots.
Something I carved for the Coot rig. Hollow white cedar and carved eyes with flat oil paint. Over the years I've really perfected a heavy petting paint technique for blending an ideal dark crud gray color that mimics a living Coot. It's sort of inappropriate to discuss so I'm not trying to be secretive when I don't explain it in steps...
There was a mention of gunning boxes awhile back. I don't know much about them but here's some pallet wood I screwed together after a couple jigsaw cuts to hold my slab-carved Coots, etc...
Some E-Allen super Redheads I painted up for a Pal of mine. Used the most average tube colors but the finest Oileums to paint this pair.
Not many guys ask for the spud holes and they're a hassle to install but a pretty cool old-timey duck boat quality to possess.
Oh and I shot a few ducks last season. Not many but when I had a chance I went for style points. The multitude of Coot decoys does pretty okay in my home turf areas...
Hope you guys can joke about or enjoy the post. I don't do very many. I do want to extend a sincere thank you to the duckboats community for their support of me and my Family. For those of you who remember, my first daughter is doing great and the difficulties with her illness are in the past. Praise God! Thanks. If anyone here ever visits SW FL you're welcome to come see the madness in person. I'll save the Shed-Barn for something crazy to see and navigate through in person... - Bender
I don't have any tupperware foam blocks, tinfoil windows, or immaculate machines. I've never utilized old bleachers for anything, but in junior high I probably scratched some up pretty good with teenage angst and malice in my heart. I have reclaimed some other things which earn me a few benevolent "hoarder" insults from my Wife. I just try to be thankful and not to hurt myself on a power tool or by tripping over a piece of junk while I wait for judgement day by the Almighty.
Here's a workbench pic. Really it's where I keep the stuff I want to get the least amount of over-spray on, and where I search for smaller tools & items I use often like tape or knives & pokers. I don't think it's too hoarderish personally...
90 degrees to the right is another zone of crud I cover with plastic when I'm spraying stuff or when I need a place to put a can of paint or a duck mount, or my soda. Don't be envious of the pink hair-dryer...
This photo was after I cleaned for about an hour which is my maximum limit for cleaning. I'm more of a George Williams slash Joe Dirt shop guy and less of anything as clean or immaculate as Steve Sanford slash Eric Patterson shop. Gotta keep a hockey stick nearby in case I need to defend myself against a Rat or something. Holding on tightly to my ND/MN heritage with two hands and my blade on the ice...
Here's another angle where you can see how I'm passively camouflaging my bicycle for special area hunts. If it hangs in the spray zone til Christmas it should be hard to find when I stash it in the weeds on WMA hunts. There's lots of dangers in the shop like fiberglass slivers or potential stubbed toes but worst of all is the curtain on the east wall. If you think it's bad to stare into the Sun, then just look at this curtain for a minute and hope you don't go blind...
This is my ultra normal wooden rack on blocks. I heave-ho my barrels of resin into this sucker for easy pouring. If I start getting fat I just rearrange the resin setup and military press some boats and molds around the Garage-Shop. Plus this is a good way for me to gauge whether I need to order a new barrel. If I can move it easily and don't herniate a disc then I know I am beginning to run low...
Since the Patterson-Thread of 2016 summer I thought, "hey I have some cool machines too." So I snapped a pic of these two beauties. One is a Holmes and the other is a Lasko. All I can say is these babies really blow, when you turn em on. I like to run them on notch 3 which is slightly powerful...
Finally I thought I would put up some pics of actual stuff that was built or hunts that were conducted using the things that came out of the Garage Shop starting with some 12' boats.
"Where's Waldo" Black Duck...
Here's some casted foam-filled utility Coots.
Something I carved for the Coot rig. Hollow white cedar and carved eyes with flat oil paint. Over the years I've really perfected a heavy petting paint technique for blending an ideal dark crud gray color that mimics a living Coot. It's sort of inappropriate to discuss so I'm not trying to be secretive when I don't explain it in steps...
There was a mention of gunning boxes awhile back. I don't know much about them but here's some pallet wood I screwed together after a couple jigsaw cuts to hold my slab-carved Coots, etc...
Some E-Allen super Redheads I painted up for a Pal of mine. Used the most average tube colors but the finest Oileums to paint this pair.
Not many guys ask for the spud holes and they're a hassle to install but a pretty cool old-timey duck boat quality to possess.
Oh and I shot a few ducks last season. Not many but when I had a chance I went for style points. The multitude of Coot decoys does pretty okay in my home turf areas...
Hope you guys can joke about or enjoy the post. I don't do very many. I do want to extend a sincere thank you to the duckboats community for their support of me and my Family. For those of you who remember, my first daughter is doing great and the difficulties with her illness are in the past. Praise God! Thanks. If anyone here ever visits SW FL you're welcome to come see the madness in person. I'll save the Shed-Barn for something crazy to see and navigate through in person... - Bender
