Foam Decoy Repair

Eric, a couple of years ago I considered contacting the owner and to ask what he would want for the company, with the intent of rectifying the bill issue and attempting to resurrect this line of decoys...never followed through on it though.
 
RLLigman said:
Eric, a couple of years ago I considered contacting the owner and to ask what he would want for the company, with the intent of rectifying the bill issue and attempting to resurrect this line of decoys...never followed through on it though.
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Did you consider merely offering an aftermarket head that works on E Allens as well as other foam bodies? Something very well proportioned with similar pleasing lines and simple yet rugged means of attaching? I know there are guys making decoy heads and some could be stuck on an E Allen body, but perhaps something that looks like a true match. The E Allen bodies look fantastic and hold paint very well. The head's durability is the only issue I've found.



Eric
 
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Toledo heads on my scoters held up well. Shame they went out of business. That would be a great product to resurect.

And to stay on topic, after snapping a bill on an Eallen buffie, I drilled holes from the back of the heads down into the bills and epoxied nails in. Has held up well on my buffies and GE; but don't have any puddle ducks to compare to. The puddle ducks look a lot more fragile.

Bill
 
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Bill Burruss said:
Toledo heads on my scoters held up well. Shame they went out of business. That would be a great product to resurect.
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Toledo heads set the standard for durability in my mind. They didn't offer the diversity and sizes of heads to compliment the E Allens, but we are on the same wavelength.
 
Eric, the two options to fix this issue are stupid simple:

Make the head pours with 16lb density foam.

Add more urethane resin to the head's exterior skin pour to fill the bill cavity back to the eye sockets, actually quite easy, as is tinting the resin to brown, black, gray or whatever, other than white...
 
RLLigman said:
Eric, the two options to fix this issue are stupid simple:

Make the head pours with 16lb density foam.

Add more urethane resin to the head's exterior skin pour to fill the bill cavity back to the eye sockets, actually quite easy, as is tinting the resin to brown, black, gray or whatever, other than white...
Click to expand...

Maybe Lou will see this thread and explain his head foam choice or constraints.
 
Huntindave McCann said:
I have no clue what was used. This a commercial decoy made by Lou Tish. I'll use epoxy for the repair.
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The bill on the E. Allen is best repaired/rejoined, using medium thick CyanoAcrylate (super glue) from a model airplane hobby shop. Don't use the supermarket stuff.
Use some "kicker" to push the curing.
Another trick is using C/A and backing soda (arm & hammer). C/A turns it rock hard and can be carved, machined, drilled & tapped if necessary.
Lou
 
Not sure what you are asking.
The bills are solid foam.
What material are you indicating?
It woud require redesigning of the molds, including separate molds for all the bills. Adding them to a head mold becomes difficult and time consuming (relates to cost as well).
We have done it and it has been...set aside.
Lou

RLLigman said:
Can e. Allen decoy heads be poured with a solid bill?
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I assume you pour or inject the two-part urethane "skin" into the empty mold first, so essentially all you need do to obtain a solid bill would entail adding additional material in the pour of sufficient additional volume and allowing it to settle into the bill while the mold is canted so the bill is at the lowest point prior cure. Then doing the foam pour. Even if you pressurize the mold this would still be feasible and not require two steps.. The other option would be to simply increase the foam density in the head pours to offset break-off that is so frequent in these decoys.
 
Hi Rick, we have upped the volume of foam to accomplish that exact result and have achieved that result.
We also ?pack? the foam to achieve a higher density as well.
Even wood bills break at times.
This is the biggest challenge we have with our birds.
Lou
 
If it was that simple and easy...we've had resolved everything.
Need to walk a mile in my shoes. ;)
Lou

Eric Patterson said:
RLLigman said:
Eric, the two options to fix this issue are stupid simple:

Make the head pours with 16lb density foam.

Add more urethane resin to the head's exterior skin pour to fill the bill cavity back to the eye sockets, actually quite easy, as is tinting the resin to brown, black, gray or whatever, other than white...
Click to expand...

Maybe Lou will see this thread and explain his head foam choice or constraints.
Click to expand...
 
Gentlemen, I decided to revive this project and will post pics as I work through it. One question I have:

What are some other alternatives for filling around the gaps where the heads attach to the body? I am removing all the heads, replacing hardware before restle coating and repainting. Steve uses epoxy with bead filler but I'd rather not go out and purchase epoxy supplies I may only use once. Has anyone used fairing compound to fill cracks?
 
Jay....I burlapped many foam decoys in past years.... in repairing cracks, holes, and dings....I have always used Great Stuff Expanding Sealant and Foam....once cured you can file, rasp or sand the damage back to the original shape of the decoy....frank
 
Frank,

Appreciate the input. So you just carefully give it a couple squirts around the seams or cracks, let dry, then file down?

Was wondering if there were any tips. I recently used it to seal some holes in siding of my house where the electrician removed some wires. It worked but boy was it messy.
 
Jay....yes just a few squirts around the area to be filled....allowing for expansion ...you can also use a hack saw blade to cut off the excess ...for clean-up I use acetone....I also carefully clean out the nozzle straw with acetone after it is removed from the can so that you can use foam again....frank
 
Jay K said:
Frank,

Appreciate the input. So you just carefully give it a couple squirts around the seams or cracks, let dry, then file down?

Was wondering if there were any tips. I recently used it to seal some holes in siding of my house where the electrician removed some wires. It worked but boy was it messy.
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Sorry but great stuff is not a good alternative for repairs. It's too porous and wants to push the parts away when curing/expanding. It also doesn't hold like you'd expect.
Medium thick super glue for a model airplane hobby shop: Jet, Zap/etc.
Lou
 
Jay,

I use automotive bondo to attach the heads to the body. Drill 4 to 5 holes in the base of the head and the same 4 or 5 holes where the head attaches to the body. Mix the bondo, smear some on the parts and clamp for 24 hours. You can then sand the seam to perfection.

I also drill a hole in the bill and insert a galvanized 16 penny finish nail in all my heads. If a bill breaks or cracks, you won't lose the tip. To repair the bill, remove the cracked bill and gorilla glue it back on using the galvanized nail as a guide. It will be necessary to clamp the bill overnight.

This is my process that has worked for many years.

RVZ
 
Rod,

Thanks so much. Based on what you've told me, I can probably use fairing compound. It's similar to bondo but the one I use to fill/level fiberglass is rated for below the waterline usage. I'll probably just do exactly what you said, allow some of the compound to push out, then sand.
 
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