Hey Sutton....

[MLBob Furia]

Does this frond look familiar? I thought it might be hiding a widgeon - and, by gosh, there he is.





That's one of the fronds you sent. The other will become a gallinule....someday. Now he needs some eyes, a dowel up through the head, a keel, plenty of Val-Oil, whatever tasteful carved details I deem necessary, and some paint. I must say that Joe Wooster's old knife slices fronds like butter. Usually cut myself every time I use it, but I escaped unscathed today.

 

[Chris Hagenlocher]

That will definately turn into another amazing piece of art-

Looking forward to seeing it done- you've sure inspired me to chop up a few more fronds I have...

Thanks for sharing-

 

[Bob B]

Cool Bob.
Are you able to cut the frond with a knife or do you sand most of the body after the sawing to shape?
My Old Squaw that Mike made has a need for a friend or two and my father in law in Fla has fronds aplenty every time the wind blows. Thanks for the pic's they inspire every time.
Bob Butler

 

[Steve Sutton]

thats exactly why those fronds migrated East.....I tried three or four but could never maintain the influence of the frond on the ones that I did.....once complete they were nice and light but you couldn't tell that they were made from fronds....nice to see they will end up in decoys where the character of the frond will still be obvious. And how neat that Joe's knife will continue to see use.

Bob B. The fronds that are most commonly used for decoys are from Date Palms....not only do they have enough thickness and width in the butt section they also carry that well out into the frond. They also have that built in "keel" shape that none of the other fronds, (at least the ones I'm familiar with and I grew up in Florida), have. The fibers in the fronds are also different palm to palm just like it is in other trees. The fibers in Date Palms are tighter with less pith than the other palms so that when carved you have some meat to the decoy as opposed to alot of "fluff" that won't hold up. You might find a palm there in Florida that is big enough for a Teal but something bigger would be tough based on what I've seen there...

Steve