Keel material question.

Scott Farris

Scott Farris

Well-known member
Since taking down the portion of the deck that wrapped down to the above ground pool, I have a supply of 30+ year old pressure treated 2x6s. It's a bit rough but the belt sander will clean up the surfaces (outside w/ respirator). The age of the wood should indicate arsenic rather than today's aluminum killing formula. After 30 +yrs, how much treatment is left to leach out? Will seal with spar varnish and paint.

The question is, can I get away with using this wood? What's going to bite me? Free is good, but it has to work.

Thanks,
Scott

restwashed.jpg

 
Treated wood is for wood in constant contact with damp ground. You don't need it for decoys that are only in the water part time, only part of the year.

It sounds like more work than it is worth. Then to have to worry about poison too. Some time free isn't worth it or really free.
 
It is hard to beat the plastic decking board for keels. It is heavy enough to right a bird and is there for the life of the bird. You can often find the stuff free around the lakes if you can find a builder working on a boat dock or deck. Worth calling around. Check the yellow pages for builders...call them and tell them what you are looking for and they will save you their scrap.
 
Scott, if you are interested in using Trex as keith suggested, i have a few leftover scraps from my recent deck build that you are welcome to.
 
If it is not rotten yet, then there is still chemicals left in it. You could use it for keels, put a sealer on it and paint if it dry enough. Treated lumber that has been kiln redried can be painted.

.
 
Dennis,

I need your definition of "[font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]kiln redried". Did this happen originally or is this now required to paint the wood? Right now the wood is in a pile, after "air drying" for over 30 years. Is the inherent moisture too high, requiring re-drying?

Bill,

Thanks much for the offer. I checked out the Trex material at HD box, but came away feeling like it was not appropriate for wood and cork decoys. Now for my EPS foam decoys it looked great.

Scott [/font]
 
Last edited:
Scott,

I'd say if it is weathered, you sand it (with protection from the Arsenic) and paint with oil based paint or spar, it should last a "reasonably long time." How long, that is a good question, but likely as long as you will go before you want to repaint the deeks themselves. And if it peels a little in the meantime, the wood is treated anyway, right?

As for Trex, it is a very good material for keels from a functional standpoint, far greater density, easy to work with on woodworking machinery, and will never rot...however, I agree with you, that I'll never put a Trex keel on a wood or cork deek. Even my little QND BSC Coot I made got a red oak keel coated in spar. I generally like White oak better as there is a slighter greater density, but I have been accumulating a lot of Red oak scraps around and have plenty of them for my (hopefully) 2 dozen coot before next fall.

Best
Chuck
 
Scott,

I'd say if it is weathered, you sand it (with protection from the Arsenic) and paint with oil based paint or spar, it should last a "reasonably long time." How long, that is a good question, but likely as long as you will go before you want to repaint the deeks themselves. And if it peels a little in the meantime, the wood is treated anyway, right?

As for Trex, it is a very good material for keels from a functional standpoint, far greater density, easy to work with on woodworking machinery, and will never rot...however, I agree with you, that I'll never put a Trex keel on a wood or cork deek. Even my little QND BSC Coot I made got a red oak keel coated in spar. I generally like White oak better as there is a slighter greater density, but I have been accumulating a lot of Red oak scraps around and have plenty of them for my (hopefully) 2 dozen coot before next fall.

Best
Chuck
Click to expand...


Why would you varnish the keel of a hunting decoy?

Using the varnish the keel logic, I would suggest:

- black walnut inlays on your lower unit,
- matching metal flake paint on your trailer springs and truck underbody,
- painting your oil filter to match your truck's paint,
- having your duck gun's firing pin black chromed.
 
Scott,

I'd say if it is weathered, you sand it (with protection from the Arsenic) and paint with oil based paint or spar, it should last a "reasonably long time." How long, that is a good question, but likely as long as you will go before you want to repaint the deeks themselves. And if it peels a little in the meantime, the wood is treated anyway, right?

As for Trex, it is a very good material for keels from a functional standpoint, far greater density, easy to work with on woodworking machinery, and will never rot...however, I agree with you, that I'll never put a Trex keel on a wood or cork deek. Even my little QND BSC Coot I made got a red oak keel coated in spar. I generally like White oak better as there is a slighter greater density, but I have been accumulating a lot of Red oak scraps around and have plenty of them for my (hopefully) 2 dozen coot before next fall.

Best
Chuck
Click to expand...


Why would you varnish the keel of a hunting decoy?

Using the varnish the keel logic, I would suggest:

- black walnut inlays on your lower unit,
- matching metal flake paint on your trailer springs and truck underbody,
- painting your oil filter to match your truck's paint,
- having your duck gun's firing pin black chromed.
Click to expand...

I want the fish to appreciate the natural beauty of the woods grain as it is accentuated by the special formulation of Spar and a mysterious (fictitious) additive and cured by a special light bulb that I found advertised on the internet...
 
One could argue that using “trex” material is 100% traditional. In the sense that traditionally decoys were made using cheap readily available materials, especially cut offs and other reclaimed drop offs of logs and lumber. Using drop offs from a Trex deck project would be entirely traditional.
 
One could argue that using “trex” material is 100% traditional. In the sense that traditionally decoys were made using cheap readily available materials, especially cut offs and other reclaimed drop offs of logs and lumber. Using drop offs from a Trex deck project would be entirely traditional.
Click to expand...

I like this train of thought.
This makes my foamers made from oil boom foam found stranded in the marsh, with scrap 1x4 pine heads, scrap composite trim cut-offs for keels, leftover paint and coated in leftover burlap and mastic extremely traditional!!!!
 
Scott
Treated lumber is put back into a lumber drying kiln to remove the moisture added when the lumber was treated. The lumber can then be milled and made into a finished product, like shutters, for areas that have high damage from the weather or bugs. If you had sum of that lumber under roof and set up for air drying for sometime would be more ideal. It will be your judgment as to what is dry enough.
Hunters make use of what ever materials they can find cheap, cork from old ice houses, pallet lumber, foam, canvas, old telephone poles. What was available in their area that could be made use of to make what was needed. Traditional materials is what was made and used by hunters for what was sold to market.
.
 
Let me back up a minute...

Why would you varnish the keel of a hunting decoy?
Click to expand...

The answer should be obvious, to keep the wood from rotting. (wish I had thought of that earlier...duh)

As far as what makes a "hunting decoy"...my collection IS my rig...nothing it too good to just ride the shelf.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top