Keels

J

john nelson

New member
For those of you that do put keels on your decoys, what do you seal them with? I have, and would like to continue, to put wooden keels on my birds with a stain/clear finish, but needless to say its got to be waterproof. Thanks I look forward to your comments and advice. John
 
I'd suggest you use a varnish-based product with an oils component. That should give you the looks & durability you want.
I use Val-Oil to seal the entire bird (including keel, but from what I understand it's tough to find anymore. Glad I stockpiled plenty when it was available.
 
I've always used the Helsman Spar, 4 coats does the trick. After the keel is screwed and glued on, I'll put a couple drops on top of the exposed screw head to seal that up so water doesn't wick up the screw.
 
Spar varnish is getting more difficult to find on hardware, and paint shop shelves in certain states. A vendor at the Havre de Grace show had Val-Oil, but like all things today it's more expensive.
 
If you are using hardwood for keel material, sealing it with a clear medium really adds to the beauty of the finished decoy. As Matt stated, 4 coats of spar varnish works well to seal and fill the grain. Val Oil is my preferred keel sealer and coating agent since it penetrates a little more than oil based spar varnish using just three coats. I talked to the technical support folks at Val Spar about a month ago-no more val oil. It has been dropped from production, so scoop up whatever you can get onto your decoy carving bench.
 
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Thanks for the comments. I really love the look of the sealed wood keel under the painted wood decoy, to me it kinda brings it full circle. I believe I will have some hunting to do for some of the sealer before it disappears forever... Thanks again guys this forum is a great resource. John
 
dont forget about teak... i just bought some 1/2 x 3/4 x 20 inch long for 9 dollars... its as rot proof as i will ever need and looks awesome!
 
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