Last Corkers from Herters

Capt J. Stieben

Capt J. Stieben

Active member
Hi,
Anyone here have any opinions on quality and value of cork decoys that came out about the time Cabela's pulled the plug on the Herter's branded cork decoys.
Thanks in advance.
 
I have never owned any just looked at them while visiting cabelas.
My impression was : Tailboards very fragile, no sign of any sealing on cork and a quick light paint job.
Please remember i am a decoy tinkerer and this is just my opinion.
 
I no nothing about cork decoys, but I spoke for several dozen based on them being new old stock supposedly. With that being said what is the best sealer for cork in case I keep these for myself.
 
Well i guess it depends on who you talk to. Oil based spar seems to work well, water based spar varathane,most of these and more have been mentioned on this and other sites.
L.L.Bean used shoe glue [don't how it is spelled].

The guru on rehabbing is Steve Sanford,i'd ask him.
 
I have done with oil based poly. First coat thinned 50/50 second coat straight. I used spar varnish back in the day but long dry times.
 
I would cover the bodies and tailboards with one or two coats of thinned epoxy resin and repaint them. They would end-up with a better seal coat as well as a reinforced tailboard. You could also undercut the tailboards and add a second tailboard piece using epoxy resin as the mastic.

Bill, once upon a time I had some of that shoe glue. I used it to attach bottom boards to black cork bodies. It cures a bit like contact cement, pulling the two pieces tighter along the bond line.
 
The shoe glue mentioned brand name is "Barge Cement" ...
We use it on airplane cabin interiors as well. This was Al McCormick's favorite. Super waterproof.

Joe
 
Capt J, Another product you may want to buy an try, is a cork sealer sold by Willy McDonald from the Duck blind web site he make a lot of decoys & has all kind of carving supplies. many guys have use it & it works well, give him a call.It works well on all types of cork.
 
Capt, I always seal before any paint , The varnish sealer thinned out soaks better into cork , over paint wont seal as well. Thats how Wiley MC Donald always does it & he makes over a 100 decoys a yr. Also George Williams seals before any paint . George Williams uses A product called GACK made by the Golden paint Co , & he swears by it.
 
Capt J, Always seal before painting ,Paint does not go into cork very well to seal as well as a thinned out by 50 percent varnish.Another product you may want to try, George Williams from Delaware who makes a 100 decoys a YR. Uses a product called GACK made by the Golden Paint CO. He Swears by it
 
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