maintaining a decoy's integrity (re: water intrusion)

J

Justin Harrison

Active member
need some help from folks that know....

how to do keep water from intruding on your decoys after you attach the keel and/or leather strap???

had several cork birds that are going to have to be retired (after one season mind you) that seemingly took on water causing "integrity" issues. i know it's coming from the addition of the leather strap for line attachment after painting but i can NOT for the life of me figure out how to keep this from happening other than using keels and just gluing them on......which, for my decoys, i'd rather not add the weight/size of keels due to the walks i have to take.

any help would be greatly appreciated, justin
 
I do exactly as DG does. Boat Life caulk is good for boats, it's good for decoy.

Now if you are just super paranoid about it, you could drill a 1/2" hole into the bottom of your decoy and epoxy a 1/2" dowel into it. Make sure the dowel is coated well. Screw into this, if you have any water intrusion, it shouldn't be able to migrate into your decoy.
 
need some help from folks that know....

how to do keep water from intruding on your decoys after you attach the keel and/or leather strap???

had several cork birds that are going to have to be retired (after one season mind you) that seemingly took on water causing "integrity" issues. i know it's coming from the addition of the leather strap for line attachment after painting but i can NOT for the life of me figure out how to keep this from happening other than using keels and just gluing them on......which, for my decoys, i'd rather not add the weight/size of keels due to the walks i have to take.

any help would be greatly appreciated, justin
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No reason to retire those birds, let them dry out and reseal the bottoms. If you want them to dry faster, take a belt sander to the bottom to remove some paint.

Boatlife is one one type of marine adhesive. 3m's 4200 and 5200 are widely available (west marine and Walmart have it). Buy it in the toothpaste tube and keep it in the fridge, it will last forever (vs. caulk gun tube). Clean up is a non-polar solvent like mineral spirits BEFORE it cures (after curing nothing removes it).
 
I think Tod is pretty much right, I hadn't thought about 42/5200 before now, but we use it to attach everything to a boat. It is serious stuff, envision "welded' strong and waterproof. To my recollection, 4200 is semipermanent, 5200 is permanent. i recommend gloves for either application. I've caulked some inspection hatches and worn 5200 till that patch of skin fell off.
 
Any time you break the seal you have put on the cork, either with screw, dowl, or shot, you have immediately created a pathway, allowing water to wick into the boids in the cork--I use wood keels, and put them on with gorilla--once set, the bottom of the deke is painted with black, covering the surface--You are going to have to play around with things that will NOT break that seal!
For waterlogged ones, if you have hot air ducts in basement, place the dekes, keel up on the ductwork---The heat from ducts will dry the water--Other choice-wait until summer and use sun to do the same thing---try weighing before and after, to make sure you have evaporated water--Last ditch, remove keel, hollow the deke, attach bottom boars, reseal, repaint-glue keel back and go on--I have done that with some stuff and it worked just fine. Just annoying that the problem NEVER occurred with Wiley!
 
If you are carving a decoy from scratch and want to avoid having your brown cork decoy ever absorb water, after you glue the bottom board to the cork, and shape the bird, give the entire bird a liberal dousing with Thompson's Water Seal and let dry for several days before painting. The instructions on the can say that Thompson's in compatible with oil paints and can be mixed in with the oil and applied that way. I haven't tried that method, but it sounds interesting.

John Bourbon
 
I can't imagine expecting any fastener/fitting you want to terminate directly in to cork holding up to what I call normal use.

I have used a 3/4" red cedar bottom board to make a thin piece of cork useable. Red cedar is heavier then cork but not too much.
 
John:
I believe that Thompson's Waterseal has suspended paraffin waxes that will shed paint like a Chinese decoy. You would be better to seal with Jansens acrylic cork sealer, at the very least spar varnish or shellac.
 
John:
I believe that Thompson's Waterseal has suspended paraffin waxes that will shed paint like a Chinese decoy. You would be better to seal with Jansens acrylic cork sealer, at the very least spar varnish or shellac.
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I agree Terry.
 
I have a question regarding water intrusion in cork decoys,does the problem exist in black as well as light cork? I have been gunning black cork for the last two years and not noticed any weight gain.
Thanks,Bill.
 
Justin,
With cedar decoys I used to take all the mentioned precaitions (epoxy, silicone, 5200 etc..........) Then one year I made a rig for myself and just nailed on the weights with boat nails and screwed on the the leather. I had no problems for the 4 years I gunned the rig (+ the next 6 that the current owner is on)

I realized any small amount of water, if it entered, soon caused the wood near the fastener to swell shut, effectivley sealing it.

Think old times wood boats........they leaked like a seive if pulled from the water but were drum tight after being in the drink for a few days.

This doesn't help on the cork birds, but is what I do with the cedar........Jode
 
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To me on cork birds, sealing a screw with anything directly into cork is not the best design unless its countersunk, filled in and sealed. Its not going to be a strong and liklehood for wicking water would be high. I would explore a thin one inch keel, not gong to take up that much room or add much weight to your decoy. If weight its a concern in the first place I would also explore Balsa as an alternative, this is what I have done for decoys out here in ND where packing in is common. Stll would keel balsa too but overall wieght will be a lot less.
 
thanks to everyone who's responded.....this gives me several ideas to try.

jode, it's funny you mention cork vs cedar. i pretty much used the same process with each (my mistake i'm painfully realizing). i had 3 cedar birds that got used as much or more than my cedar birds. i haven't gotten the eider back yet (been up with rhodes to finish the year out) but the other 2 have had NO issues in this department.

i like both wood and cork, but may just have to realize things should be done differently with each as well.

again, THANKS to everyone, justin
 
Gator... did you hear about the big circus fire? the clowns tried to put it out, but all they had in their buckets was confeite and it made it worst. Poor guys, thought they where going to be heros. travis
 
I agree Terry.
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Dang Tod, You've been mighty agreeable of late...what's up? Is the wife slipping some booze in your coffee?

As far as the cork deek thing...of late, the few corkers I have finished I have been trying to avoid putting a bottom board on...just more work in putting it on and working the seem/transition smooth. I've been sealing the entire decoy in Val-oil, then base coating (leaving the bottom paintless) with 2+ coats of FME. That Val-oil really soaks into the cork. It seems like the first coat remains tacky for a few days, but the second coat is rock hard in 24-36 hours depending on temperature. To install my keels, I drill pilot holes in the cork, then sand the val-oil where the cork meets the keel. Liberally apply glue (Titebond 2) to the threads of the screws, and then slide them through the shank holes in the keel (leaving a some in the shank hole to seal it from this way) Then I apply liberally to the bottom of the keel and reapply to the threads. Screw it in place. I like to see a line of excess glue all the way around the joint, which I wipe down and sand when cured. Then apply a third and fourth coat to the cork and the keel as a final seal.

It seems pretty good to me, but I am always looking to do it better.


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Chuck
 
Chuck,

No moisture intrusion yet, course it hasn't seen the water yet either. :>)

Just out of curiosity, how deep into the cork do the screws go?
 
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