Oil Boom Bluebill Decoys, V. 2.0

Carl

Carl

Well-known member
Staff member
Well, I ditched the 1 piece head/keel: too much wood, too much work.
Came up with this:
Beginning Product, a 38" section of foam oil boom insert collected from a local marsh. I get 6 decoys out of this one piece of foam. Cut decoy Blocks are 12.5" long, 5" wide and 2.5" high.

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Cut Block, I sand it a little to smooth the cuts & round the edges:


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Here is around 2 dzn blocks, used about 1/2 my collection of foam for this many:


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Block with 1" pine head.



View attachment Block1.jpg


Block with 1" pine head & keel and coated with mastic. Head is held on with two dowels extending 2" into the decoy body & "glued" in with mastic, plus mastic-to-wood bond at the base. Keel is on with 2-3" deck screws and mastic to wood bond. Feels pretty darn solid.



View attachment Block2.jpg


Still debating to used burlap or not. The one without burlap feels pretty tough but I think that the burlap will make them very tough.
Comments? Questions? Advice?
 
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I'd spend another 2 or 3 minutes per body with a rasp...don't have to be perfect, but I feel it would be time well spent, even if you leave the heads flat...but if you rounded them, they would be less likely to damage the bodies of other decoys in transit. You may find it easier to fasten the head with a single long deck screw with a fender washer. Or if you can find them long enough (my locally run hardware stocks up to 6") you could possibly run it through the front of the keel, and up into the head. A little trickier, but would definately solidify both pieces of wood.

Glad to see you carving with Steve's ol' secret weapon...

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Good point on the sharp edges on the heads & keels, I have a shurform rasp, and a pile o sand paper. Will give them a quick hit to round the edges.

WD-40 has lots of uses but not sure it will go well with eps foam!!!
 
Carl, I'm going to second the "spend another 2 or 3 minutes per body with a rasp". You may come back north sometime in the future and flat sides ice up and flash like you wouldn't believe. The first cork decoys I made back in the early 80's had that problem. I didn't know it until one Dec day I got a ways off and was shocked how the flat sides became flashing mirrors. Otherwise looking very huntable.

Scott



 
I cut the heads down like I noted above. Looks a lot better. Will get more pics tomorrow.

I've got almost 2 dzn heads cutout and about 6 keels. But ran out of old pine shelves.
So a trip to the big box is in order to get some pine 1x6.
I think for about $30 out of pocket expenses, I will end up with about 4 dzn decoys:
Deck screws will be around $10.
Roll of burlap was about $10.
Pine boards ~$10.
Already have lots of flat black & white paint and a pail full of leftover mastic, so no new expense there.
And my time doesnt count, this is fun stuff!
 
Like I said...... watch out! You make a spread out of foam then it is a slippery slope right down into hollow cypress or cedar. Not to mention the late nights trying to get the paint just right for the big competition pool judging.


Looks like you are well on the way to a big addition to the spread with the 2 doz. you have done.
 
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