Sealing Black Cork

Jelinek, but now that Willy McDonald sells it, I will get it from him in the future.

I take a blank and rough it out on the bandsaw, then permanently attach the finished head to the blank. Next, I'll take a block of wood shaped like a simple keel and take two deck screws and screw the keel onto the blank and lock it into the vise. I shape the bird with a half round rasp. It takes about 20 minutes to finish a bird.

Making scoters out of black cork will make a VERY nice rig. Steve Sutton has a spectacular scoter rig out of black cork. Very neat birds.

The debate between tan and black cork will rage forever... I dabble with everything. Just keep your expectations in line with which medium you are working with.

Best,
Steve
 
Hey Nate, If you want to try some black cork before you go and buy a case of it let me know. I have a case of 4" cork from the Duckblind and I can cut you out a few blocks. Then you can see if you like working with black cork . Most people don't like working with black cork. Let me know. Pete
 
Hi Pete,

That would be great. Would you mind shipping it to me? I will shoot you my mailing address. Let me know what you would like for the cork. I'll get you a check.


Thanks very much.


Regards,
Nate
 
Hey Robert,

I have been experimenting lately with Tightbond II...I cut it with water and brush it on...The few birds I have done worked out great...Now from a "bonding" standpoint I have always used oils...I do not know how well acrylics work...The last batch was made by placing a full bottle (don't remember the exact size, which is not important) into a large stainless steel bowl...I mixed in water until it reached a consistancy of yogurt...After stirring I noticed that some water puddled a bit in some location...I then took a large brush and coated the bird with a liberal coat of paste...On the side of filling in holes I really don't do that but you can take scraps of the cork and mix with the past and fill in...After drying I hit it with 120 grit sandpaper to removed any high spots...The coating is pretty solid when dry...I don't have any long term data to back the claim of how well it will works over years of hunting...But the two birds I hunted over last year that I did the same way did not absorb any water, I hunted near 40 days last year with those birds...The positive to this is that it is an easy clean-up after you are done...What glue you have left when it dries can be pulled out of the stainless bowl and you are able to start with a clean bowl, a wire brush pulls the rest of the debris off...On the financial side it also saves a little money because you can make small batches if your a one bird maker at a time like myself...A little glue "yogurt" goes a long way!

Regards,

Kristan
 
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