Sealing wood for decoys

A

Andrew Holley

Well-known member
In my spare time, I have been making some foamers for this fall. Kind of mass production, in a sense, cut out about 2 dozen bodies, then heads and made the keels today. I want to seal the keels with something clear? (this first bunch is made from cedar) And should I seal the heads? Head are made from laminated 2x6 stock, and I plan to painting them with oil paints, if that matters.
 
Give them a couple coats of whatever you have laying around. Makes painting easier than having it suck into the wood.
 
If you are painting in oils, then you may want to try putting 3 coats of boiled linseed oil on your wood; allow to rest for about 1 - 2 weeks, and then paint. I love oils, and learned that trick from Hank Garvey and Bill Wasson. My wooden birds sealed with linseed oil have held up the best to punishment from hunting.

Good luck,
Steve
 
You can also thin the linseed oil with turpentine. The linseed oil will soak in better and dry faster. The prime coat should be oil based. This is compatible with the linseed oil.

When painting with oil paints you can thin them with linseed oil if too much shine add a little turpentine. It will flatten or dull the color.

A little trick, have a board primed like the heads and use it a try board. Test out your colors on the board until you get what you want.
 
I have found that putting a first coat on with Ronan Japan Colors is a great base. Put on a single coat, and allow a full 24 hours to cure. This adheres VERY WELL with the linseed oil. Ronans dry very quickly to touch, but need at least 12 hours (24 safer) to fully cure. Then paint over with whatever oil you like. I then finish with tube oils or oils mixed with Ronans.

http://www.dickblick.com/zz010/30/

Best,
Steve
 
I paint all my decoys in Ronans wood or cork. what I do on my cedar decoys is use spare varnish cut in half with turps give it to shots letting it dry between coats. when dry go over with some steal wool then paint. spare never fully cures so by cutting it in half with turps it will give you a good cured seal. My priming and painting is all done in Ronans. hold great and I dont baby my decoys.

Mike
 
The linseed oil works really well. I have tried all kinds of stuff over the years. Spar varnish will work but I have found that it creates more of a hard film on the surface of the wood that will cause the oil paint to not stick as well. The linseed is a "softer" base let's say and it is also the base for all tube oils so you will have a chemical bond also. I have my first rig of Blacks and still use them the paint has held up really well and the base is linseed oil. Good luck. HHG
 
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