SEPTEMBER ~ What's on your workbench ?

[MLBob Furia]

Jode,

And we wish we saw blacks in the numbers you do ;-) !

Great pics of Belle. That one with the fall foliage behind her reminds me that it won't be long 'til the leaves are turning.

You "mallet haters" don't bother us ;-) ;-)........ y'all keep scarfing down those coots & buffies.

 

[Pat Gregory]

Nice tribute Jode! She must have been a wonderful companion.
Bob - Not haters, just personal preference. Schmiedlin used to call us diver hunters "maggots" based on our public perception within the waterfowl community. I am good with that. Even maggots have a purpose in life...
And, Carl, you weren't the only one thinking it...

 

[MLBob Furia]

Different work this a.m.

Dragged my remote launchers out of storage, got them cleaned and oiled. Put a new battery into the controller.
As soon as the remote receivers that trigger the electronics on the throwers are charged, I'll see if everything is still in working order.

View attachment Launch1.jpg
View attachment Launch2.jpg

Receivers all seem to be taking a charge, so, so far so good.

View attachment Launch3.jpg

 

[jode hillman]

Thanks Bob, yes fall will be here before you know it, but with the temps in the mid 90s this week you would never know !

 

[jode hillman]

Thanks Pat she was. I'll be happy to hunt over that decoy this fall and recall the memories.

My new retriever Brook is doing her best to fill those big paw prints, but she has a way to go yet!

 

[Charlie D]

Nice tribute to a great dog Jode.

 

[Steve Sanford]

Good morning, All~

Every once in a great while, I take some time out from boats and decoys and actually contribute something to the Greater Sullivan-Sanford Homestead. Yesterday, I finally completed a project at our family camp up on Lake Champlain (built by Susan's Dad circa 1955) that I began 2 or 3 years ago. I made the south bank of clerestory windows first and then the north bank. The fixed panes let reflected Lake light into 2 of our bedrooms and the bath. The blocking in the rafters gives a bit more sound privacy than the previously-open rafter spaces. I still need to install 2 last pieces of quarter-round atop the chimney.

The patterned/figured glass is "Krinkle".

The effect from within the north bedroom.

Well, I've got about 40 gunners strewn all over the shop in various stages of undress - and 3 different fowling vessels needing my attention. So, I will be back to my bad habits later today.....

All the best,

SJS

 

[jode hillman]

Thanks Charlie, you got to hunt with her a time or two. You still hold the record for the longest kill shot on a duck I've seen ;-) Good luck this season

 

[Matt DeFore]

Finishing up my first frond, fun stuff

 

[Steve Sanford]

Matt~

Spectacular bird!

You've got me wondering,though......what's behind him????

All the best,

SJS

 

[Dave Speer]

Matt, the can looks great! I finished painting my first frond yesterday:

 

[Steve Sanford]

Good morning, Matt~

Spectacular paint! Your brushwork just keeps getting better and better.

Question: On a frond - are those feathers or leaves?????

All the best,

SJS

 

[Matt DeFore]

Thanks guys, got one left, its a big one and maybe able to squeeze a ringer and teal out of it. I tell you what though, just a little exposure to frond dust gave me a sinus infection that lasted 3 weeks. Gotta be more careful, I try to always have the dc going but sometimes a quick grind with the foredom I leave it off. I paid for it this time.

Sweet frond dave, fun stuff for sure and a nice change of pace.

Steve, jealous of the homestead, looking great. We've got a little two room cabin on the Ocmulgee River just north of me that I hope to make a nice little carving shop one day. Got someone living in it right now...long story. Family really can't enjoy it at this point..but one day.

 

[Steve Sanford]

All~

Here's another NDR - but at least it involves wildlife. I helped a good friend, gunning partner and bat biologist make 8 "bat cages" for a research project. In order to test a potential remedy for White Nose Syndrome - a fungal disease of bats which has decimated many bat populations in NA in recent years - the research team will be treating and monitoring bats in a hibernaculum here in eastern New York. This particular overwintering habitat is an abandoned mine.

The cages are double-walled. We put fine window screening on the interiors where the bats will be. The exterior is sheathed with hardware cloth to protect against potential predators: shrews, mice, raccoons.

The "back" is open to the rock wall of the mine and is where bats are expected to hang during their hibernation. Each cage will be sealed to the irregular rock wall with expanding foam.

Here is the Chief Beta Tester - making sure he cannot escape.....

The door on the front enables the researchers to place and check on the treated bats.

All the best,

SJS

 

[Matt DeFore]

Cork body, tupelo head, in oils. A black bird is about the only thing I feel confident enough to do in oils!

 

[Steve Sanford]

Good morning, Matt~

Once again! Lots of attitude in that fine Skunkhead.

I've been up to my elbows in paint and Mallards and Blacks.

In addition to all the Model 81s -

- I also painted some Homer Decoy birds - first coated with my usual epoxy + sawdust:

I will post a Tutorial when I get a few spare hours.

Somehow, this big Sea Duck snuck into the shop.....

These 6 early Model 72 Blacks got coated with epoxy + sawdust and are headed for New Brunswick.

I have several Al McCormick birds in process. This Hen Mallard is done - but she is awaiting her mate before she can leave the shop and head back to Great South Bay.

The next batch on the bench will head back to Indiana soon.

All the best,

SJS

 

[Colin Fitzpatrick]

John English style black duck

 

[Tom Barb]

Nice bird Colin. Bring that to the meeting on Tuesday I want to see it in person.

 

[Robert Van Sant]

Steve,
As usual an inspiring job on all those blocks.
Best,
Robert

 

[Colin Fitzpatrick]

Thanks Tom will do!