What's on your WORK BENCH - August 2020

Steve Sanford

Steve Sanford

Well-known member
Good morning, All~


Once again, Mr. Williams is batting lead-off....


A neat hollow cork Brant From the Bench of George Williams:



George is leaving a "bulkhead" for structural strength - great idea with this material and thin walls.


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Looks like he's using a ~1" Forstner bit in a hand drill ?


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I think this is the boring part....


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Sometimes less is more.



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The head gets bolted on and Gorilla Glue holds everything else together.



George's words:

The main section gets gorilla, the bottom a schpritz of water, to start the reaction. What I really liked and wanted to pass on was the concept of the bulkhead for a larger cork body. Obviously, teal don?t need them, but I decided that when hollowing a brant to between ?-3/8? was asmart idea. Just like gorilla, but anything like titebond, etc. will do/ I put glue wherever the bottom and body will meet. That deke is now sealed with GAC100 and a coat of carbon black. Three coats gac. I also drop a few coins just so folks can hear the rattle.
Now ready to paint-well, tomorrow, anyway.






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Ready for sealer.



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All the best,



SJS











 
All~


Still completing the "deep clean" of my shop - so I can dive in to boats and decoys once again.


Also not quite done with our Pump House - the little (6'x6') shed half-way uphill from our Spring House. The Pump House houses the pump (!) and the pressure tank. Like the Spring House, this iteration had been built circa 1964.



As with the Spring House, I did most of the building in the shop - even siding and painting this time.


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It sits on a very steep slope. I built staging for the downslope side - to support me during both demolition and assembly.


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I excavated over a yard of soil upslope - and added a retaining wall to prevent future damage.



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Access through the "deck" is via a hatchway. Both the deck and hatch are insulated with foam boards - and everything is sealed and weather-stripped.






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To maximize headroom, the hatch is articulated - sort of like the hoods on pre-WW II autos.


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Step 2.....folded back onto the deck and out of the way.



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I am waiting for cooler weather to complete the wiring - an outlet, 2 lights and an illuminated switch - and to glue the 2-inch foam to the concrete walls. So, it's almost ready for the next 55 years....


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All the best,


SJS

 
Steve, another one of the beautiful aspects of being left handed and not having tons of space. Nope, I do not have a press, so adapted to the hollowing process by using a hand drill--battery power- and in that case, a 1" bit. I will confess that I also used a bullet nosed bit on this one, as both my drill batteries decided to take a nap!
Deke is now in paint stage. The dreaded side bars will likely happen today.
Hey, if the spirit moves you, post up the bandsaw incident. HEHEHHEHE
Thanks again for posting the images.
When I first saw the inside shots of the spring house, I asked myself why you would put lids on your two seater!![;)] Yeah, it kinda resembled a rather classed up outhouse!
 
It's August already?! Good Lord. Nice work on the spring house Steve. Looking forward to the painting of that Brant. Does the cork come in sheets, or thick billets? I had not seen cork decoys until visiting this forum. How easy it it to shape, without tearing off chunks?
Thank you for posting!
Jim
 
Joe & George~


I guess maybe is does resemble an outhouse - even without the half-moon cutout in the door. I suppose I'd better padlock it!


All the best,


SJS

 
Jim, The cork in question comes in pieces 24X36X4" in thickness. The bottom was Wiley Cork, something like hen's teeth to find. That cork, unlike black cork , does not shear using power tools. The black, requires rasps and lots of filling, using dust and some sort of varnish, sealer. Back, eons ago, val-oil was the material of choice. It was mixed with the saved dust into a slurry which was pressed into the voids in the cork. It w3as then allowed to dry, then sand and begin the sealing process..
The tan cork is a better choice for me, but does require sealing to prevent water wicking into the minivoids within the matrix.
 
Thanks for the info, George. I guess for decoys that hunt, the cork is much lighter than hollow wood. It sounds demanding to carve. I visited your bio at runamuck.com, and see why you settled on cork. MFA, abstract painter. Very interesting, indeed!

I look forward to seeing more of your, and everyone's work.

Thanks!
Jim
 
Jim, I occasionally do wood dekes, but they are a bit more time consuming. In my opinion, the hollowing of wood is really a pita! As a side note--At one time, the price of cork was a LOT less than wood, but nowadays, you can flip a coin to decide. Given my druthers, I really like messing with balsa, since Wiley went away in the early part of 2000.
That, in my estimation, was the ABSOLUTE BEST decoy material ever made.
 
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Bill, I make a keel for the deke, drill out two cylinders for lead, pour lead, then paint the keel AND the area where the lead is.

Once the paint is cured, the decoy, keel and a rubber band go to the sink in the garage/shop annex. where it is floated with the keel held on with the rubber band, until I am satisfied that the bird rides level and will self fight. I mark that spot, tracing around the keel, then adjourn to the dungeon, where the keel itself is gorilla glued, not using a ton, as it expands as it cures. I put the keel back in its location and install a weight, leaving it until the glue has cured. That's it, other than painting the entire bottom one last time. I will get a shot of the bottom with keel to Steve. Hopefully, it will make sense.
No, I do not use screws or anything that will penetrate through the sealer. In this case, with Wiley as the bottom, It wouldn't matter, as I did it previously. With the newer cork composition, if the seal in broken, water will eventually wick into all mini voids in the cork, giving the maker problems.
 
Steve, I am using 1 1/2" X 1" wide cedar that I cut from larger pieces. The length is determined by the decoy to be keels. I use a 3/4" forstner to drill out cylinders-usually two per deke, less for teal. The bit is marked with a parker so I do not come out the other side.[;)] At one time, I used much deeper keels, but then cut back because the others were just in the way., and in my estimation, were using too much lead, I often will offset the keels, simply because the decoy self-rights better, but found that in moving water, that offset really makes the decoys swim around.
 
George, I got a pr of your decoys, a pr of Mallards from Steve last fall. A word of caution, I had one of the keels release from the decoy in the morning. Fortunately I was hunting a creek and it drifted only a few feet into some weeds. When the tide fell, I was able to find the anchor and keel too. I have since re-attached it with construction adhesive and a couple screws. Love the attitude on your birds.
 
I was told that I either need to through and bolt the keel or drill on a 45 then dowel and glue the keel. I was surprised to here George is only gluing the keel in place.
 
Dave,
Was there a date on the bottom of the decoy? Occasionally, when I used contact cement, this would happen.
If the bottom was done with Gorilla, you are the first.
The Gorilla makes a pretty tight bond, especially with weights put on the keels while the material sets up and cures.
Please check bottom so I can let you know what the adhesive was.
Do you know who Steve got the dekes from?
Which Steve are we talking about? I am curious as to who the original owner was, and the date of construction.
Glad you recovered it.. If the decoy was made prior to 2000, you may safely add a screw as backup. If after that year, The cork is NOT Wiley, and eventually, you may have to remove the keel, hollow the decoy and put a wood bottom board on, then replace the keel.
Send me photos of the bottoms
gwdecoys@Verizon.net


 
George he can always replace the screw with a wooden dowel once it dries then seal and paint so it doesn't weep water
 
Rooster sent me a shot of the bottom. It was made in 2010 which may put it in the contact cement category. May have to play with the dowel thing. Will try on a barcino. I have a quarter inch spade that should do it. Drill, fill with glue, then hammer in and pray![;)]
 
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