What's on your WORK BENCH ? - March 2020


I can actually see some workbench, and floor in Decoy Monster Machines shop.


So I thought it was already Spring cleaned.


What he has right there, is what I call a well functioning Decoy Shop/Museum.

Two thumbs up DMM!


VP
 
[size 4] Moving a little slower than usual [;)]. but I float tested, self-righted, and got keels affixed to those "Down East" copies I made.

Honestly thought they would be tough to get to float well due to the head-forward thrust, and was prepared to add some weights if necessary. To my surprise, they both floated perfectly and even rolled to self-right with just the addition of the keel.

I took the black cork one out into the studio today and gave it a base and nice hard-shell texture-coat. Ready for paint.



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Good to see that being "Shut In's" has folks doing what they do best, and sharing it with us.

Even though we cannot meet & greet in person, we can still keep others inspired.

Thanks to all that participate.



The old school, high head, long body, hollow Canvasback drake has been sealed and ready to paint.

Difference between Sugar Pine & White Pine really pops.


VP







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I took Steve's advice and carved a Canvasback using Al McMormick's head pattern with Al's Broadbill body pattern. I did a tail insert similar to the Canvasbacks that were in the LIDCA show McCormick Decoy presentation. Typical Long Island look McCormick decoy.



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Thss as St a shell lake mallard queen. I documented the rebuild a couple years ago on this site. It is wicked fast under oars and stable while push poling. It will hold about 35 of my restle body decoys. I have two boats and carry 75-80 decoys . Load up the hole.
Back to the boat, I bought it as a basket case and brought it back to life fairly quickly. It?s only 12 ft so it was pretty manageable. Light enough for one guy to throw around.
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Steve,

Thank you for sending the head pattern. After a couple hundred Broadbill's it should go fast. I put the tail insert in level per our discussion. Now if we could find a few Canvasbacks on Long Island I would make more for next season.

Joe
 
George et al~




Here is George Williams' Clean Work Bench.....


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Still at work.....


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Dust collection?


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For the sake of comparison.....here is Pencil Brook Decoy Infirmary (actually, I do quickly sand and re-paint the top of my assembly bench 3 or 4 times each year)


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A bunch of freshly coated and painted heads for Herters Model 63s - to become Wigeon and Greenwings - and a pair of E Allen Greenwings.



Before attaching them to their bodies, I will coat the bills with Satin Spar Varnish and their eyes with Clear Nail Polish.(and I will finish painting the Hen Greenwings).





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All the best,


SJS



















 
I spent the last hour looking for these pics., which were filed in a January, 2007 file when I was taking photos.of some sandhill crane decoys I was making to replace my stolen rig.View attachment DSC02729.JPGView attachment DSC02401 (1).JPG

The colors are a little different from those on the previous black cork hen scaup because these are all painted in Golden's acrylics. I made these as big water birds with 5/8" new zeeland pine bottom boards to make sure they road high enough that birds working in on the "deck" wouldn't lose them as they approached.
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Steve, thanks for the post.
Got all the vacuuming and tossing done. Filled one big trash bag and one kitchen one with junk including one lonely sneaker.
Sunday the brant hit the bench, to avoid a cabin fever attack. That dust was from the outside of the body--at least blowby that the in-lap didn't catch. Got the body hollowed, including adding one more bulkhead toward the rump, which keeps the cork a bit more rigid. Bottom is 1" Wiley. Will sand after lunch, then begin sealing. First swimmer in quite a while.
Keep busy, it's the only way to keep reasonably sane at this time.
Gave some thought about reducing the squirrel population in the neighborhood, but don't need the meat.[w00t]
 
Paul & All~


We've got some snow this afternoon.


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I decided to not continue sawing up next year's firewood - and let the tractor sit idle today...


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Good day to hunker down and fuss in the shop (AFTER I printed the last of the envelopes for the Contemporay Decoy Competition Winners List mailing - which should go out in tomorrow's mail).


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Just about done with these heads.


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The boat projects, too, can wait for a drier day.


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Now for a nice evening in front of the fire with Susan....


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All the best,


SJS













 
Today was maintenance day today. Foredom has been making a God-awful racket and thr handpiece has been vibrating and getting hot enough to literally burn my hand.

Replaced brushes, and new drive shaft, new sleeve new hand piece and new carving bit.

The band saw seeking attention decided it w as needed a new blade today as well [crazy]...that is honestly a chore I hate..mine is terrible to try and tune afterwards..but given the fact this blade is at least 4 years old ...I figure its time..

Tuning to be completed Wednesday



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Patrick,
To me, cleaning usually means getting rid of a trash bag of stuff that I have not used in at least a year, rearranging, to where I don't have to look for stuff, and vacuuming. This spring's " cleaning" included one sneaker that had no mate, some dried glue bottles, miscellaneous hardware removed during rehab, and a pile of other junk, which now awaits pickup. There is now room on both benches to lay stuff.
The shelves with dekes just need a good vacuuming and sometimes, rearranging.. Yep, even mmost of the basement got a good vacuuming this time.
Surely, we all have our shops arranged so we know where everything it. God forbid that anyone else should do the cleaning, because things would be lost for eons!!![smile]
 
D. Hinton, if you didn't find a kinked drive shaft during your Foredom redoe, you have a bearing issue in your handpiece. Send it in to Foredom and they will refurbish is for a very reasonable cost. I sent a batch of three flex handpieces I had disabled over the years. I was impressed by the refurbish price when they came back.
 
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