What's on your Work Bench - NOVEMBER 2017

Paul, I bought the bodies pre manufacturing months ago. Likewise I bought the heads individually. I already had some Herter’s brant with upright heads so I bought only preener/feeder heads and positioned them all differently. The bodies are oversized, like the majority of the Homer decoys. I will measure them and post later. As to the head gap, I always glue heads on. I prefer that they not turn and handle them by the heads. I take the heads to the bandsaw and cut them off at the radius. I then coat both the interface surfaces with a coarse media. Once cured, I use construction adhesive to bond the heads. Using the adhesive, I blend the interface to erase line.
 
Quick, rough dimension on the Homer bodies I have:

Diver = 14”x7.5”x4.5” tall

Brant = 17.5”x8”x5” tall

Puddler = 16”x7.5”x4.5” tall (tail)

All height measurements are body, not including keel. I suspect on Tony’s page he has dimensions already, I did not look. Hope this helps. The are a very visible high riding magnum decoy blank.
 
some Homer Decoys Brant heads drying in the work room. They will end up on Herter's Goose bodies burlaped and repainted 2 years ago. I wanted to replace the Herter's goose heads with some with correct bills. I dont know if the Brant really care, they actually prefer my Bluebill decoysView attachment Brant heads.jpg
 
Thanks Dave, to be specific, would the 6 pack I get from Homer, be the 6 pack you displayed? If not, what would I get, relative to yours?
 
The 6pack is not exactly the same. I did not do any upright heads because I already had plenty of them. All 6 of mine are the same preener/feeding, just positioned 6 different directions. I bought seperate pieces before Tony created the 6packs on his site and now on Cabela’s. If I didn’t already have a dozen upright heads, the combination Tony put together would have been just fine for me. As an aside, seeing the Herter’s next to my new Homers adds another project to my list. Off season they will get Homer heads and refurbished too.
 
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This is what has taken the most of my free time this month. Getting our blind brushed for opener. Season opens up here Saturday morning so I hope to have a better update! And hoping to finish up my scrap duck project in time to hunt over my first decoys by season end.
 
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In progress shot of my first decoy, going for a bufflehead. Pattern is based off a diver from the Grayson Chesser book and then some of the things I've seen on Steve Sanford's website. I kind of tailored it to fit the size of wood I picked up. Roughed out the pine body with a jigsaw before screwing it together and used a coping saw for the basswood head (still detached). Otherwise done with a drawknife, rasp and carving knife. I plan to do quite a bit more with it but am happy it at least looks duckish to me.

My hunting season abruptly ended on Friday and my lab is now on bed rest for at least 4 weeks, so with no nightly training sessions or weekend hunting trips I'll hopefully make some carving progress and he'll be healed up in time for trial season.

I've really enjoyed researching carving the last little while and am disappointed the working decoys forum is gone, but have been lurking here for a long time and it seems like a great community. I also had no idea about my local carving history, I mainly hunt around Dunnville Ontario and it's been fascinating to read about the old timers.
 
Mark, I am sure that there are a bunch of us who were also involved with the defunct forum. If you need color info , drop me a note
gwdecoys@Verizon.net
Good starting deke. Keep at it and eventually, a decoy will emerge.
 
Dave~

Town Clerk (my neighbor to the south) is on your way out of here. I'll check to make sure they're open tomorrow afternoon.

All the best,

SJS
 
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