Where to get wood for decoys

B

Brian Glock

Member
I need some help. I am starting out in decoy carving and would like to know your thoughts on places to get good carving wood. I live in Portland, OR, so I would think that it shoudl be easy. What is the best type of wood to use that is readily available in this area?

Thanks for the help.
 
If you're willing to buy wood then I would hit a fence company or a log home place and see if they stock wood in the dimensions you want. I dumpster dive at the local fence company and do pretty well. The trouble is that fence posts are usually about 5x5 so you have to do some trimming and gluing. Not a huge deal unless you're looking at making decoys by the dozen. Then it can get messy. I don't think you'll have much luck at the local lumber yard, but if you can get to a lumber mill they might have what you're looking for, or be willing to cut it for you. In a lot of cases you'l want to have a plug cutter. There isn't a lot of clear wood anymore, and what there is usually gets cut for veneer and other visible uses. Dimensional stuff is usually knotty to some extent.
 
Brian:

I can't help you with spots to purchase wood in Oregon since I live in southern Jersey. The types of woods and size question I may be able to help with.

I have carved both cedar and sugar pine. Both are soft and easy to carve and will make a sturdy decoy. I carve strictly cedar (atlantic white cedar) now due to its availability here in Jersey. Plus I like the fact that it won't rot and it's slightly lighter than pine. (I'm a weight freak). The lighter the wood the more buoyant the decoy.
Either wood will serve you well however.

Nick suggested a lumber mill over a lumber yard. That is a good suggestion. I use a cedar mill here at home and I buy boards of the following sizes. One is 2 inches thick X 8 inches wide X 8 feet long, the other is 3" X 8" X 8'. Cut out a piece around 15 inches long (for larger ducks) from each. Use the 2 inch thick piece for the bottom half of the body and the 3 inch thick piece for the top half.Tack glue them together using a hot glue gun. Draw the top and side profiles of the pattern you're using on the block. Then cut out the body on a band saw. Cut a smaller piece off of the 3 inch wide wood for the head and draw out the head pattern.

Once you're finished carving the body, pop the two halves apart by gently tapping a shim into the block along the seam between the two blocks. Hollow out the two halves (I'm a weight freak). Some folks use a chisel to hollow, I use a drill press with a Forstner bit. It's quicker and I'm lazy. Leave about a 1/2 inch of wood around the decoy.

Glue it up, paint it up and hunt it up....enjoy.

Dave
 
Woodcraft in Tigard will have big blocks of bass wood and sugerpine. Also I have never been to but there is a Woodcrafters somewhere else closer to downtown. From what I understand they have a bigger selection and are cheaper. Ive been useing Ceder decking endpieces for a couple bodys and thats what I use for my heads All of my other decoys have been foamers. I took all the scraps home after helping my brother build his deck. What I have done about the knots is just don't use that section of wood so I will cut out the sections with knots on my chop saw then use the clear pieces that are left.
 
do a search for a company call sugar pine kinda expensive but they are in sweet home oregon and specalize in wood for carving. and at least the shipping wouldent be to bad and i know they are a few hard wood dealers in the corvallis area as well.

hope this helps
 
correct me if im wrong but dosent "sugar pine" only sell tupelo blocks, and ive always just carved the knots with the decoy, (cedar heads) never had much of a problem. should i knot carve the knots?

i get my cedar from my neighbor lives just down the road and he has a mobile sawrig so most of the wood is good quality and it comes right from my back yard, i also had him cut a nice big'un into 5"x3" pieces for me thats out to dry for a while here.

eddie
 
Woodcraft is the place if you want to carve 1-5 decoys only. If you are looking for a rig, you will need to find a cheaper source of timber (unless you are Dave "sitting on a gold mine" Parks) they will get you in the game to start. Basswood is another wood that can/is used, but where you are located the cedar or white/sugar pine is probably a better option. Heck, some guys use red cedar (beware of the dust!!!)

Knots: tight? leave um, if they are smaller. Loose, cut them out and plug them with a plug of scrap then align the grain, use epoxy.

bondo: I would not use this. many guys have used this in the past on neck joints, only to have it fail down the road. JMO

I don't use hot glue, just 2 screws that I run up from the bottom, obviously short enough to NOT be cut by the bandsaw. They get hidden when you place the keel anyhow.
 
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