Workbench - November
- Thread starter MLBob Furia
- Start date
Derek Bendell
Active member
Those black ducks look pretty good in that spot. That's the old bleachers wood on the walls too isn't it?
So this project was on my bench for exactly one week. Not a very exciting or sexy project but sometimes you have to tackle the mundane. I've been needing shelves to store paint and other items so I grabbed some red oak lumber I sawed and stacked over a decade ago. Powder post beetles had their way with the wood, but for a shop shelf that is of no concern. The 5'x5' shelves were built in two separate pieces, left and right, to make them more manageable. Construction is simple dado'd sides with nails and glue. Best part about it was it gave me a chance to work out the new jointer. Very satisfying to run.
Eric
Eric
Vince
Thanks. I thought the foursome worked well in that spot. The wear is genuine. Someone gunned them over the years.
Derek
Correct you are. Bleacher boards bought at auction. I originally thought I was going to use painted OSB. Then a nearby auction came up with 5000 bd ft of bleacher boards. I guess the volume scared away the competition because I got the entire for 50 cents a bd ft.. I like the shop way better with pine walls than had I used osb.
Eric
Thanks. I thought the foursome worked well in that spot. The wear is genuine. Someone gunned them over the years.
Derek
Correct you are. Bleacher boards bought at auction. I originally thought I was going to use painted OSB. Then a nearby auction came up with 5000 bd ft of bleacher boards. I guess the volume scared away the competition because I got the entire for 50 cents a bd ft.. I like the shop way better with pine walls than had I used osb.
Eric
George,
Do you have a set plan for measuring and bending the wire for your canvas birds? I am interested in trying a wire-body but am intimidated by screwing up the wire lengths and bends. I supposed that most decoy makers have a jig for bending the wires to the right circumference, is that right?
thanks.
Joe Friday
Do you have a set plan for measuring and bending the wire for your canvas birds? I am interested in trying a wire-body but am intimidated by screwing up the wire lengths and bends. I supposed that most decoy makers have a jig for bending the wires to the right circumference, is that right?
thanks.
Joe Friday
MLBob Furia
Well-known member
[size 5]
Have moved a decoy urn from the shop to the painting studio.
Texture is done, and I started by spatter-painting the head.
Indiana duck opens end of this week in the South Zone.
Have moved a decoy urn from the shop to the painting studio.
Texture is done, and I started by spatter-painting the head.
Indiana duck opens end of this week in the South Zone.
Steve Sanford
Well-known member
Good morning, Eric~
They look like Soule birds to my eye, too.
One thought: Sometimes that black cork can dry out and deteriorate right on the shelf. I have a few Soule birds - and some other early black cork decoys - and I have brushed them with Linseed Oil to keep the cork nourished. Not sure what a dyed-in-the-wool collector would say - but I've had too many 1960s Wildfowlers crumble in storage.
All the best,
SJS
They look like Soule birds to my eye, too.
One thought: Sometimes that black cork can dry out and deteriorate right on the shelf. I have a few Soule birds - and some other early black cork decoys - and I have brushed them with Linseed Oil to keep the cork nourished. Not sure what a dyed-in-the-wool collector would say - but I've had too many 1960s Wildfowlers crumble in storage.
All the best,
SJS
Steve
I have an ancient gallon can of Val-Oil. Sounds like the perfect use for it. I also have several pickup loads of dark cork on the shelf that one day I hope to try a hand at carving. They must be 25+ years old. I hope it doesn't dry out and crumble before I can use it. Then again maybe I should sell it before that happens...
Eric
I have an ancient gallon can of Val-Oil. Sounds like the perfect use for it. I also have several pickup loads of dark cork on the shelf that one day I hope to try a hand at carving. They must be 25+ years old. I hope it doesn't dry out and crumble before I can use it. Then again maybe I should sell it before that happens...
Eric
Vince Pagliaroli
Well-known member
Eric,
I have 4" black cork, and thinner black cork that is way over 30 years old. Most wrapped in thick plastic, and it's as good as the day I purchased it.
The Older black insulation cork that many decoys were made from does not age well at all. I do believe the Bean decoys you have are made of the newer cork. Also cork decoys used in salt have a hard life and shorter use span IMO.
No matter. Gunning Decoys are a form of Disposable Art, like Fly Fishing Flies. We try our best to keep them as is, but that's not why they were created.
my 2 cents
Vince Pagliaroli
Well-known member
Joe Friday said:
Joe,
Your question was not addressed to me but I'll chime in.
DO Not be intimidated by screwing up the wire lengths. That is how we learn. If you have a good vice and a mallet you can bend clothes line wire very well. How YOU decide to insert the wire to the wooden bottom board decides the length. No jig required. Good eye ballin' works just fine. The beauty of canvs/wire decoys is the simplicity.
I would get into it deeper but I have a deer to attend to, and get in the freezer.
Best regards
Vince
thomas wilkins
Active member
Vince, you have been busy with your outdoor activities. Glad to see your getting out in the Great Outdoors.
Tom
Tom
Vince Pagliaroli said:
Thank you, Vince! I'll have to give it a try soon.
Steve Steffy
Well-known member
Steve
Looks like you are turning a new camo pattern. Hope you are doing well. Heading to Denali next?
Looks like you are turning a new camo pattern. Hope you are doing well. Heading to Denali next?
Vince Pagliaroli
Well-known member
Joe,
The photo that Perry has in his post is a good one.
Clothes Line Wire is already in a roll, therefore it already has good curvature and saves lot of time and waste. Wires that you make and are either to long or to short can always be used on other decoys, Keep them.
Many years ago a guide and waterman from Currituck Sound gave me his grandfathers method for making canvas over wire decoys. Told me "remember it cuz I ain't writing it down". I did and still adhere to it.
The key - The height of the spine should always be half the width of the bottom board. Never Higher, as then to much weight above waterline. Adhere to that rule and you will make very good decoys with little to no keels and weights to make them work.
Many of the "canvas decoys" made today are more wood and cork than the old decoys ever had. Simplicity LOST, and the entire reason for canvas/wire decoys is Simplicity.
my 2 cents
The photo that Perry has in his post is a good one.
Clothes Line Wire is already in a roll, therefore it already has good curvature and saves lot of time and waste. Wires that you make and are either to long or to short can always be used on other decoys, Keep them.
Many years ago a guide and waterman from Currituck Sound gave me his grandfathers method for making canvas over wire decoys. Told me "remember it cuz I ain't writing it down". I did and still adhere to it.
The key - The height of the spine should always be half the width of the bottom board. Never Higher, as then to much weight above waterline. Adhere to that rule and you will make very good decoys with little to no keels and weights to make them work.
Many of the "canvas decoys" made today are more wood and cork than the old decoys ever had. Simplicity LOST, and the entire reason for canvas/wire decoys is Simplicity.
my 2 cents
Vince Pagliaroli
Well-known member
thomas wilkins said:
Thomas,
I'm doin' my best as a Geezer and paying the price with aches and pains but worth it. I cannot imagine no venison in the freezer...
With the snow we had and have best to pick my days, when and where. When all this melts (slowly we hope) the trout streams will be happy.
The realization of more seasons behind ya than in front of ya, kicks ya in the butt to get going, but Slowly.
Hope yer enjoying some time in the Great Outdoors as well.
Best regards
Vince
Thanks, Vince.
That's sound advice and a good tip on the balance and aesthetic of the decoy. I am going to give wire a try. I make my birds as the mood strikes and hunt them all when I can. I don't believe a decoy is a real decoy until it's been gunned over, successfully or not. I like gunning over my own birds.
I noticed the other day that I had begun to accumulate a number of birds of various manufacture types; old crab floats, tupelo wood, laminated cedar bodied, silhouette, and canvas bodied. This picture represents most of my current home-made fleet. The mallard will soon go to a friend's son for a gift. Some of those other birds have been part of some wonderful hunts.
This decoy making and messing around with boats is quite an addiction.
That's sound advice and a good tip on the balance and aesthetic of the decoy. I am going to give wire a try. I make my birds as the mood strikes and hunt them all when I can. I don't believe a decoy is a real decoy until it's been gunned over, successfully or not. I like gunning over my own birds.
I noticed the other day that I had begun to accumulate a number of birds of various manufacture types; old crab floats, tupelo wood, laminated cedar bodied, silhouette, and canvas bodied. This picture represents most of my current home-made fleet. The mallard will soon go to a friend's son for a gift. Some of those other birds have been part of some wonderful hunts.
This decoy making and messing around with boats is quite an addiction.
Vince Pagliaroli
Well-known member
Joe,
Appears that, ya your in the grips of something much greater than us, and we are trying our best to keep it going.
Gunning over yer own decoys is a joy and a real pleasure. Between the ones we create and the ones we acquire, inventory becomes a storage and use issue. I have already posted photo's of my attic "storage area". Not to mention decoys of all kinds through out the house, cellar...
I was given a t-shirt years ago with a saying used for many subjects. SO MANY DECOYS SO LITTLE TIME That pretty much covers it.
Thank goodness I'm not very good at creating and working on wooden boats, or I'd have no outdoor life at all.
Best regards
Vince