April "What's on your Workbench?"

John Lawrence

John Lawrence

Active member
I'll start April just a tad early due to the fact that I'll be busy most of tomorrow.

Normally I would show something in the painting process, however not this month. Over the past decade according to my records I normally paint at least part of 47 weeks out of the year, but not the last couple of three. Like I told many people a couple of weeks ago in Cleveland I'm working on lots of birds. I decided on a little change of pace so I'm carving a bunch before I clean up and sit down to paint. Surprisingly when I start painting I tend to get focused on just that until I'm done.

So first up I'll show you a hen gadwall. I normally don't recut patterns but this is the fourth time I've used this one. I drew that pattern about three years ago and used it on my first set of 2x10 decoys. Currently they are part of my hunting rig. The second and third pairs were sold at Easton. It's been acouple of years since I carved and painted gadwalls and since they are one of my favorites and I've done well with this pattern I cut it again. Now the interesting thing that happened over the last week as I was working on the hen was that I saw something completely different inside the cutout this time. I originally drew the pattern with a high back with the idea of concentrating on the slope of the shoulders. I'm not really sure why they looked different to me this time, but what I started seeing was a more streched out, alert pose. I'm planning on thinning that neck down some to get a graceful sweep. Originally I planned on exposing at least one wing but when I looked at things in a new light I decide to carve in both side pockets and let the "S" curves work the piant scheme. Now at this point let me tell you that I've been looking for some new shapes, so much so that I wrote it down a piece of paper and set it next to my work table. So when I saw something a little different I decided to run with it. This decoy is carved from Pennsylvania white pine with a basswood head (also from PA) and is very hollow and feather light. I've got some new ideas for the paint also, that's if I can just crystalize the whole idea in my mind before I start. The drake is cutout and ready to start in the next few days or so also.

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Next up is a hen shoveler also made in that PA white pine and basswood, also very hollow and extremely light. This too is a pattern that I've had a lot of success with in the past. This time around I exposed both wings so that I can delve into the greens and blue-grays. It's just about ready to seal after one more fine sanding.

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I've been working on some more Labradors. I carved the original head for this decoy the week before Westlake. I had it almost done but when I stepped back to look at it something was off. It's one of those weird thing that can happen it decoy making when all of the measurements are right but they just don't add up. So a couple Mondays ago I recut the head and started over. This time I got what I was looking for. The body is almost done, I haven't quite found everything in there yet but I'm sure I will in the next day or so. Once again that PA white pine and basswood, this one also very hollow and will get a bottom board tomorrow.

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And these are a few heads for upcoming decoys I'm working on. There are redheads, ruddies, Labradors, bluebills and ringnecks, plus a little hen buffie that I carved several years ago that keeps asking me to finish her.

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So you see where I'm at and what I've been working on. What's on your Workbench this April?
 
John - Love the spoonie. Sure is sleek and sassy looking. Preparing for the Illinois Show at Pheasant Run, been painting a pair of oversized bluebills (solid white pine), a hollow cedar blackjack from great grandpa's pattern, a pair of cedar GWT from Virgil Lashbrook's 1931 pattern, a BWT hen from my pattern, a wigeon and can drake both solid wood. Also, I mounted my first turkey with a carving I made for it. Not the biggest bird but my first. Fun project...
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My workbench is what is on my workbench... the 1st floor of the barn is almost finished. I am converting it into my taxidermy studio
 
WoW sooo lifelike Bob!!!!
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Bob, you also captured the the fuild motion too:)

John, been enjoying your thread on Lab ducks. They real did hook ya. Do you have other links or source to read? I'd love to know of them, very interesting. Also working on two gadwals there from another member that didn't have time to fix. E.Allens that I had to remove broken heads and bondo/glue /screw new heads back on. In doing so some of the material broke away I had reshape and sand. Texture and paint next. I think I'll wait and watch yours transform with paint and see if I can pick anything up in your posts.
Thanks for keeping this thread going.

Gene
 
bob,

all wrong, you obviously used an immature drake for reference and then tried to pass it off as hen.


John, would you mind flipping that labrador over and giving us a peak at how the inside of your hollow birds look? I think that would be an itneresting angle that would add to this thread.

thanks
 
Here's a mallard I just finished up for a friend of mine to display in his office. He's a big Green Bay fan and wanted a drake mallard to match the green theme of his office. It's tupelo and painted in Traditions paint. I did end up putting a keel on it, but had the camera setup and snapped some pics before hand.




I've got a couple more coming off the bench for the WA Brant show next week but I'll wait a couple days to post them.
 
Don't make us wait Doug- c'mon post them up.

Nice Mallard. Looking forward to seeing you and the gang at the Brant Foundation shin-dig.
 
2 nd decoy ever neck/body transition looks much better IMO on to the paint

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Had some great success with V Boards we are expanding our aresnal of them as well

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Here is a pic of a couple I have recently carved. Oversized hollow bobtails, cedar bodies and old growth white pine heads. Can on the left and greater scaup on the right. Both are the first I carved from new patterns. I have to make a few adjustments on the patterns and then I plan on carving a rig to hunt over.

Also in the pic is a bunch of old growth white pine head stock that I milled from larger beams I salvaged from a barn built in 1865 about 10 miles from my house.

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Thanks for all of the kudos guys.

Gene,

Unfortunately there just isn't a lot of information available on Labrador Ducks. The book by Dr. Chilton has some good info in it including descriptions of all 55 remaining taxedermic examples. I got a lot of the info that I used to make my original drawings and pair from emails forwarded to me from Frank via his communications with Glen Chilton. But I have them under the agreement that I can't post the photos on the internet nor forward the emails to anyone else. So in that regard I'm kind of trapped in what I can show people, at least at this time. When I was in the process of making the first pair I contacted a guy I know who works at the Smithsonian to see if he could get me access to their Labs. But no luck. And I have been getting emails and photos from people who have gone to see some of the ones that are in New York's Natural History museum. So this whole Labrador thing has developed a momentum of it's own.

As for showing the hollowed Lab in my photo I had already put the bottom board on before I saw the request. I don't have any real secrets on how I hollow decoys though. I just take the wood out in stages using a drill press and a 1" Forstner bit. I tilt the upper body half and use my hand as a cushion and try to bring the body walls down to around 3/8". That's about it.

There has been a lot of interest in Labrador Ducks over the past couple of years, I think really due to that one collector, and then my essay. The last time I talked to Frank he told me that he had 58 Labradors in the collection by I think 26 different makers. I know he had additional pairs on order from some new guys too. I got asked a bunch of times at Westlake if I had brought any, but I didn't have any to bring. Maybe next year though.
 
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John good to meet you and chat for awhile at Westlake.

Looks like this months off to a fast start. I'm working on some drawings for this month's work, have not put a knife to wood yet.

Speaking of Labrador's, Frank was at Parkertown and used the show as a photo opportunity for many of his New Jersey birds and carvers. He has extensive files he is using to document the collection and make future reference work easier.


The carvers in the picture are as follows
(starting back row left) Jack Wood, Sean Sutton (Flyers), Ken Kirby.

Front Row (left to right) Bob White, Jode Hillman, Clarence Fennimore, Glenn Cooke.

Frank has many more pics such as this and hopes one day to assemble them in some kind of publication.



 
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