What's on your work bench ? SEPTEMBER

RLLigman said:
Rick L, now that is a tailboard!

One suggestion: Drill a recessed 1/2" hole through the back and tailboard at the midline and into your keel at a 15 degree angle, insert a 1/2" dowel, liberally glued. This will tie everything except the head/neck joint together for a LONG time.

thanks

actually there is a 1/4" lag screw down from the back, through the tail board into the rear of the keel, a washer sits against the tail board where it goes through to hold it tight- i plugged the hole at the top with a wine cork

and the dowel from the head goes all the way through the keel as well

yeah- is a 1/2 piece of cedar- its what the old pattern i was using called for- might thin it and shorten it next go around
 
Thanks y'all!

Vince, I find the painting a lot more challenging than the carving. I'm not terribly skilled with using brushes so there was a good bit of nope...don't like that...let's paint over it and start again....or in the beginning I had to sand it all smooth again. Ah well. I'll figure it out. I liked how he turned out in the end though

I look forward to seeing your teal with clothes on....
 
David & Dani

Thank you. The patterns are my own, drawn on the wood, cut out and then hand carved. Oil painting will follow.


Dani - "Nope" happens a lot when painting new projects. Sometimes to the point where you wipe, or sand more paint off, than you leave on. All in all I'd say ya did a very good job.
 
Thanks John

The Sugar Pine came from the old pattern shops from my old hometown, Sharpsville, PA.

While one shop was still in business, in the 1990's. I was allowed to gather all the scraps I wanted, and did so.

When the last of the very old shops cleaned out their store house building, they took what they wanted.

The remaining "Scraps" of Sugar Pine and Mahogany were bulldozed into huge piles, to be set ablaze.

A good friend got me permission to get all I wanted, for 3 days, before the stuff was burned. I did so.


Much of the SP is very old and deeply oxidized, as is the pine this GW is carved from.

Some of it has writing, pencil drawings and ciphering on it, from the pattern makers.

I keep setting those pieces aside and cannot bring myself to cut them for decoys, just yet.


As slow as I hand carve, I'll have to reach 90 to use all I have.
 
Got the motor running, had to cut the rear shaft bearing off with a Dremel. $21 worth of parts and she runs like a new motor..
 
Good morning, Werner~

I apologize for not responding sooner. I hesitated at first because I have no real answer - and then the rush of pre-season chores overtook my attentions.... On this first day of October, I just took a quick run through September's Bench.

As you have seen, plastic birds always present challenges of chemistry. It is difficult to know which paints or adhesives will work with different types of plastics. I have not worked with plastic birds like your geese - except for the GHG Buffleheads I just re-painted - and that involved some experimentation and risk-taking.

Having said that - if these were my Geese - I would pour lead into a wooden keel and then attach it with a combination of mechanical fasteners (deck screws) and an adhesive caulk. If you have the time, you could experiment with different chemistries of caulk, e.g., 3M 5200, a PL product, a silicone, etc. In any event, I would sand the bearing surfaces with 60-grit first.

Also, I have noticed that some guys use Trex decking for keels. I have never used it but its density/weight could make it a good choice, too.

BTW: Nice paint job on those Canadas!

Hope this helps,

SJS

 
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