Walnut hulls

Nick Zito

Nick Zito

Active member
I expect Steve to answer this, but if anyone else can chime in, great.

I was looking at the homer decoys, and you can add homer coat to the order. I know you guys use crushed walnut hulls on your decoys. Are these any different than the crushed walnut hulls that my fianc? uses for the cat? Which we have plenty of laying around the house.
 
Nick, there are a variety grit sizes. The Homer coat is finer than Harbor Freight Fine blasting medium (which is much cheaper). Harbor Freight also has a coarse, that in my opinion is too coarse. I have used Homer Coat, and really like it, but I use a lot, so my method is a first coat of Harbor Freight Fine, and a second coat of wood flour. On the bottoms of the decoys I use only wood flour, and will try only wood flour on the heads based on Steve's method. However, I find that the Wood Flour only will load with paint easily and get more shine.

I think there is also Lizard Litter at pet stores.... all the same material, grit may vary.
 
Nick,
I buy the stuff at the pet store. It is called lizard litter where I get it. Not familiar with what?s available for cats. I can tell you its more affordable from the pet store.
 
Nick,

I had good success with fine sawdust from a bandsaw. Table saw or chop saw might be to coarse. And, it's free.

RVZ
 
Nick~


Yup....I have tried a few things. The Harbor Freight walnut shells I used were, I believe, Medium - and were too coarse for my taste. (No - as much as I love Walnuts - I did not ingest the blasting medium).


I like the Homer Coat granule size the best for bodies. (Haven't tried the product engineered for lizards - or any other lower vertebrates...) As Dave mentioned, I prefer bandsaw dust for heads. Table saw dust I fhave found too coarse for either bodies or heads.



On both coatings I prime first with flat oil paint, then topcoat with latex.


Also, such coarse textures look wonderfully shine-free in use - but run the risk of being "stained" by fine mud. Cleaning the decoys can become another necessary task.


All the best,


SJS



 
Good to know. Thankfully these decoys are unlikely to see the super silt that still lines my truck, inside and out, and everything else I own involved in duck hunting. No reason to wash the truck yet since our dirt road is now just a mud slick.

Might want to rethink eating those hulls Steve, as we all get older we need more fiber!

Thanks all, looking forward to this upcoming decoy project.
 
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