Good morning, All~


I've been rehabbing gunners of late.


Here are some Chesapeake Super Ducks - almost done.






This one Drake is done. Eyes got nail polish. The Satin Spar Varnish on the bill is still wet - will be less glossy when dry.






Here is the completed stern on one Hen.






These 3 Homer Mallards were just kicking around up in the loft. They got coated with epoxy + Homer Coat on bodies, epoxy + fine sawdust on heads. Two of the 3 heads were cut down at their bases to mix up the postures.






All the best,


SJS











Steven Jay Sanford
Pencil Brook Farm
South Cambridge, NY
http://www.stevenjaysanford.com

love those black ducks!

Hey rooster! Quit making hybrids!!! Thems will look fine rigged. Nothing new here as I have only had three days of P T. Hope to be out of the sling in a week.
Blessed Easter!
george@runamuckdecoys.com

After searching in vein to find a used Panhans shaper tenoning carriage I gave up and decided to make my own. About a year ago someone on owwm.org posted some miter gauges and a nifty cam clamp for sale and they stuck in my memory. When I decided to try and make my own tenoning carriage I knew these were perfect for my application. Lucky for me they hadn't sold so I bought them.

Bishop Wisecarver manufactures V-groove bearings, V-tracks, and a whole lot more linear motion products. After perusing the catalog I knew they had what I needed. The hardest item to find was 26mm steel rod that runs through the miter gauge for the clamp. An oddball size, to say the least, dictated by the clamp. Lastly a trip to the local scrap yard yielded some 1/2" and 3/4" aluminum plate. With all the components on hand and some simple machining I now have my own version of the expensive and hard-to-find Panhans. I'm really pleased with the silky smooth and accurate sled I was able to cobble together. Now I just need to order the tenoning heads and I'm on my way to cutting tenons on the shaper.

On to the pictures and a video.


The venerable Panhans.











https://www.instagram.com/...2544192778038377620/


Eric Patterson

George~


Here are the 6 Chesapeake Super Duck Blacks all done.....








...all pure-breds just as painted by John James himself.....(although he neglected the 8- 10 dark fedders on the underwing at the wrist - or maybe he was working from hybrids????).







The half-dozen Mallards, too, are ready-to-hunt. All 12 are "local birds" - heading back to the county just south of here.







These LL Beans are "in process". The smaller Coastal Drake is done - but the other 4 Deluxe Oversize still need a bit of paint on their heads. These will go back to coastal Massachusetts soon.







All the best,


SJS


Steven Jay Sanford
Pencil Brook Farm
South Cambridge, NY
http://www.stevenjaysanford.com

Well, that white edge on the spec certainly is a clue! note that the same painted bird is without on starboard side. Perhaps he was showing a regular VS hybrid. All the non hybrid blacks I ever shot were sans white on speculum, that's all I can tell you. Keep busy for both of us!
george@runamuckdecoys.com

Young Man~


I have 2 more batches of Black Ducks in the queue right now - you just might have convinced me to paint the hens sans white.....


Hope you're haling well!


SJS

Steven Jay Sanford
Pencil Brook Farm
South Cambridge, NY
http://www.stevenjaysanford.com

doing PT twice a week.Man, the torture gang are getting the movement back into that shoulder, for sure.
Sadly, the trip south has to be postponed AGAIN, due to problems in Arg. The birds will now be three years without a shell being fired. As an old Brooklyn Dodger fan, I shall wait until next year!
george@runamuckdecoys.com

All~


The Beans are all done.






This highhead Hen is a Deluxe Oversize.






This lowhead Drake is the sole Coastal model.






All the best,


SJS







Steven Jay Sanford
Pencil Brook Farm
South Cambridge, NY
http://www.stevenjaysanford.com

Black cork Canada floater, one of eight that I started a couple of decades ago and never completed when I realized how heavy they were going to be.

Good looking birds, Rick. I won't ask what they weigh...

The Canada looks great. Any bottom board? Looks like a smooth transition.

I have been slowly working on 3 Canadas, two black cork and one hollowed willow. Also been looking to upgrade the 15hp on my boat and watching for a 20 or 25hp to help push all the decoy weight I keep adding to the boat.

I found a few scraps of tan cork while cleaning off my bench and decided to put two of them together for a hen GW teal. A chunk of white cedar for a head and a scrap mahogany for a keel and it's starting to look like a decoy.





Great South Bay
West Sayville, N Y

The TDB will ride in the water like one of those Columbian narcotics submarines, Joel!

I sealed the bottom of this bird, after shaping, with two coats of thinned epoxy. I made some scaup in black cork that I completely sealed in epoxy, which not only enabled me to cut in some primary feather detail, but alos preserve it. I generally made all of my previous black cork birds with wood bottom boards and tail inserts. All, but one of the head patterns came from C. Murphy's Decoy plan boxes, the only carving tutor I ever had. For any of you just starting out, he plans contain very worthwhile advice on construction and joinery techniques for decoy construction and design.

Marsh hen, after the hunt.



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I never know which is worse: the sorrow when you hit the bird, or the shame when you miss.
http://www.hillmandecoys.com
Mullica Hill NJ

Jode that marsh hen is gorgeous! Is that a commission piece or for you?

thanks Dani, it was made for someone.

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I never know which is worse: the sorrow when you hit the bird, or the shame when you miss.
http://www.hillmandecoys.com
Mullica Hill NJ

 
Jode,

Man, that's a whole lotta WOW.

Excellent example of decoy carving & expressionism, IMO.

Two thumbs way up.


Best regards
Vince











"Art does not reproduce what is visible - but makes things visible." ~ Paul Klee, artist, 1920

Thanks Vince, sometimes it just works. ;-)

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I never know which is worse: the sorrow when you hit the bird, or the shame when you miss.
http://www.hillmandecoys.com
Mullica Hill NJ

Sweet geese!

What a great way to make use of all of the scrap we generate!

I really need to go chase rails next season.


So much great work on here...just love it!

Brian