Swivel-Head Duck Decoy, Stolarstwo, STOLARSTWO
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Swivel-Head Duck Decoy
D
uck decoys are no more than carved and whittled
imitations of the real thing. The word
decoy
comes
from the Dutch words
kooj
and
koye
meaning to lure or
entice. Though old accounts suggest thatdecoyswere first
usedby Native Americans, the notionwas soon takenup
by the white American settlers. It's a wonderfully simple
idea: The carved wooden ducks are anchored out in the
water, along comes a flock of ducks attracted by the de-
coys, they circle with a view to settling down on the water,
and—Bang!—the hunter is provided with easy targets.
Okay, so it's not very sporting, but when one must. . . .
Though once upon a time duck decoys were swiftly
carved and whittled by the hunters to their own design
and then thrown inacornerfornext season, they arenow
considered to be extremely valuable and very collectible
examples of American folk art.
MAKING THE DUCK
Having firststudied the working drawings, and variously
looked at pictures of ducks, collected magazine clippings,
made sketches and drawings, and maybe even used a
lump of Plasticine to make a model, take your two care-
fully selected blocks of wood and draw out the profiles
as seen in side view. Make sure that the grain runs from
head to tail through both thehead and the body.
When you are happywith the imagery, use the tools
ofyour choiceto clear the waste. I useda band saw, but
you can just as well use a bow saw, a straight saw and a
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Roseand Copyright ©2004
rasp, a large coping saw, a gouge and a drawknife, or
whatever gets the job done. Next, set the two parts down
on the bench—so thatyou can see them in plain view—
and draw the top views out on the partially worked sur-
faces. Don't fuss around with the details, just go for the
big broad shapes. Once again, when youare pleased with
the imagery, use the tools of your choice to clear the waste.
When the shapes have been roughed out, then comes
the fun of whittling and modeling the details. Having no-
ticed that this is the point in the project when most raw
beginners lose their cooland start to panic, I shouldpoint
out that there are no hard-and-fast rules. If you want to
stand up or sit down,or work out on theporch, orwork
in the kitchen, or whatever, then that's fine. That said,
your wits and your knives need to be sharp, you do have
to avoid cutting directlyinto end grain, and you do have
to workwith small controlled paring cuts.
Of course, much depends upon the wood and your
strength,but1 find that1 tend to work eitherwith a small
thumb-braced paring cut—in much the same way as
when peeling an apple—or with a thumb-pushing cut
that is managedbyholding andpivoting the
knife
in one
hand, while at the same time pushing against the backof
the blade with the other hand. Either way, you do have
to refrain frommaking slashing strokes.
When you come to the finalmodeling, start bysitting
down and having a good long look atthe duck. Compare
itto the working drawings and any photographs thatyou
have collected along the way. If necessary, rework selected
areas until it feels right.When you reckon that the form
is as good as it's going to get, use a rasp and a pack of
graded sandpapers to rub the whole work down to a
smoothfinish. Avoid overworking any one spot; it isbet-
ter to keep the rasp/sandpaper and the wood moving, all
the while aiming toworkon thewholeform.
Finally, fit the neck dowel, run a hole down through
the duck, drill out the washer recess on the underside of
the base and the fixing hole on the front of the breast.
Block in the imagery with watercolor
paint, give the
whole
works a rubdown with the graded sandpapers, lay on a
coat of beeswax ormaybeacoat of varnish, andthe duck
is ready . . . not for shooting, but for showing!
STEP-BY-STEP STAGES
If you are looking tomake
a strong but controlled
cut, you cannot do better
than go lor the thumb-
pushing paring approach.
In action, the cut is
managed by holding and
pivoting the knife in one
hand, while at the same
time pushing against the
back of the knife with the
thumb of the other hand.
Notice how the direction
of cuts runs at a slicing
angle to the run of the
grain.
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3 Use the graded abrasive papers to achieve a smooth
finish. In thisinstance the paper is wrapped around a
dowel that nicely fits the long scooped shape.
2 Use the thumb-braced paring cut to shape the char-
acteristic cluck bill. Thiscut usesthethumb as a leverto
increase the efficiency of the stroke. Always be ready to
change knivesto suitthe cut—a small penknifebladefor
details,and a large sloyd knife when youwant tomovea
lot of wood.
4 Slidethe dowel intothe neck socket and adjust the
fit so that the head profile runssmoothlyinto the
body.Be mindful that you mightwellneed to modifythe
head and/or the body so thatthe two partscometogether
fora close-mating fit.
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5 Now, with the washer in place, ease the pin/peg
through the breast hole andpush it into the dowelhole.
Useplasticor leatherwashers to ensure a good tight-
turning fit.
SPECIAL TIP: SAFETYWITHA KNIFE
The degree of safety when usinga knife will dependtoa
great extent on your stance and concentration. Okay, so
thereis no denying thata knife is potentiallya very dan-
gerous tool, and it's not a tool touse when you are tired
or stressed, but that said, if the knife is sharp and the
wood easy tocut, then youshouldn't have problems.
If you have doubts, then have a try out on a piece of
scrap wood. And don't forget . . . a good sharp knife is
much safer that a blunt one that needs to be worried and
bullied into action.
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