Has anyone made lofting ducks?

[Robmill0605]

I'm just wondering if anyone here has made lofting ducks in the shop. I know that you can buy them for about $35.00 each from several sources, but if you want 12 of them it's a little pricey.
I enjoy lofting and I'd like to make a set of these ducks, anyone made some or have advise on making them, where to get lead etc?

[JimM]

Here is and easy solution.

Approximately 3 lbs of lead inside the spline weight.

From the Wooden Boat store.

[StevenBauer]

Like these?



Steven

[PeterSibley]

I'm afraid mine don't look as good as Jim McGee's ! They are however pretty good . I made a simple mould by bandsawing the required shape from an inch board with a taper .I arranged a bent peice of galvanised nail as shown in Jim's photos .I clamped another board to the base and poured in the lead .

After a bit of cleaning up and painting ( to keep the lead off my hands ) I glued a thick layer of felt to the base .

They work well and are very very easy to make .

[Chan]

Steve and jim's ducks look more like drafting ducks than lofting ducks, I think you might want to make them quite a bit heavier for lofting.
For lofting ice picks work well ala alan vaites
I have 20 drafting ducks I've made.
I made a couple of male molds from sculpters clay, cooked em in the oven to harden a bit then wrapped em in celophane placed the mold in a big tupperware full of durabond drywall compound popped em out after a couple days drying sanded the now female mold. Poured 20 ,still have the molds no damage from heat, 2 and 3 pound models.
I glued a material sold in grocerie stores for opening jars for non skid.
Next time I think I will use the tape by Duck used for carpets.

[Don Z.]

Once upon a time... in the land of 3/25...

It was really more of an experiment. The mold rectangular, in fact I cut a dado in a 2 X 4, and then clamped similar pieces on either side.

The lead was melted in an old pot, over an MSR Whisperlite stove.

In fact, if it wasn't for that Whisperlite, I probably wouldn't mention this at all... but I'm really impressed by that stove... same stove ran on JP5 in the '03 desert tour, but that's a whole 'nother Oprah. I now know how easy it is to melt lead, and that was the point of that experiment...

I still have them someplace. I think I may re-melt them and make something that looks nicer... but I still have them...

[JimM]

They aren't my ducks, they are being sold by the wooden boat store. They are about a pound lighter than the solid cast ones sold by the store. I just thought they were pretty.

[Dave Fleming]

I had my 'friendly neighborhood machine shop' cut some slices out of a 3 1/2 inch diameter SS propeller shaft scrap. Chamfer the ends and drill some dimples for finger grips.
Tapped a hole in each, made threaded hooks to fit the tapped holes.
Used self stick camper weather stripping on the bottom.

Works great on the loft floor.

Cost: 1 case Harp beer and 1 case Guiness Stout.
Cheap at twice the price, or so say I.

I was fortunate years ago to be given a number of K&E ducks, about 14 of them....talk about a hernia, Oy Vey!
These I keep for use on the drafting board along with some plastic splines from the same era and maker..

The rest of the length of shafting was cut with the bottom covered with weather stripping. They make nifty glue weights.

[outofthenorm]

I made a simple mould by bandsawing the required shape from an inch board with a taper .I arranged a bent peice of galvanised nail as shown in Jim's photos .I clamped another board to the base and poured in the lead .

Peter, I seem to be a bit dense tonight ... so I can't picture what you did. Can you explain again? You might have to speak s...l...o...w...l...y so I get it.

- Norm

[paladin]

If you were in Maryland I'd say come on by for koffee and and can find a few.....otherwise....
A while back there was a nice article in WB about making your own. If no one else can come up with a copy Perhaps this weekend (due back from hospital Fri evening) I can go thru the WB cd's and find the article.
Lemmme Know by email.

[JimM]

Steward, Robert M., author and illustrator: "Spline Weights: Make Your Own Ducks," WoodenBoat Magazine volume 119:97

[paladin]

Jim, can you post the article? I assume you have the CD's.

[Robmill0605]

Thanks for the advise everyone, I don't seem to have a source for scrap lead here in Ft Myers, Fl. I checked a friend who scraps copper and he said get a couple of old car batteries, neutrize the acid with amonnia and then use the lead from the batteries,
I'm not too sure I'm comfortable with messing with batteries .
I currently use ice picks instead of nails ala Alan Vaites book, and since I started to loft/draft in quarter scale (except for the body plan) for my projects, I'd like to have a set of ducks. I just can't afford to spend $350 on a set.

[goodbasil]

If your going to use car battery lead, you can get the acid out by cooking the lead forever.

[Don Z.]

Do they still make fishing sinkers from lead? Might be pricey, but will work.

Also... a gunsmith may have lead used for black powder guns... The wooden ducks posted are actually filled with lead shotgun shot. Not sure if THAT is still available... steel may be too light in that volume, but tungsten?

Just some thoughts...

[paladin]

Any tire shop around you will change wheel weights when rebalancing tires.....take a couple of small plastic buckets to leave with them when you ask about old wheel weights.....I collected several hundred pounds in about three months that way.

[JimM]

Here is an article from Glen-L on making spline weights.
http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/06/...ghts/index.htm
I will try to get the WoodenBoat article on line tonight.

[chrisk]

I keep hearing people say to get lead by going to a tire company to get the old tire weights. Every place I have asked refused to do it because they had some rules to follow on proper disposal of lead. They look at me like I'm some sort of "lead cop" trying to entrap them.

Maybe it's just some local restrictions.

Maybe these are more recent restrictions. Has anyone had success with this say in the last 5 years or so ?

[Bill Lowe]

Yes I used a pine 2 x4 with a series of shapes cut into it and 1 x4 clamped on each side. worked well except for one knot that developed a leak. I have found dumbells to be helpfull I have quite a few from 3# to 30# and have used them for spline weights while lofting. gluing weights, and bending weights. I get my exercise moving them from place to place.

[Robmill0605]

Jim, thanks for the link. I'm going to make these this week and I'll post the results.
I found a source for the lead. I looked in the phone book under recycling and found a company that has clean lead it's .72 cents a pound. I'm not going to fool around breaking open batteries to save 40 bucks.
I think 12 ducks should be enough of them?

[paladin]

Chrisk...probably depends on where you live....I'm way out in the country, but about a year ago I collected another 75-100 pounds in a similar manner for the weight in my son's centerboard. I stopped at 3 tire shops in the area and left a paint bucket at each location, and when I picked it up they asked me if I needed more. I also used it for cast bullets when I was doing black powder.....and old linotype is useful if you find any of it around.

[JimM]

Here is the little bit that was in Woodenboat magazine.




Sorry I couldn't post this last night. I had to go into the office to be able to make JPEGs of the page.

[paladin]

Thanks for posting that, Jim. I brought the cd's up this morning to download...I used bronze nails, heated them with a propane torch, solder coated them before imbedding them in the lead. The Krylon paint seems to stick better than some of the other spray finishes.

[fosterbill]

I'm just wondering if anyone here has made lofting ducks in the shop. I know that you can buy them for about $35.00 each from several sources, but if you want 12 of them it's a little pricey.
I enjoy lofting and I'd like to make a set of these ducks, anyone made some or have advise on making them, where to get lead etc?

Red bricks - 50 cents
5 lbs - Yes, a bit heavier than ideal. Better than too light.
A coat of polyurethane
Craft store felt glued to bottom
Masonry drill small hole
Bent 16p nail epoxied in hole
Almost impossible to exceed $1 per duck
Many uses for these throughout the building process

[Mark0]

I don't know about lofting ducks, but templating ducks are the most helpful.

duck.jpg

[cstevens]

Best post of the day. But... isn't that more of a lofting goose? Is that what they mean when they talk about "goose down loft"?

[Jay Greer]

There are several threads on making Whales, spline weights or ducks. They are pretty simple to make but can take a bit of time to finish. Five pounds is most comforbable for me and the shape is similar to that that Herreshoff used as they are shaped to easily nest for a curve and are shaped to be easy to grasp. These took an afternoon to pour and another to paint and an hour to cover the bottoms with felt. The making of the molds took a day and it is a good idea to have more than one mold and flask as the pouring of the lead is the easiest of the operation. I wore a mask for pouring the lead and also for cleaning up the flash from the weights. The batten hooks are made of brass L shaped cup hooks. It is a good idea to have a matching taper drill to create the holes for them as there is n forgiveness in the lead as to the threading in the hooks. These are for drafting. For lofting, I like to use brads and bricks. Wishing you good luck with your weighty project! If I run out of whales can a borrow your duck?
Jay

[Jay Greer]

[Jay Greer]

[Canoeyawl]

I made a plug from Chapelle's book and cast a couple dozen. Then gave half of them away...
The mold was plaster of paris cast in a half-gallon milk jug with one side cut open, reinforced with 1/8 hardware cloth, baked in the oven for a few hours to remove moisture. It would make about a dozen at a go before there were to many cracks in the plaster. Another mold took less than an hour to make, and a week to dry and bake.
No paint, no fussin', green felt glued on the bottom they work great.
I used 1/4" brazing rod crushed with a flat on the inboard end so it wouldn't rotate, bent 90° with a screwdriver type point ground on the outboard end, then set into a drilled hole with JB Weld. 30+ years ago. Still have the plug and a dozen ducks. Plug was finished up, faired smooth and painted so it would slip out of the mold. Paste wax helps.

[Jay Greer]

Traffic "non skid" wax helps on mine. I do recomend painting them so as not to be handling the lead directly. Paint first felt after.
Jay

[Bob Cleek]

I was saddened to read this thread and see old shipmates now long gone, Dave Fleming and Paladin. RIP old friends!

[Rod Tait]

I just made mine and made a video of the process. Followed the simple instructions with modifications from DuckWorks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnbl1LKxcK4&t=1s

[Chan]

I carved a clay duck and made a mold with durabond drywall compound. I've made 30 weights with that mold. Lead? They don't even make wheel weights out of lead anymore. Good luck finding or procuring lead.

[Chan]

Felt is fine for non marking on mylar, if you don't want the ducks to move, the general idea, try using nonskid carpet tape, it has adhesive lasts quite awhile and is easily replaced.