Crow guts - Turning them down?

[Jason at JTCCalls,]

Hi everyone,

I have recently made a couple Crow calls and have some of AL's Guts to put in them.  I looked through the tutorial about how to turn the guts down to a 5/8 tennon from the taper.  It shows taping the mouthpiece end and then putting it in the chuck.

The question i have is this.  When i have the parts put together and look to tape the mouthpiece, the end that pushes into the call is not longer together.  should i just tape both ends together or am I the only one who has this issue.

I hope i explained what i mean.

So to re-explain.  I put the guts together and everything is together but when i to to tape the mouthpiece together, the opposite end come apart, almost like the pieces are slightly curved.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Jason

[aprilheadhunter]

The taper thats on the inside of your tail stock should push the end thats not taped back together.   

[Al_at_THO Game Calls]

Are you using this tutorial?

http://www.thogamecalls.com/PDF%20Tutorials/TurningCrowCallsLattaMethod.pdf

The end of the guts should fit inside the live center on your tail stock.   If they don't, and hold things together, no big deal. The end of the guts should just fit in the bore, so you can tape them to hold the guts together at that point.

Also, make sure you are not really cranking down on your chuck.  You are just going to take light cuts to take the taper out so you don't need to really hog it down.   Turn on about the third belt of you lathe for a smooth finish on the plastic.

The last trick you can use, is to take a piece of cardboard and cut it so it fits in the guts mouth part to help keep them from closing down.   

I've run into this before as well, and these are the things I did to help cure the situation.   They might work for you too.   I think the key is to not crank down on your chuck too much.   

The last thing you can try if you have a collet chuck is to mount the guts in the collet chuck in reverse of what the tutorial shows.   This works too.   The end will just go in enough to allow you to turn it.   The tail stock live center will hold it together for you.   

Much as I like this method of turning crow guts, I admit it can be a pain in the but to do.   Please let me know if I can help you any more.    I think we can get it so you can at least turn some of them without too many problems.

Finally, if you mess up any of the guts you got from me doing this, let me know and I will replace them free of charge for you.   

Al @ THO

[Jason at JTCCalls,]

Thanks everyone for the advice on how to do this.

AL, I am following the tutorial you have listed or at least trying to the best i can.
Thanks for the offer but i would never ask you to replace something for free that i messed up myself.  I do appreciate it and its why i love this forum and buying parts form you.  You are a first class person.

Thanks and hopefully i will have some crow call pics up in a couple days.

Jason

[Jim @ Gabor Game Calls]

 My cone wasn't removable in my live center so I bought a live center with a tapered cone to put in my tailstock.  Holds call together nice. This is what I use, http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Lathe_Accessories___Revolving_Centers___Deluxe_Revolving_Center_Kit___dlx_revolv_kit?Args=

[Highball]

I chuck mine up just onto the taperd neck so when I turn the tenon to 5/8: I'll have a little shoulder already.  Never had to mess with the tailstock when I do it this way.

[Jason at JTCCalls,]

Thanks for the help everyone, i only destroyed one set of guts turning them down and it was all my fault.