Howdy from the Trans-Bluegrass

[shaman]

I am in the process of setting up my workshop for the purpose of making box calls, and I have a bunch of questions for y'all. So far, I have a belt/disk sander, drill press, band saw and bench saw. It is my intention to experiment with solid 1-piece boxes as well as multi-piece glue-ups.  I'm just on the front end of the learning curve.  I have been making pot calls for over a decade, but box call construction has always been a bit of a mystery to me. 

One thing I've been messing with is a solid block of red cedar I pulled out of the woods this fall.  I know for a fact that I felled the tree in 2008, and it had been just laying there beneath one of my treestands all that time.  Just for grins, I brought it back to the house and started working on it.  I reduced it to a 4.5"X4.5"X2'block last weekend, and I am frankly amazed at the quality of the wood. My plan for this is to reduce it to 2"X2" blanks this weekend and use this as my initial practice wood, saving any really good bits for later.

My thought here is that I own 150-some acres of mixed hickory oak savannah with lot of red cedar around the edges.  It's a lifetime of wood if I can find a way to turn it into workable sizes.  I also have 150-year old barns that can yield a lot of raspy barnwood.  This is all up  near the Ohio River, SE of Cincinnati.

For practice, I also bought a bunch of fixings  online -- 2X2 poplar blanks, some thin walnut, and cherry for lids and such.  I also found a kit that produces 4 box calls. I got that as well.

I am a 30-some year hunter, and a newbie box call maker.  I'm not begging for the secrets of the Universe, just some gentle prods in the right direction. My biggest motivation here is to figure out what is the simplest no-frills design that will get a beginner to a working call. 

The tutorials on here have been tremendous. I really want to thank y'all. I feel like I'm standing on the shoulders of giants.
 

[Prairie Game Calls]

Ask away with your questions I'll try to help as much as possible.

Larry

[VECtor Calls]

Good stuff man. I hope you find the sweet spots. You are diving into a project I wish I could find the time for. I wish you the best of luck.

[shaman]

1) When building a box call, I understand the importance of wall thickness in producing the 2-tone Eeeyawk of the yelp. However, I do not understand how to moderate clear vs. raspy. The few descriptions I've read sound like this is more luck than anything else. Besides the materials selected for the box and lid, are there good ways to achieve a given tonal quality?

2) Ends and bases: On solid calls is there a functional reason for a bottom base or an end block that goes beyond the esthetics of the call?  Is there a  functional reason for the bottom base to be of some dissimilar wood, or not just notched from the box itself?

3) Every box call seems to have a radius at the top so that the paddle only contacts minimally on the top surface, but could not find any discussions of what radius to use, or what radius moderates.  What radius should I use to start? Is there any magic in having a symmetrical radius versus asymmetrical?

4) Flat versus tapered sides:  Is this difference aesthetic or is there a functional reason?

5) Bottom handles: Is there a reason to put a handle on the bottom call?

6) Are there any special considerations in making a long box type call?

7) The top lid/paddle/whatever is always radiused, and the lid is usually around the same size as the opening of the box.  Is there any special rules regarding the lid's radius, thickness, or other dimensions  or is this a matter of taste?

8) Glue:  what is the best glue to use?

My box call inventory goes back to a Quaker Boy that Dick Kirby put in my hand back in the early 80's.  I grabbed representative sample of them this morning and started in with a ruler and caliper determined to figure out what dimensions were ideal.  I quickly discovered something:  they were all basically the same call.   All but one was  within 1/4 " of 7.75" long and all had about 1/4" difference in the top radius going from the end to the middle.  One had perpendicular sides, but all had nearly the same opening, regardless of the angle.  Solid, glue-up, cheap,  expensive, one-off customs, and production models-- it was all the same call!  Was that just me or what?  Who came up with that design originally?

BTW: I got the cedar cut into 2X2X24 blanks.

[shaman]

I got down to work in the shop yesterday.  I would have let the glue set until next weekend, but Green Bay was getting pummeled and as a Bengals fan I could not bear to watch Carson Palmer delivering the beating.  Besides, any day the Steelers and the Browns lose is a good day, right?  Perhaps it was a portent.

I'm not saying it's a work of art, but I pulled it off.  Allow me to introduce you to the Shamanic Mark I
 


Poplar over cherry with walnut ends and a cherry bottom.  The goal was just to make something that vaguely sounds turkey-like.  What I got was a deep raspy call with a lots of volume. Frankly, I'm leaving puddles, I'm so happy with it-- not because of the tone, but that I got any tone at all.  This was my first project of this level since 8th Grade Shop and I came up out of the basement with all my fingers.

[VECtor Calls]

That looks like some exciting results!  Congrats.