Lets talk glass conditioning

[DanNolen]

Hey fellas, I wanted to start a discussion about glass conditioning. 
I don't know about you all, but I do not like letting a call leave my shop until I have heard it run.  I am confident with my measurements and my design, however there is just something that makes me want to run that call before it leaves. 
I have been pondering what the best way is to go about this.  I am always in contact with my clients throughout a build, so I always double check with them to see what they want. 

When doing a glass call it is nice to do something cool or unique under the surface, this being said...nothing makes me twitch quite like someone frosting over the entire playing surface on a call that I have spent time with under the playing surface.  I realize that this is something that is of personal preference, but man alive it makes me twitch.  You can achieve all the sounds the call can perform with a surface scratched about the size of a quarter (with the "edge of the circle" on the rim of the call). 

So how do you all condition your glass before you send it out to your customers, or do you?
I have got two ways that I like to do it....1 way is taping off half of the call and conditioning 1/2 of the playing surface. 
The other is to take scotch tape and cover 1/2 the playing surface, take my compass and mark out a quarter sized circle, then I take my exacto knife and cut the tape out where the compass marked, from here I condition the circular area that is within the tape. (another thing that makes me twitch is stray sanding lines outside of a definitive playing area).....(if I had a sandblaster I would sandblast the circular cut out instead of sanding it)....

Am I crazy? or does anyone else have these thoughts?

Here is a glass call for example. this call received the latter of the two methods i mentioned above, the circular playing area is positioned to cover up the small spot of glue where i tacked the turkey feather down on the sound board. ( and i took the picture before I conditioned the surface....sorry!)
God bless you all and thanks for looking! Let me know what your method is!

[Abe mccarty]

Beautiful call!  I am no professional but I use a stone and scratch an 1.5" square just above center on the left. On  glass call I usually only initial on the soundboard.

[jcz]

I condition roughly 1/3 of the glass. I have used all kinds of different methods to condition it. I have most recently been using my belt sander to get the job done. I Use a 220 grit belt. I sand the glass before I glue it in. I turn on the sander and use just the edge of the sanding belt to put the scratches where I want them. Got be sure you have a good hold on the glass before letting it touch.
Here is one to show you the end results.

[DanNolen]

Thanks Abe, I also have a conditioning stone, but it doesnt work well for the circular conditioning method....

Jcz, belt sanding is a good idea, and it is fast method as well i'm sure.

[jcz]

Fast and effective. Usually when I make pot calls, I make 10 or more at a time. Using the belt sander is so much easier than doing it by hand.

[Mann Lock @ Hollow Wing Calls]

Personally, and this is just my  .  I dont like calls that have anything behind the glass or crystal. There is always a sweet spot somewhere on the call that just sounds better than anywhere else and it is usually right over any decoration.  While it looks cool and it adds some personality, unless it commemorative or will sit on a shelf, the whole surface is fair game to be scrubbed on and scratched to be able to use every inch.  Some spots just sound better than others.

[DanNolen]

I definitely know what your talking about Lock, however if I frost over half of my playing surface and can't find a sweet spot in there , I think it's time to re visit some dimensions and consistency issues., 
 
But I know what your saying, the pot should have the ability to be played throughout the entirety of the surface incase there is a place where you can achieve a better sound.  My take on that is, I'll let the customer frost the other half if he feels the sound quality isn't to his liking.

Good points...the way I see the under glass look is (.and it eventually turns in to a Chevy/Ford debate about what to do under the playing surface) that it takes very little time and money to add something unique to a call. 

[Rick Howard]

I scratch it. Normally about half the surface.  Got to.  I Can't tune it without scratching it.  You can use chemical etching.  It's a little less labor intense. And uniform looking.   Armour etch is a good product. 

[FDR]

You might want to try one of these. Should work on glass.
http://www.micromark.com/SearchResult.aspx?deptIdFilter=0&searchPhrase=microlux+mini+sandblast+gun+set

Fred

[DanNolen]

Rick, when you say "tune it" your referring to matching up a good striker with that call?

Good find Fred!  I wonder if this would also work for blasting acrylic duck calls for a matte finish...?

[FDR]

Good find Fred!  I wonder if this would also work for blasting acrylic duck calls for a matte finish...?
[/quote]

Yes it will!

Fred

[Rick Howard]

Rick, when you say "tune it" your referring to matching up a good striker with that call?

Good find Fred!  I wonder if this would also work for blasting acrylic duck calls for a matte finish...?

Yes sir.  Like you said I can only trust my measurements to a degree.  along with other variables I find it most important to test my calls before they go into someone else's hands.

[Mann Lock @ Hollow Wing Calls]

No call leaves my shop without a run through of strikers, both my own collection and others.   Decorations are for the back.  LOL

[DanNolen]

Yup I know what you mean, I always run a bunch of strikers on mine as well.  And sometimes I will even chuck them back in the lathe and do a little modifying if it's not where I like it.

[Luckydawg]

Since I make mouth calls, I usually take a piece of the tape which has a oval like cutout and put it on call wherever I want conditioned. I then put glass etching cream on and let it sit overnight(or two).
I run hot water over surface and rub with cloth to remove cream. I carefully hit with sandpaper to rough up  surface a little more then remove tape. Looks clean!
If customer chooses to sand bigger portion it is on him!