Making calls for a friend

[musky]

I have a friend that found out that I turn pens and fishing lures for fun and for gifts.  He brought me some wood and ask me to turn him some duck calls.  Are there any step by step tutorials on turning these.  I found instructions for some with kits, but he does not want to use the plastic inserts.  I can get the the expanding bushing to fit on my pen mandrel for the barrel, and it should be rather simple to turn.  The insert or mouth piece part on the other hand looks very tricky.  Any help on getting starting or where I could find some used mandrels or toneboard jig without spending a load of cash.

Thanks
Jeff

[jcz]

Welcome to the site. I dont mean to discourage you from giving this a try, but it is not something that you will want to do for just a couple calls. The mandrels and jigs are expensive. Learning to tune the calls is time consuming. You will need to spend some time working out your design on the call and see what works best for you.
The best advice I can give is to use the search function and look for manderls. There are some members that make their own manderls and some even sell them.
Read some of the tutorials as there is a wealth of info that can help out alot. Im sure some of the more experieced members will have some suggestions also. After you read over some of the tutorials everyone can answer any questions you may have. The folks here are great, we all help out as much as we can.

Good luck with the new project but Im warning you once you start making calls it is hard to stop.

[Al_at_THO Game Calls]

I have to agree.  Turning calls can be simple or it can be hard.  Duck calls from scratch with hand made tone boards would fit in that Hard category at first, and even after that, I think a lot of tone boards get scrapped by some very experienced call makers. 

You might want to talk to him about a nicely turned barrel, and maybe an Echo insert.  They are nice, and work really well.  He will end up with a very unique call that blows nice and sounds good.

Otherwise, you are starting on a long journey that really has no end.   It gets easier, but in the beginning, making duck calls from scratch is not a process that you can master in a few days, or even a few months.   

Al @ THO

[BigB]

Jeff,

Duck call inserts are not an item that you can get good results on in a very short amount of time.  There are about 150 variables in a duck call insert that affect the sound, if not more variables then that which I haven't discovered yet.

A hardened jig will run you about $100 for the inserts.

A pen mandrel with the bushings will be ok for barrels, but they bend easy and it is hard to shape the ends of the call.  You also have to take really light cuts with that mandrel.


Here are a couple of posts on a couple of different ways to make an Arkansas style insert:
http://thogamecallsforums.com/index.php/topic,1530.0.html

http://thogamecallsforums.com/index.php/topic,1531.0.html


Holler if you have any questions.

Brian

[dogcatcher]

Brian pretty well covered it, it is a long hard process to get a good duck call made.  Post your location, there might be someone close that can get you started. 

Marvin

[Bob from Eames Custom Calls]

You might do better to attempt the barrel and hand the insert off to another callmaker with more experience. I have about 3 years into making toneboards, and I still scrap a couple a year.

 The echo is a good choice if you don't want to farm any of it out, they run about $5 each +shipping. I still have a call from when I first started out that has an echo in it. Alot of dead ducks from that one!

 I don't mean to discourage you in any way, so please don't take any of this wrong. I just mean to tell you that it's a slow process to work into a toneboard that is effective and can be duplicated. Watch the Duck call kits from HUT, they aren't worth the cardboard they are wrapped in.

 Good luck!

 Bob

[musky]

Thanks, I will check with him and see if he wants to go with the echo inserts.  Do you now what size hole in the barrel they require?  Do these sound really good?  I look at the echo calls, and at the price of them, I assume he does not use these $5 inserts..  Are there others out there that sound as good or better than these?

Someone told me to put my location on here.... I live in the Roanoke, VA area.

Does the shape of the barrel effect the sound? Length?

Thanks for all the help.

[dogcatcher]

The hole for an Echo is 5/8".  The length is about 2 3/4" long, the outside shape can be anything that feels good in your hand. 

I think someone from Virginia is on the board, but not sure who it is.

Watch the Duck call kits from HUT, they aren't worth the cardboard they are wrapped in.

Careful where you say that, on some of the woodturning sites they swear by them.  The HUT duck call kits are competition grade If you don't believe me just ask them.  They may not hunt, may not even own a gun, but their "friend" says the HUT kits make the best calls they have ever owned.  I am known as the person that knows nothing about calls because they think HUT is the ultimate kit.

 Marvin

[jcz]

Bob I sure could have used that advice about the hut inserts BEFORE I bought some. They ....well....
Musky I live close to Rocky Mount NC. Not to far off I-95. Im not the best at making duck call inserts but I do have a few that I think are pretty darn good. You are more than welcome to come see me anytime. I know its a drive from VA but its an option.
The $5 echo inserts are GREAT. I have some that my customers have retired their RNT's because they liked the sound so good. I have one guy that sent me a pic of a limit of birds a week or so ago. He got them with an echo inserted call I made.

[Aaron at Wingerts Woodworks]

I've been making my own calls and my own inserts for a while now and I have yet to match the sound quality from the $5 Echo inserts.  Frustrating but true.

[musky]

What length should I make the barrels?  Should the open water be longer than the timber?

[jcz]

Most people like the barrells around 3 1/4" to 3 1/2" or so. I started making mine longer and quickly figured out I didnt like the longer barrel.

[musky]

Most people like the barrells around 3 1/4" to 3 1/2" or so. I started making mine longer and quickly figured out I didnt like the longer barrel.

Is this for the open water or the timber, or both?

[jcz]

Both