Wood Blanks for Carving Coyote CAlls

[Marshall's Custom Calls]

Okay, so I've been looking around this site and i see a ton of awesome wooden calls. They're awesome, and I really wanna get my hands on one. The thing is, I don't know how. I want to start hand-carving a new call, but I don't know where to start. What is the best wood? And how can I get an awesome piece of wood that really looks cool?

And I've seen lots of dyed woods, really cool looking colors. How the heck do you do that?!

[Al_at_THO Game Calls]

I would start with some inexpensive wood first, to give yourself a feel for the process.   Maple, poplar, anything cheap, even some walnut.   Depending on the size of call you want to make, a blank about  1 1/2 inches square to 2 inches square and 3 to 5 inches long is good to start with.   You can always cut off the ends.   After that, it's just a matter of an idea, and starting to hack away at it.  You'll make mistakes, ruin a few blanks, but you will get it.  Then you can go for some nice wood.   I would start at Home Depot or look for wood suppliers in your area.  Sawmills, that kind of thing.  You should be able to find someone around you that has some wood to buy.  I would stay away from the big wood working stores.  They are crazy expensive and the wood isn't always dry.

Al @ THO Game Calls

[Marshall's Custom Calls]

That's exactly what I was looking for! Thank you so much! I've been trying to post pictures on my forum posts, but I can't seem to get it to work... 

[VECtor Calls]

If I remember right, you do not have a lathe, and I see you said "carved".  This means you're going to want a soft wood to use, and decide from there what kind of tools you are going to use.

Many of the fancier woods you see on here are harder woods.  This isn't something you'll want to tackle with a carving knife.  If you're going to use a Dremel, or something of the likes though, you can get away with using some more woods.

The softest, easiest working wood you can come across is basswood.  Basswood doesn't usually come in a bunch of fancy color/wood grain options though.

Lots of folks carve with walnut, but I know its one I wouldn't want to use right off the get-go, because of its grain quality.  Basswood is MUCH easier to carve (and could be stained with a walnut stain after you have carved it??? )

Vince

[Marshall's Custom Calls]

awesome! Thank you very much. I'm gonna try to get my hands on some basswood ASAP...
where do you get basswood though?

[VECtor Calls]

Well, buying it can be expensive.  Wood carving stores have it.

If you can come across some pallets though, many times pallets are made out of good carving wood like basswood and cottonwood.

Vince

[Marshall's Custom Calls]

this is embarassing..but I'm not really sure what a pallet is and i have no clue where to find it..

[Al_at_THO Game Calls]

Wood Pallet - like they use to ship stuff on trucks.   

Al @ THO Game Calls

[Marshall's Custom Calls]

That seems like it would be too thin?

[Wane]

There are 2x3 or 2x4s That go between the boards, three of them in most pallets

[Marshall's Custom Calls]

Hmm, I will try and see if I can find some. would Lowe's or Walmart have lots of these??

[VECtor Calls]

All kinds of different businesses that get things in on pallets.  You'd just have to ask around. 

Anyone that gets in large amounts of products in boxes.

Vince

[woodwzrd]

Get on craigslist for your area and type in free pallets in the search area. You will probably end up with results similar to this. http://eauclaire.craigslist.org/search/?areaID=242&subAreaID=&query=free+pallets&catAbb=sss A lot of times people or businesses end up with them and just want them gone. I got a whole trailer load of pallets a couple of years ago. When I got them home I used the floor boards off of them to build a privacy fence around the area where my kids keep all of their outside toys. Most of the runners I burnt in our fire pit but several of them were poplar (which would be good for carving) and oak. I did come across a couple that were mahogany which I saved and made some calls out of.

[Braz]

Tupilo is another good carving wood and a bit harder than basswood.

[Marshall's Custom Calls]

For now, I just want some inexpensive little piece of wood that I can carve, and practice on. I wanna sharpen my skills and get good before I invest in some really nice wood. I searched for pallets on craigslist but didn't find any. most of the ads were of people "want free pallets" and such. I will continue looking. Thanks for the advice.