Couple of duck calls

[CaptG]

Made these today after filling up the pressure pots with carbon fiber blanks. Left to right is Ebony, Birdseye Maple, and Curly Narra. All the tone boards are Cocobolo. I have a jig for the toneboard and make my own, and have found that Cocobolo sounds about the best overall. I gave up on duck calls for a while because cutting the reed consistently the same to get good sound was a real pain. The light flickered in my brain and then came on the other day. Laser, duh. I spent some time testing and now have a shape and size saved in the programs and have a box of identical reeds that sound pretty good, IMHO. All comments appreciated.

 

[rjwolfe3]

Wow very nice!

 

[shadow man]

They look great. Have you tried one with out of all cocobolo? I have several cocobolo metal reed calls I use when hunting open water. Man are they loud.
Good work
George

 

[CaptG]

They look great. Have you tried one with out of all cocobolo? I have several cocobolo metal reed calls I use when hunting open water. Man are they loud.
Good work
George

George. I made one all Cocobolo call last week and it sold already. It sounded like these. I use mylar reeds and they are pretty loud, plus these calls are hard to choke if you blow too hard.

 

[shadow man]

Cool, I guess the density of cocobolo is what makes it so resonate. A good call just seems to ring. I have made a couple for myself not for sale and have had good luck with them. But I normally use a call I have had for about 30+ years. It was made by Johnny Marsh and is a similar style to the old Glodo calls used on Reelfoot Lake 75 to 100 years ago

 

[fernhills]

Very nice. I have been dabbling in the making of calls lately, they are fun to make. Like with every thing we make, making it is the easy part. How do you finish them is the hard part for me. The Ebony you made is beautiful. Carl

 

[jleiwig]

I'm really liking that ebony one! Any chance of seeing just the insert by itself?

 

[moyehow]

very nice, I am working on making a wood duck call as we speak. I am having the same problem with the reeds. I wish i could afford a laser machine.

 

[philipff]

Are they available for purchase? My son is an ardent duck hunter in the Imperial Valley of CA. He would die to get one of your beautiful calls. Phil

 

[Rifleman1776]

Looking very good. Congrats on making your own tone boards and reeds. I haven't gotten there yet.
BTW, I have stopped using Cocobolo for my calls. Strange reason, I must admit. Coco is dense, moisture resistant, makes a great sound and is very attractive. Probably the ideal call wood.
But, at shows, my Coco calls have been ridiculed because it is the wood of beginners. Almost everyone makes calls from Coco and it is not unique. A Coco call is considered pretty run of the mill according to serious duck hunters and call collectors.
I know, it doesn't make sense, but that has been my experience.
I will soon be stabilizing my own blanks to get unique, good sounding calls.

 

[CaptG]

I'm really liking that ebony one! Any chance of seeing just the insert by itself?

Here ya go. Tone board and jig.

 

[jleiwig]

I'm confused. What does the laser do then? I thought you were profiling the inserts with your laser or something.

 

[CaptG]

Looking very good. Congrats on making your own tone boards and reeds. I haven't gotten there yet.
BTW, I have stopped using Cocobolo for my calls. Strange reason, I must admit. Coco is dense, moisture resistant, makes a great sound and is very attractive. Probably the ideal call wood.
But, at shows, my Coco calls have been ridiculed because it is the wood of beginners. Almost everyone makes calls from Coco and it is not unique. A Coco call is considered pretty run of the mill according to serious duck hunters and call collectors.
I know, it doesn't make sense, but that has been my experience.
I will soon be stabilizing my own blanks to get unique, good sounding calls.

Hi Frank, I have found that most of the sound quality, as you well know, is generated by the tone board and reed length/shape. That is the reason for the cocobolo tone board for almost all my calls. I will do an occasional acrylic or cedar tone board for someone. You are right about the "wood of beginners" comment from collectors, but these guys will never use a call in the field. They want a one of a kind eye grabber. I am sure the both of us would be happy to do a custom order for the price, even if the duck call sounds like a varmit call, but if that makes em happy...

 

[CaptG]

I'm confused. What does the laser do then? I thought you were profiling the inserts with your laser or something.

OK, I mis-understood. If you are talking about just the reed, Yes I am cutting them on the laser now. Any little change in length or shape will alter the tone big time, or just make it plain not work. The tone board I am making using a heat treated jig to cut the length and curve on the board after turning the shape on the lathe. Hope this helps. Please feel free to ask more questions.

 

[jleiwig]

OK, I mis-understood. If you are talking about just the reed, Yes I am cutting them on the laser now. Any little change in length or shape will alter the tone big time, or just make it plain not work. The tone board I am making using a heat treated jig to cut the length and curve on the board after turning the shape on the lathe. Hope this helps. Please feel free to ask more questions.

I know all about making them, and how frustrating it can be :curse:, that's why I just buy my inserts from Echo now.

Everyone loves the sound, and I don't sell to collectors, just my hunting friends. :biggrin: And at $6 bucks each, the frustration saved alone is well worth the price of admission.

 

[HawksFeather]

Nice looking calls and I am sure that hunters will appreciate them. I love turning Ebony mouthpieces for some of the predator calls I make, but I hate the dust. It shouldn't be much different from other hard woods, but it seems to go all over the shop.

Jerry

 

[Mrs Rojo22]

Nice!

Robin