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Game call making

Creamer

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See if it’ll fix that thumb🤮

Calls look great man. Ever think about making a can call?

I've thought a lot about it. I really want to do one. Last time I checked, I couldn't locate parts to make one. I had an old Primos Can laying around and I tried to cut the call open and steal parts, and the way it was glued/assembled I couldn't do it. If I can ever locate parts to make one I will absolutely do it. I even considered making a wooden shell to slide a pre-made can call into, but looking at dimensions it was going to make the call a little too bulky.
 
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Creamer

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This one is coming together nicely now. It's about half way through the finishing process right now. This pic is just the raw wood.

 
7
I've had the parts for a while to make a squirrel call and finally got around to it. I got brave and decided to try the CA glue (superglue) finish option I have seen on YouTube. I figured if I'm going to cock something up, I'd rather it be something easy like this. Good thing, because I did. My CA attempt left some milky spots over the middle of the barrel and also built up in the decorative burn rings I like on my calls.



So, I sanded it all back down and started over with what I know works for me. I used a little Danish oil on the cherry body, then finished with lacquer. The dark band across the middle is a burn band done with a butane torch. I just wanted to break up the more pale colored wood a bit.



Searching online, it looks like my oil finish could be what caused the CA to go milky. Any moisture or oils under it can apparently cause the milky color. Either way, I didn't like how it built up in my burn rings and the fumes from the CA were pretty rough. Not sure I will try it again.


How about a strip of double sided carpet tape to hold the bulb on. It isnt messy, very strong, thin, and easy to remove. i have used it to attach arrow shelves and strike plates on my trad bows for years with zero failures
 
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Creamer

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I got the idea recently to try an inhale/exhale call so I could have a buck grunt and doe bleat in one package. I got around to trying it last night.



This was a simple piece of walnut for this trial run.



I assembled it last night, unfinished, and put the reeds in it to give it a quick test. It actually worked really well. Inhale grunt, exhale bleat. The reason I did it this way is I didn't want to make it a 3-piece call so both reeds were adjustable. I am far more likely to want to adjust the doe reed than the buck, so the buck reed is down the barrel where it can't be adjusted.

So yes, you can suck it or blow it.
 

OhioWhiteTails

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Please don't sell these to the general public. I can hear someone now hyperventilating into that call like it was a paper bag on opening day. LOL

My dumb thought aside, I think it's a pretty good idea. Beats carrying multiple calls!
 
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Creamer

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Please don't sell these to the general public. I can hear someone now hyperventilating into that call like it was a paper bag on opening day. LOL

My dumb thought aside, I think it's a pretty good idea. Beats carrying multiple calls!

It's not a new idea or mine at all, I think Primos has been selling one for quite a while.
 

Creamer

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I hadn't done a call in quite a while and remembered I had some slightly smaller 3" slate surfaces to try out. All my other slates were 3.5" surfaces. I had a purple heart blank already prepped (more or less) so I used that blank. It turned out pretty nice.



Internal guts



Finished product, slate over a glass sound board



The striker I used a leftover chunk of the blandest piece of birds eye maple I have seen. Very little figuring in it at all. I darkened it with a few coats of oil, the stem is purple heart.

 

Creamer

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have you ever made any of your grunt calls out of osage? can't be much harder to turn than Purple Heart.

The only osage I have messed with was a small piece of Argentinian osage that I turned into a fly tying tool. It was fairly easy to work with, pretty vivid yellow in color. I haven't tried a grunt tube from osage yet.
 

Creamer

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you interested in making one from osage for me?

I checked the places I order blanks from, and all I see is Argentinian osage. As long as that wood would be ok, I can do it. I'll try to remember to snap a pic this weekend of the fly tying tool I made from the same species of blank.