First Checkered box call progression

[bowmike]

Hey guys.

Got to do some work on my first checkered box over the weekend. I switched up the lid from the Yellow Heart and went with Canary wood. Call is far from complete, but I still have a lot of tuning and such to do. A lot of imperfections but by golly it made a sound. LOL

Here are a few pics of where she is at now.





Have a lot of tuning to do. I know my checkering needs to be deeper on the next one. Will practice a little bit once I get caught up on fly orders. Have a couple out there, but I really had to try and do a call first. LOL it starting rolling smooth so I wanted to keep on it. Now that I have a lot of the work done on it I will be taking my time tuning it little by little maybe 15 mins a day or so. After I get all caught up on flies I will start after making calls again. I hope that this one will be decent enough to hunt with this fall. Time will tell.

Lots of finishing work yet to do, and tons of tuning, but I am happy with what I have so far.

Thanks for all of the tips, and I am really bless to have the guys I do to answer questions for me. I want to do this as much on my own as I can.

Well here is the sound file, and the video I put up after rough tuning it last night.

https://youtu.be/cYDxd1tWbmw

Thanks for the read and Ill keep you posted.

[Ack]

Looks good!

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[bowmike]

LOL will be quite a while before I try and sell any. Maybe a swap . Right now I just want to create a call that I can call in a bird with and kill it. LOL actually just fooling one would be good enough for me.

I want to get everything down perfect before I start selling any. This one is so rough around the edges, that I wouldn't even price it at $15.00. I am very fortunate to have a lot of call making buddies who are there to help me out. But before I sell anything I want to know that it is a top quality box. May be 3-4 years. LOL

Long term goals are to win a few medals in call making competitions and such, but right now it will be soley to try and kill a bird with something I made.

[bowmike]

Here is the progress on the second day of tuning. I will post the full video at the bottom of the post.

I did a lot of tuning on it last night. I was only going to work on it for a half our or so but I was making progress so I kept with it. I had to do a few things.

I realized the screw was in a little crooked so I straightened that out. I found that the back end trough was not deep enough and my lid was hitting back there as well. I tuned more of the right side to get it closer to where I wanted to be.

Both side kind of had a bubble on the side walls. Top thin, middle thicker, bottom, thinner than middle but thicker than top. This helped out a lot.

I feel I am getting interference when I slide the lid on the right side, and it is catching the left side. Something is goofy there but ill find it. I also had to take the lid off and put more of a curve on it. I think it still may need some fine tuning.

I decided I wanted to gear this as a full on fall short box. I have the front end of the right side high pitch to try and get some kees out of it. They sound good to my ear but are not perfect yet.

Biggest thing I need to do is get a more deep and raspy back end.

I also took some sand paper to my checkering. Helped make it look cleaner and removed some of the wood for tuning as well. I put a little chamfer on the edges of the box as well.

Here are a few pics of how the call looks now.







Here are the short clips of the sound. No chalk on the call either. Still have a ways to go but I'm getting closer.

Here is me doing the kees on the right side. Again need to get more rasp on the back end and make it pop.

https://youtu.be/0jp7hcsVC68

Here is just a sound clip.

Right side, then left, then kee on right side, then gobble.

https://youtu.be/shTF_uJBXrg

Here is the full break down vide. Excuse the messy shop. Its and 8x10 shed with an l shaped work bench from kitchen cabinets I was given. LOL

https://youtu.be/ddAGXa3p-tw

This is a lot of fun and I am very happy with how I am progressing so far. Once I get the back end rasp I am going to call it a day and move on to the next one. Cedar from what I am told is a tough wood to tune. Looking at getting some poplar and walnut but need to find the right contacts.

Thanks for the help and reading along. It is awesome to be able to make something, and tune it 100% for what you want it to be. I don't think a lot of guys tune for kees on a short box. My tone is off a little bit but I think it may kill a bird. Time will tell but I will keep you guys posted.

[bowmike]

https://youtu.be/WKIBcPat7ew


I think I have this call just about where I want it. Last night I put some chalk on the call heavy and would just run the side. It would leave me clues as to where the interference was happening. I narrowed it down to where my left side was a tad higher and causing interference on the back end of my yelps. It also clued me in that the lid was hitting on the back block section of the call as well. Little by little I worked on those spots.

I also saw that the middle of my sides had a belly on it. Took those out, and my back end of my yelps came to life a little. I am going to clear the call tonight and make some final adjustements. I figure I can always go back once the call is done for fine tuning. I just don't want to mess this one up and not have one of my own calls to hunt with this fall.

I appreciate the help and am trying my best to do this all by trial and error. Some things I have reached out to call makers on, but try and keep it to fundamentals only.

Here is where we are at now.



Thanks for tuning in. I cant wait to see how that cedar looks with a finish on it!

[vermonthunter16]

Looks and sounds great! I would say it is a success.

[woodswalker]

Nice job. I have heard live turkeys that didn't sound that good. In fact, some of the worst calls I have ever heard was from live birds that I was accusing in my mind of being a new turkey hunter.

[bowmike]

Thanks for all of the kind words guys. I would be lying if I said I did this all on my own without help. I am very blessed to know a lot of people who make calls. A very good friend of mine is probably the best call maker in the history of competitions. I did not ask or receive any secrets from him. He did give me hints as to what I needed to do to get more turkey out of the call though. For that I am grateful.

I also have a few friends who are in the calling contest relm who have let me know they would help me with areas they think the call should be improved. The one fellow is also the most decorated contest caller in history. LOL

So with just those two guys a lone it is my own dumb fault if I don't make one heck of a turkey call. I want to go about this journey all on my own as best I can. I want to come up with my own style and sound. I don't strive to make calls that sound like a particular call maker, I just want my calls to sound like Turkeys, and fool turkeys, and I want people to kill turkeys with my calls.

Through out this process I will be sure to mess some up. I plan on giving my "first edition" calls to the guys that have helped me along the way and such. If I can get good enough and get in enough shop time I will donate a call to The beast as a prize for the turkey line up or something along those lines.

I am not in this to make money, I have a job for money. I want to keep this tradition alive in my home state of PA wich has one of the most rich call making and contest calling histories out there.

Thanks again for the kind words. My next post will be the 100% finished product....well unless I get OCD and fiddle with it.

[Stanley]

Looks great.

[rbuckleyjr1]

Nice work!

[Jackson Marsh]

Very nice bowmike!

[ Post made via Android ]

[bowmike]

Just about finished. First coats of clear on the call. Going to put my logo on the lid, and fill out the bottom. I worked on the tuning a little bit last night and got a tad more back end.

If this rain holds off im planning on doing a video of the call actually in the woods. If not tomorrow morning I am going to try it out on some live birds. LOL

Here are the prep pics after the first light coat of finish.

You can see my boy in the back ground learning call making as well. LOL he is measuring and sanding down my "Firewood Box Call"



Heck even Corbin wanted to help, so he got to clear coat my "Firewood Box Call" lol







Here she is, 95% finished.
















I got some better tooling for the next one. Countersink bit for the lid, exacto knife for checkering. Will be sharpening up the chisels. I may put an inlay on the side of the call as well. I still have a few lids that Mike Lapp gave me and may continue to use those up, or hold off. These lids have no curve or anything but do have the inlays cut into the call. We will see.

I need to put my table saw together that has been in the box since Christmas. I think I will do my first 100% on my own box after the next one.

I love this and cant wait to improve on these. I love the PA call making tradition.

The only bad thing is my chestnut trees look like future box calls.

[bowmike]

I couldn't take it anymore so I went on my lunch break. I had to hear this call in the woods. Doesn't sound too bad but dang that thing rips and is quite loud. WIll be a good locator. Ill have to keep that in mind when I am hunting.

Anyway I found a deer skull and took a couple pics with outside sunlight on it.





SOUND FILE

https://youtu.be/sLkLeBT1SrA