Feel a bit "boxed in" this winter so last week decided to whip up a few box calls.  The 6 piece versions aren't too bad to put together.  These are black walnut with black cherry sounding boards.

I was just about to give this kind of thing a try.  I have some shorter sections of maple backing strips lying around & it seemed like a good idea.  There aren't many plans available online.  Do you follow a design template or do you "wing it" with what you have around?

They look great
I love using box calls!!
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AWESOMEEE

Love them Turkey calls. Some of my favorites. I used to make mouth calls but it's easier to buy them.

I just took a number of measurements from a couple of old bought-en calls I had, did some averaging, and made myself a pattern.  I have a small planner so it's easy to get the wood thinned down right.

Nice looking calls

Very nice....

Quote from: Will Telluteyrd on January 15, 2021, 01:26:12 PM
Love them Turkey calls. Some of my favorites. I used to make mouth calls but it's easier to buy them.

Who's scratchers?

Physically assembling calls is easy. It's the tuning. How they sound op?

A quite fulfilling endeavor...

The 6 piece calls tune up easier than the 2 piece.  The cool part about it is no two turkeys sound just alike either.   

I made the scratchers a long time ago. Made a bunch and gave most of them away.
I tried to kill a bird with a homemade self bow, bamboo arrow with a stone point and using one of my homemade calls. Came close and shot under a Jake at less than ten yards. Pretty tough with no blind or decoy. : )

Quote from: Will Telluteyrd on January 16, 2021, 09:22:22 AM
I made the scratchers a long time ago. Made a bunch and gave most of them away.

Very cool. Scratchers are one way under rated call. They've prob become my most commonly used calls. Almost every morning I start with one unless it's raining. A last spring bird.

Year before, I called both about 5 minutes apart. My buddy took the second

OP - So I gave it a shot over the weekend.  There's a learning curve for sure.  From what I can tell, the box came out fine (function though not form).  But the paddle was off.  I used a 1/4" piece of oak for the paddle & maple for the box.  I get great sound out of the right side but not much off the left.  I swapped the paddle for one that came with a box call I bought some years ago (cherry, I believe) and it all works great on both sides.  So it seems to be the paddle that I messed up on.  Is there a trick to getting a nice, even convex curve on the underside of the paddle?

I don't know if there is a "trick" to it, other than keeping your knuckles off the sanding belt as you shape the curve.  The paddles start out 5/16" thick.  I angle the edges with the belt sander, then roll them back and forth to make the smooth curve.    

Quote from: BAK on January 15, 2021, 11:03:05 AM
Feel a bit "boxed in" this winter so last week decided to whip up a few box calls.  The 6 piece versions aren't too bad to put together.  These are black walnut with black cherry sounding boards.

Wow awesome!,!

They do sound pretty good, and since no two turkeys sound the same I think they'll work just fine.  I've always used chalk to make them talk but I sent one to my nephew out west and he said he rosined his and it worked really well.  I'm going to try that next.

More turkey therapy , 30 minutes ago below the house in the clover plot.

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