# Cutting Tone Boards



## JR Custom Calls (Apr 4, 2014)

Hey guys... So, with turkey season half way over for some, coming up for some (me), and soon to be over for everyone in the next month or so... I figured it was time to start getting some practice in on some other stuff to keep me busy over the summer. 

I've had a very successful first season with my turkey calls. I got lucky and managed to figure out how to make a good sounding pot very quickly, and got a lot of referrals that way. That said, I've had customers asking me for duck, crow, and predator calls, along with box calls. 

Box calls, ehh... that's something I'll sort out this summer. Seen enough tutorials and know enough about woodworking that I should figure that out after a few hundred botched attempts. 



I'm going to be purchasing a saw to cut toneboards. I'm not comfortable using my big bandsaw to cut them, and I know it's hard on blades... definitely don't want to go changing blades all the time on it. I'm tryibng to figure out whether I want to get a small benchtop bandsaw, or a scroll saw. The blades for a scroll saw would be a lot cheaper to replace, and I could do some stuff with it that I couldn't with a bandsaw... but I see a lot of people online saying a bandsaw is a lot better for cutting them. For what it's worth, I ordered the pin tail P1 public jig. 


Oh, and sorry to ramble.. I have a bad tendency of doing that.


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## SENC (Apr 4, 2014)

Lots use scrollsaws... the spiral blades allows cutting in all directions. See if you cam find a good deal on an excalibur. No need for 2 bandsaws, other uses for a good quality scrollsaw (plus just having another toy).


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## JR Custom Calls (Apr 4, 2014)

Well, I'm not really in that price range. More along the lines of a cheap porter cable or something in the $200 range. Nothing but junk on CL around here unfortunately.

Oh, and thanks. I've googled to no end, and it seems the majority of the posts I've read are in favor of using a band saw. Seems to me that I'll get more functionality by using a scroll saw, even if it's a little different than a band saw.


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## haddenhailers (Apr 4, 2014)

I bought a skil bandsaw, small model, and it works well. I like using metal cutting blades cause I get a cleaner finish and less sanding to flatten it back out to the jig. Just my 2 cents

Andrew

Reactions: Agree 1


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## SENC (Apr 4, 2014)

They are expensive. When I researched it, I came to the conclusion that an inexpensive one wouldn't do it... so I still use my 14" bandsaw with the idea of saving for a good scroll saw... but since I found this site my spare funds seem to be spent on wood.

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 1


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## JR Custom Calls (Apr 4, 2014)

Yeah... had I not found this site, I'd probably have a little more cash to spend on one haha. 

I'll see what I can come up with. Push comes to shove, I'll make my bandsaw work and just use cheap blades until I get something more suitable.


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## ironman123 (Apr 4, 2014)

The DeWalt 788 Scroll Saw is a very good scroll saw.

Ray


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## BrentWin (Apr 5, 2014)

Hit the pawn shops. I bet you can find a bench top band saw or scroll saw for around $50.


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## Blueglass (Apr 5, 2014)

I've been hitting pawn shops for awhile trying to find a tablesaw I find suitable. No luck so far. Probably get a Bosch I've had my eye on. No luck with CL either. I will have to look up how tone boards are cut I'm always interested in new stuff.


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## JR Custom Calls (Apr 5, 2014)

Well, I'll admit that when I watched Andrew cut, file, and tune a toneboard on one of his killer calls when I visited, he made it look easy. He knew what changes did what, and knew exactly what change to make as he blew on it. 


I hadn't even considered pawn shops, I think we have one or two here in town. I'll swing by today and see if they have anything there. If I could get a small bandsaw for $50, I'd probably go for it... but I'd be spending more on it than I did on my 14" haha

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## James (Apr 5, 2014)

I am lucky enough to have a regular bandsaw, and a metal band saw that cuts horizontal or vertical. I attach the auxiliary table to it when cutting tone boards, and then use it the rest of the time for cutting my bar stock for bands, acrylics, or general metal cutting. Picked it up for less than 200.00. The blades last ten times as long as a bandsaw blade. Just food for thought, alot of people buy them, but I have seen several worth the money on craigslist

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Bigdrowdy1 (Apr 5, 2014)

I use my bandsaw to get close then use a belt sander to get to where I want to be before I tune. I use a lot of Delrin but works well on 1 piece tone boards as well.You can generally pick them up fairly cheap compare to a band saw.


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## Wildthings (Apr 5, 2014)

If y'all are using CL for searching try www.searchtempest.com. It searches all the CL around your area.


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## BrentWin (Apr 8, 2014)

If you aren't making a bunch of calls, a coping saw works just fine for about $10.


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