# Pot Call Primer



## ghost1066 (May 17, 2014)

This was an early how to I did on pot calls and it is a decent starting point to do your own but looking back now I can see some mistakes in the pictures and I will edit the text to correct them. So, please bare with some of my bad information on the pictures and hopefully reading it will get you headed in the right direction.

I know there are a lot of ways to make calls, this is NOT "THE WAY" to make a call it is simply a starting point to help folks that have never done it.

A lot of folks don't know what these are (understandable) I thought I would do a post to show most of what it takes to make one. This post is a bit pic heavy but it helps to show what I am doing.

Here we go. First take a blank in this case 4"x4"x1" and mark your center. I also mark 4 sound holes 22mm from the center on these lines. The size and placement of the holes is really up to you but here is what I did and still do. Many makers use 3/8" hole and in varying numbers this is a part that you can do as you like. One thing I changed here is I now drill all my sound holes before putting the blank on the lathe which is not shown in the pics.







I drilled the center hole out to 3/4" to fit on my chuck but there are many ways to mount these on your lathe this is quick and easy for me. Then got it on the lathe with the marked side toward the headstock this will be the bottom of my call.






Once you do this simply turn the corners off to get things round, I now cut the corners off on the bandsaw before going to the lathe. Then make a mark to cut the blank down to the 3/4" thickness of the finished piece and cut this portion away.






Once you do this you need to make a recess for the playing surface. Carefully working from the center to the edge make the recess to fit the playing surface. I do mark a line at times to help me but use the playing surface to check as I go to get a close fit. If you trust calipers here I promise you at some point you will be sorry and ruin some nice wood. Take a second to stop your lathe and use the playing surface to check the fit. Also taper your cuts toward the center so the playing surface does not ride on it but can set down into the call to test the depth of the rim. I use a 1/4" wood chisel to do my interiors I have all kinds of custom carbides and not one of them work as well as my cheap Chinese made chisel. 






Continued


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## ghost1066 (May 17, 2014)

Now you need to cut the inside down to 1/2" deep leaving a small rim at the edge and a pedestal for the sound board at the center. It is important that the bottom of your call be close to 1/4" thick when you are done. This is even more important with 3" calls I learned this from one of the best call makers around. Do not cut the pedestal or cut towards the rim too far yet that is the next step and one of the most critical.






Slowly begin to turn down the pedestal and widen your sound chamber opening using the sound board for reference. I put mine about 1/32" below the rim where the playing surface sits, this measurement is argued endlessly among makers. Go too deep and it goes flat get too close and it goes too sharp. This is very important so take your time. In the pic of me checking the sound board I had over cut the width, leave a small gap about the thickness of a toothpick between your sound board and the sides of the call. I threw this blank away after I was done. 






Now you are ready to take the call off, go back to the drill press to drill the final sound holes if you haven't done this already which you should have. Drill from the outside to the inside so you don't have to worry about the tear out.

Then reverse the call and place it back on the chuck so you can finish the sides and bottom. I now do this step as soon as I cut the blank down to 3/4". I flip the call and smooth the bottom then flip it back to cut the interior. Sorry if this confuses anyone remember I just copied and pasted this so just read carefully.






Continued


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## ghost1066 (May 17, 2014)

I leave the sides a little thick so I can true them up and thin them down to the final thickness. I usually do this step with my skew chisel. The outside can be as simple or as fancy as you like. This one just has the edge rounded over and then sanded to 400 grit. At this point I go back to the drill press and use a countersink bit on the sound holes to give them a more finished look. Also take a bit of time to sand inside each hole you drilled. 






If you followed the steps this is how the interior of your call should look. No matter what size your playing surface your sound board will be 1/2" smaller so a 3" playing surface gets a 2 1/2" sound board. 






If you use a fancier wood even this simple shape can be beautiful as this piece of spalted I can't remember what it is shows.






Hope this helps show how much call makers go through to produce what looks like a very simply turning.

Reactions: Like 2 | Thank You! 2 | Informative 1


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## ironman123 (May 17, 2014)

That is real good Tommy. Easy to understand.

Ray


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## JR Custom Calls (May 17, 2014)

Pretty similar to how I make them... Only I don't drill my holes until the very end. I've found, especially on burly pieces, that the edges of the holes like to chip out when I turn them (that's just my experience though)... So to be safe, I wait until the end. I also have 2 3" glass soundboards glued together to measure the pedestal height, and adjust a little on copper and ceramic calls.


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