As promised, here's a little how to on burning hedge calls. Like all things in call making, this is not the only way to do it. This is just the way that seems to work for me. The new system won't allow a post with more than four pictures, so I will divide this into two parts.
The biggest obstacle that most people find in burning hedge is cracking the call. The two main causes of this is to much moisture in the wood and getting the core of the wood to hot.
Moisture in the wood should be in the 6-8% or as low as your ambient humidity will allow. If you don't have a moisture meter, cut a 1/4" slice off the end of the blank. Then, light your torch and apply heat to the center of the slice. If moisture "sweats" out of the wood around the outer edges of the slice, the wood is to wet. Even if the wood is dry, the slice will probably crack because of the flame remaining stationary in the middle of the slice. Don't worry about this, just look for the moisture weeping out.
The second cause of cracking is to much heat building up in the core of the wood. We want to char the outside of the wood without giving the heat time enough to soak into the core of the wood. The best way I can explain it is to think of a nice thick rib eye steak. If you want your steak rare, you get a really hot fire going and only let the steak cook a short while on each side. This will give you a nicely seared and browned outside while still leaving the center cool.
If you want your steak well done (which by the way, is an insult to the steer that gave his life to provide this feast) you use a low heat and a longer cooking time so that the heat goes all of the way through the meat.
I use MAP gas in my torch for this reason. MAP burns hotter than standard propane so that we can char the outside quickly and then move on.
Now for the actually burning of the call. I turn the call as normal and sand it down to 320 grit. There is no need to go any finer than that, as the heat will raise the grain slightly anyway. After sanding, mount the call on your mandrel with the mouth piece exposed. I set the lathe on it's slowest speed and start it up.
http://i146.Rule #2/albums/r279/brentwin/DSCF1546_zps5d869b82.jpg
If you look at the flame of your torch, you will see there is an outer dark blue flame and an inner bright blue flame. The tip of the bright blue flame is what we will be working with. It's the hottest part of the flame. I like to start with the inside of the mouth piece. Run the tip of the bright blue flame on the inside of the call and it will char almost instantly. During all of the burning process, keep the torch moving. Don't panic if it flames up, just pull the torch away and it will go out immediately.
http://i146.Rule #2/albums/r279/brentwin/DSCF1556_zps06b77c91.jpg
Now I char the lip rest and down the neck of the call a little ways.
http://i146.Rule #2/albums/r279/brentwin/DSCF1557_zpsa8cb2827.jpg
I then move to the other end of the call in the area of the lanyard groove and char it well also.
http://i146.Rule #2/albums/r279/brentwin/DSCF1560_zps5a94fab6.jpg
The biggest obstacle that most people find in burning hedge is cracking the call. The two main causes of this is to much moisture in the wood and getting the core of the wood to hot.
Moisture in the wood should be in the 6-8% or as low as your ambient humidity will allow. If you don't have a moisture meter, cut a 1/4" slice off the end of the blank. Then, light your torch and apply heat to the center of the slice. If moisture "sweats" out of the wood around the outer edges of the slice, the wood is to wet. Even if the wood is dry, the slice will probably crack because of the flame remaining stationary in the middle of the slice. Don't worry about this, just look for the moisture weeping out.
The second cause of cracking is to much heat building up in the core of the wood. We want to char the outside of the wood without giving the heat time enough to soak into the core of the wood. The best way I can explain it is to think of a nice thick rib eye steak. If you want your steak rare, you get a really hot fire going and only let the steak cook a short while on each side. This will give you a nicely seared and browned outside while still leaving the center cool.
If you want your steak well done (which by the way, is an insult to the steer that gave his life to provide this feast) you use a low heat and a longer cooking time so that the heat goes all of the way through the meat.
I use MAP gas in my torch for this reason. MAP burns hotter than standard propane so that we can char the outside quickly and then move on.
Now for the actually burning of the call. I turn the call as normal and sand it down to 320 grit. There is no need to go any finer than that, as the heat will raise the grain slightly anyway. After sanding, mount the call on your mandrel with the mouth piece exposed. I set the lathe on it's slowest speed and start it up.
http://i146.Rule #2/albums/r279/brentwin/DSCF1546_zps5d869b82.jpg
If you look at the flame of your torch, you will see there is an outer dark blue flame and an inner bright blue flame. The tip of the bright blue flame is what we will be working with. It's the hottest part of the flame. I like to start with the inside of the mouth piece. Run the tip of the bright blue flame on the inside of the call and it will char almost instantly. During all of the burning process, keep the torch moving. Don't panic if it flames up, just pull the torch away and it will go out immediately.
http://i146.Rule #2/albums/r279/brentwin/DSCF1556_zps06b77c91.jpg
Now I char the lip rest and down the neck of the call a little ways.
http://i146.Rule #2/albums/r279/brentwin/DSCF1557_zpsa8cb2827.jpg
I then move to the other end of the call in the area of the lanyard groove and char it well also.
http://i146.Rule #2/albums/r279/brentwin/DSCF1560_zps5a94fab6.jpg
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