Violin Rosin vs Chalk

[Ferguson]

What are some pros and cons of using violin rosin compared to various chalks on box calls?
Callmakers, Hunters and collectors all opinions wanted.
David

[wiltznucs]

Dick Turpin is a big fan of using rosin instead of chalk.  I gave it a try a few years ago with his encouragement.  I found that rosin moreso than chalk seems to respond to humidity and becomes very sticky with time.  The rosin seems to be globular and difficult to spread evenly.  I personally didnt care for it, and switched back to chalk soon thereafter...

[letinmfly]

I used rosin on a few occasions and didn't particularly care for it.  It was actually to tacky and the calls didn't run as smooth as when I use chalk.  The lid would jump or stutter across the lip of the soundboards.  I prefer chalk!

[Bulldogmikey]

Baseball pitchers Rosin Bag has a very fine rosin that is highly mositure resistient. It works great!

[Barefoot]

Depends on the box. I've had boxes that barely needed any chalk at all, then there was the Llohman that a friend handed me that he couldn't get to do more that squeak no matter how he sanded it or what kind of chalk he put on it. I put a little rosin on it and it came back to life. (It was his father's old call and I watched a grown man cry that night.)

Rosin will get gummy under certain circumstances; mostly when it gets too hot. But sometimes rosin from one source tree will not react well when put on another resinous wood (i.e. pine rosin applied to a Spanish cedar paddle). But even that doesn't always hold true, so its very hard to predict.

I've also found that all chalk is not the same. I'm not very impressed with most school chalks or the brown stuff you see in Wal-Mart and other big-box stores put out by H.S. Strut or Primos or somebody. Carpenter's chalk from a hardware store works much better. But the hands-down best that I've found is railroad chalk. Oh, and make sure that ANY chalk that you use does not have wax in it.

Jim Davis' RainChalk seems to work very well on most any friction call, even glass or crystal pots. Jim Passed away about a year ago, but his daughter is trying to make a go of his product.

[Dragonfly]

The stuff sucks, period!  Can even ruin some paddles pending the wood grain. If you have a good box you shouldn't need anything that sticky.

[Ferguson]

Interesting replies. I'm sure there's more opinions out there? I personally don't use it but have tried it on a couple cull lids. It definately does add grab to the lid. I noticed on the call lids I aplied it to, made for some loud fight'n purs. I reckon the weather and humidity problems you all referred to could definately be a problem. One thing you haven't mentioned was how does it last compared to chalk? Do you need to add rosin to the lid more often or less often?
I know some of the Ol'Timers used pine rosin years ago and if it was better than chalk then more folks would be using it. I enjoy all the different opinions and preferences.
Thanks for the replies.
David

[GR8CALLS]

 I have a Cypress call that Neil Cost made. He found that that particular call, would not work w/ chalk and sent rosin in a small bag along w/ the call.

Bill

[Barefoot]

Dragonfly, please don't misunderstand me. I was simply replying to Freguson's question. I agree that a good box in good condition should not need more than a decent unwaxed chalk. But, as in the case of the heirloom call I mentioned above, when chalk does not work, rosin just might be what that paddle is looking for. I'm not saying that rosin is a great substitute for chalk. It has a lot of problems and, as you say, it can ruin a paddle. But when chalk does not work, and you want to try to salvage the call, what have you got to lose?

RainChalk does not contain rosin and that is what I try when chalk does not work by itself. But if even RainChalk doesn't pull the call back, I might try rosin either by itself or as a base under either chalk or RainChalk before tossing it into the burn bin.

Bill, that's what I was talking about. Apparently the rosin that Mr Neil gave you works well with the rosin in cypress. But be careful what you replace it with. Pine rosin may work well, but rosin from fir or some other source may have other effects. I even believe that there are real differences in the rosin from various subspecies of pines.

In my opinion, rosin has way too many variants to be used indiscriminately on every call. It should be tried when other measures don't work. But to discard it from your bag of tricks is equally wrong.

[Dragonfly]

barefoot,
    no worries with me or my opinion bud.  I just simply stated my thoughts of it.  I had some bad experiences with it on some calls.

[firedup]

I found that rosin more so than chalk seems to respond to humidity and becomes very sticky with time.  The rosin seems to be globular and difficult to spread evenly.  I personally didnt care for it, and switched back to chalk soon thereafter...

+2 on that.  Plus the heat factor. Left in the truck or other hot location and it can get funky.

[GR8CALLS]

Barefoot

The rosin Neil sent w/ that call was a real fine powdered rosin. It (rosin) is over 20 years old and still has the same quality it had when I got the call.

Bill