Why do you do it?

[fargobox]

Okay, so on a short box call (or long box for that matter) if you think about it the lid can only touch the surface of the sound rail by the thickness of a hair as it slides across it.  Presuming this is basically so, although I am open to discussion on this as well, what difference would it make if the call-maker didn't round over the lips/edges on the sound rails.  Could not one conclude that the surface area of contact would be greater and thus the potential for more friction/vibration between lid and rail?

As somewhat of an experiment, I tried this using the same materials for lid and box on 2 calls and to my ears (I am a decent blues harmonica player and only play by ear 8 and almost perfect pitch hearing )) I couldn't tell the difference.  I also had a friend play the calls with the lights off and not tell me which was which--I just couldn't tell the difference??  Both calls started to talk at essentially the same location on the rails and rolled-over at the same location as well.  Both felt smooth with no distinct change in drag/friction.

This is interesting and I wondered what you all thought?  Scott

[3CB]

Interesting thoughts. Hope some one can assist you in explaining this. I'm just an ole country boy that loves to talk turkey.

[fargobox]

Ah crap...you had me all excited when I saw a response.  I am not sure many will speak up for fear of giving something away but I do hope otherwise as I think this is a ligitimate consideration.

[Shadetree Callers]

Scott , it has been my experience that some calls work better with a squared edge and some , like butternut usually work better with a softer rounded edge . More surface area contact can create too much drag on some callers . Dick Kirby pointed this out on one of my old calls a few years back . Too much drag can cause a real barky sound . A squared edge usually breaks over sharper /more radical than a rounded edge , causing you to feel more of the breakover in your hand as you call . The harder the wood the sharper I generally make the edge of the soundboard . But I try to file the edge to meet the paddle at the same angle . Hope that helps .
Bob

[fargobox]

Bob, That is a good answer and I honestly had the hard/soft wood thing in my head last week when workig on some calls--glad you pointed it out.  Thinking about it more, there does seem to be a direct correlation between harder and softer woods with the amount of drag.  Just before I signed on tonight I was finishing a red cedar call that has a curly movagui lid.  In this case I rounded over the lid and it seemed sweet to me and smooth.  I have 5 other red cedar calls going on as well 2 with purpleheart and 2 others with sapele and one with walnut.  The Sapele is hard to beat no matter what I do, but the walnut seems to work better if the rails are 'flat'.  At this point in my call-making career I am NOT about to question the late legend Dick Kirby who family and business is just 30 minutes from where I live, but it did give me something to really think about.  Like so many other variables involved with this bizz, this is just another one to keep in mind as one switches back and forth between wood species.

You are spot on about the BARK sound just after it rolls-over, it can actulaly be too abrupt.  Thanks for the thoughts!