Box Call Preference?

[firedup]

Good to see you Kenny!  I mostly make the hewn out one piece calls anymore.  No reason other than it seems to be where I am at right now. But have made both over the years.  As far as sound quality....I truely believe either can be a great call and deadly on turkeys.  Without any doubt one of the best calls I have (to my ears) is a little glued up Perfection Cherry on poplar from way back. There have been some outstanding glued up boxes over the years. 

[Barefoot]

Kenny,

You should post some of your calls on here!!     I ahve one of your sawn and glued calls and it sounds great!!  

Not sure if you're talking to me or not. That's my name, too.

I have put a couple of them up a while back, but I haven't been able to make any lately. Work was relentless last year and just when I get things to where I can get back in the shop and make a few for the first time in a year, they found a mass and I had to have surgery. It was benign, but the recovery set me back a couple of weeks. Then, once again, as I was about to get in the shop and work on a few, My mother fell very ill. She passed away last night and I will be dealing with the funeral and such for a while. Maybe I can get a few out soon. I'll need a little "alone" time by then. If so, I'll post a pic or two.

Thanks for the encouragement, guys. I plan to try a few Cost style boxes, but I may go turkey hunting for a few weeks first.

carry on...

[triune]

Interesting thought Jason.  One thing I can tell you about a glued box is that it is not going to fail due to a glue failure.  As long as it is done properly, the glued mating surfaces will be the strongest part of the call.  When a call fails to make the cut it goes in the woodstove.  The bright side of this is I am able to do some "R & D" on the call and the wood will consistently fail before the joint.  With my style of making a glued box, it is very easy to repair and replace sides as well.  I have had more than one come back to me that had been sat on and was able to put another side on the call and send it back.
I agree that a one piece may be more durable and this is only because I haven't had one of my one-piece boxes come back for "repair".  But this is only my experience with how I make a call.

Lou, if you were talking about me then I will post some pictures when I get the few in the shop finished.  A one-piece parquet, a one-sider and a couple more are almost complete.

Kenny

[letinmfly]

Kenny,

Looking forward to seeing them!! 

[charlieparrish]

I made about 40 or 50 glued up callers before I started making the hewn out ones..I definitely like the solid block of wood for the body of the caller..there is more leeway for tuning..such as tapering the sides and varying the thickness...most glued calls have  angled, but not tapered, sound boards of uniform thickness

[wiltznucs]

My first box call was a MS made Lynch World Champion so they have a place in my heart.  I've heard great calls made both ways but now carry a hewn out caller...

[shad309]

So, I guess the answer to your question is that I prefer the one the turkey is answering and I'll continue to carry both.

This! Couldn't agree more.

[triune]

Had the good fortune of being able to talk box calls and wood species at length with Doug Camp a few times before his passing and one thing I will never forget was..."Kenny, if it takes you more than 15 minutes to tune a glued up box caller then you won't be happy with it.  Just throw it away and start over."  The more I make, the more I prove this to be true.
  A sawn/glued box will tune easy or it won't so I would agree with Charlie on this.

[Barefoot]

Yup! I believe he was absolutely right. They either pretty much fall right into place or you can fight like heck with them and save maybe one in 5 of the initial culls.

[trb136]

I made about 40 or 50 glued up callers before I started making the hewn out ones..I definitely like the solid block of wood for the body of the caller..there is more leeway for tuning..such as tapering the sides and varying the thickness...most glued calls have  angled, but not tapered, sound boards of uniform thickness

I agree Charlie...the first calls I made were Glued up calls but I like the Hewned calls better ...

[Trophy_Taker]

I like whichever call that brings that longbeard in.  But I like making a hewn out box better.

Matt...

[GR8CALLS]

 Like many of you, I started w/ a Lynch...12 hole. Hunted three seasons w/ it and thought no call could ever be better...that was till in a hurry to set up on an old gobbler, I slipped and fell on it, breaking the left side out of it! I hunted all over creation looking for another 12 hole Lynch w/ no luck, so I bought a 1958 Lynch and darn if I didn't do the same thing a day after I got it...fell going down a ridge and broke it. That convinced me that one I was falling down way to much.....and two....if I was going to continue this obsession of hunting turkeys, I needed a more substantial box call. Enter Neil Cost.....the rest as they say, is history. I meet a great callmaker and have been hooked on the solid body call, ever since.

Bill