# Open Reed Call making...



## Yotehntr

I saw at another forum one of my call making buddies giving a step by step without a lathe to a guy that had asked where to get call bodies&#8230; well Marvin had made calls before he had access to a lathe&#8230; been making them for about 1 year less than I've been alive so believe me he knows his stuff! We got to talking and next thing you know he's going to make an enclosed reed call and I'm making an open reed&#8230; no lathes of highly specialized tools allowed.. hand sanding.. I used a scroll saw but you can do the same with a coping saw&#8230; after a few tries this is what I came up with.
Step 1..cut a blank that is long enough for your barrel and your toneboard...decide how long the toneboard will be and mark your lines for length and width...










Drill out the bore of the barrel and drill out the air channel I think I used about 1/4" for the air channel, 3/4 for the bore.



















I used a roll of masking tape for my ramp... just landed it a little above center at the barrel and a little below the entrance of the air channel. Really just did this by eye.. no set dimensions.


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## Yotehntr

I used a scroll saw to cut out the ramp then cut along all the toneboard lines to remove the obvious extra wood.


















I went a little to high and ended up with some excess to cut and file away.. no big deal just more time.









sanding the ramp and filing out the air channel


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## Yotehntr

I carved and filed a while to round off the corners, the sanded them some what smooth.










Did the "shoe shine boy" thin on the back of the ramp to round it off...










Worked better than I expected..


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## Yotehntr

Grabbed a milk jug to use for a reed, cut it to fit over the air channel.. wider will make the pitch lower, narrower will make it higher pitched. It needs to fall about 1/32" longer than the air channel... I used a castration band to hold the reed in place.










Here's the finished product.. it's no beauty, but I have no doubt it'll call a coyote in... give it a listen... just CLICK HERE


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## On a call

Thank you, great instructions.

In your oppinion how would you rate it ?


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## Yotehntr

.. well I think it's butt-ugly! LOL no doubt it'd call a critter in though! (did you give it a listen?) I plan to prove that this season too.. I usually like to carry my nicer calls but this really was a fun project. I figure I should prove it's worth and kill one over it.









I forgot to mention in the post that's a piece of cherry...not that it matters... I wouldn't try it with pine or any soft wood.. they can really be a pain in the butt with the splintering. (just helpful advice) it can be done, it'll just be more trouble.


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## Mattuk

Very good Brad, no one likes a show off though!


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## hassell

Yes very cool indeed, great play by play for those wanting to try building one, Thanks for sharing.


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## bones44

Great instructions Brad ! I'm a historical carpenter and it never ceases to amaze me all the wonderful things I still haven't tried out. I found my next project !! Thanks !!


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## Mattuk

Come on Tom your not that old!


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## bones44

LOL..... I actually work for a museum/historical village. I make all the doors,windows,mouldings,flooring,etc. Everything is made in our shop. Not much is bought except the rough sawn lumber.


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## Mattuk

How interesting Tom, a man with lots of talent!


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## bones44

Thanks Matt. Sorry for hijacking Brad !


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## yotehd

Brad very cool thanks for sharing, i think i could use your instructions to have a group of kids make there own first call. thanks bud yh.


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## Antlerz22

Sounds good to me! Good step by step as well.


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## youngdon

That is a cool project... and I just happen to have some mesquite that is well dried.
Thanks for posting that Brad.


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## Yotehntr

LOL @ Matt.. Thanks guys! Thought some folks might get a kick out of this... I'll confess this was my 3rd attempt.. 1st one worked ok... I used another power tool though and wanted to make it more by hand.. I just messed up on the 2nd... used to big of a drill bit on the air channel.

LOL @ the "high jack" I got interested myself









That's cool as heck working with the young-uns yh!! I'd give it a run through on your own 1st. I had to swap blades cutting through that thick a piece of wood on a scroll saw makes a little smoke if you aren't careful. Don't ask how I know that!







my blade got dull so I started pushing harder... it broke through and cut through a little finger tip & nail...







stupid mistake but it happened... super glue's holding it together now. LOL

I'd love to see what some of ya'll come up with!

Brad


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## Mattuk

That sounded nasty! Ouch!


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## youngdon

I hate it when my finger tips get in the way.... I removed two of them after they got in the way once to often.


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## Yotehntr

Ouch! I just cut it a little... wiped it off, put some super glue on and kept going. No limb removal! Just didn't want YH to end up with a hurt young-un.


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## bones44

Just part of the joy of working with wood and power tools. Sooner or later they bite !


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## Rick Howard

So I had to sign up for the forum just to be able to respond to this post. Fantastic!!! Thank you! I am going to give it a try.


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## Mattuk

Welcome to PT itzDirty!

Yeah forums don't really work without members! Glad your here, there is a Introduction Forum for your first post so you can tell us a little about yourself.


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## youngdon

Welcome to the forum itzDirty.


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