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I have quite a few turkey pot calls. Slate, glass, crystal, aluminum, you name it. It's fine to buy a call someone else made. But I've been wanting to make a pot call myself, out of materials native to my state of Virginia. I'm not a wood worker. And I'm not a stone mason. But I wanted a slate call made from slate that I collected here in my own state.
So a few weeks ago, I went exploring the slate belt in the hills of Appomattox, Virginia. I found a nice area with lot of black slate with loose slabs that had potential. I collected a few slabs and brought them home. Through trial and many errors, I taught myself how to split it, more or less. I finally ended up with a few pieces I could thin and grind into a sound board and playing surface. I did end up buying a pre-made Holly wood pot. Holly is ubiquitous here in my state and I like the near pure-white color. So after a lot of splitting, and thinning with a concrete grinding disk on my angle grinder, and some grinding on a sacrificial grinding disc to make make thre pieces round, I ended up with a 2.5" sound board and a 3.4", more or less, surface piece. This is how it turned out.
Here's how it sounds. In fact, these are my first real attempts to extract some sound out of my newest call.
www.youtube.com
www.youtube.com
I've since tried many strikers of many typles of materials and wood. I've settled on a Hickory wood striker, whihc has about the same color as the Holly pot. I'll be hunting with this call this spring.
So a few weeks ago, I went exploring the slate belt in the hills of Appomattox, Virginia. I found a nice area with lot of black slate with loose slabs that had potential. I collected a few slabs and brought them home. Through trial and many errors, I taught myself how to split it, more or less. I finally ended up with a few pieces I could thin and grind into a sound board and playing surface. I did end up buying a pre-made Holly wood pot. Holly is ubiquitous here in my state and I like the near pure-white color. So after a lot of splitting, and thinning with a concrete grinding disk on my angle grinder, and some grinding on a sacrificial grinding disc to make make thre pieces round, I ended up with a 2.5" sound board and a 3.4", more or less, surface piece. This is how it turned out.
Here's how it sounds. In fact, these are my first real attempts to extract some sound out of my newest call.
Homemade slate call
My first turkey pot call. Made with black slate from the Blue Ridge, and ground and shaped by me.
www.youtube.com
Homemade Turkey Call 2
Made with black slate from the Blue Ridge. And ground and shaped by me.
www.youtube.com
I've since tried many strikers of many typles of materials and wood. I've settled on a Hickory wood striker, whihc has about the same color as the Holly pot. I'll be hunting with this call this spring.
