Making an open reed Call

Rich Cronk

Rich Cronk

New member
One of the other moderators suggested that I do an online tutorial on how to make a call. I will try to explain how I make a deer antler predator call. There are quite a few photo's involved here and may take a few days for me to get everything posted here so please bear with me. I started with a point from an old whitetail shed that is pretty weather beaten. First photo shows me getting ready to saw the antler to correct length on a band saw.
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The next step requires extreme care. It involves step drilling a hole which starts at front of barrel and extends all the way to the air groove. You must always visualize where tip of drill bit is, because you will drill out through side of the antler and ruin everything you have done so far. Also, I have set the belt on my drill press to slip really easy just in case the bit grabs. Be Sure to start out with biggest bit you plan to use and drill that hole first. On this call, I started with a 5/16" bit, drilled as dep as I dared and then switched to a 1/4" bit to drill on through to meet the air groove. Notice the large channel lock pliers that I hold the antler in place with. (I value my arms and hands)
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Hey, Rich, my wife is complaining about the smell from here! I can't even sand on a deer antler without her smelling it from a mile away. Sorry! Carry on.
 
The reed is cut from polyester film (Mylar). I used .010" stock for this project and I cut my reeds with ordinary scissors. The front of the reed is bent up at 90 degree angle about 1/4" from the end. This creates a positive stop for the sheep bands I later use to hold reed in place. I am going to try to show this photo full size so that you can all see the reed real good and please also notice the slope of the reed bridge.
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This photo shows the sheep bands hoding the reed in place. The small file at bottom is what I use for fine tuning of the reed bridge.
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I hear ya Songdogger! Wives simply hate that smell. When I am finished with all sanding and tuning I seal everything with Rustoleum "hardhat" clearcoat. This helps the queezy folks who can't stand the taste of deer antler.
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it sure does sound and look easy, be in reality to get calls that look and sound like cronk calls do you have a lot of hard work, experience and a good ear. i make mouth calls and it is not easy but i consider it a labor of love. thanks rich for sharing, how about those howlers, that could be your next lesson. a sincere thank you, stump jumper
 
Rich, could you show me a front view looking from the mouth piece to the barrels so I can see how far you drilled out to the air channel. Thanks for sharing!

Steve
 
Skued,
I like to leave a flat spot about 1/4" long just ahead of air groove. It is best if the hole in barrel ends up just under the flat spot. This insures that no air leaks out in front of reed when you blow. On this project my bit came out a little too high but I made it work anyway.
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It seems that most of the time, the antler is too crooked to drill all the way to air groove from the front, so I drill at an angle from air grrove end. Hopefully the holes will meet inside the barrel. Here again is a great danger of the bit grabbing when it meets the hole inside barrel so please be careful. Hold those pliers tight and make sure the belt on drill press is loose so that it will slip before it pulls your hand in to the machine.
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Rich, you're a generous man to devulge the secrets of a master such as your self. This summer I've been enjoying using some of my free time turning perfectly good deer and elk antlers into into predator calls but the ones that we've been making are of the closed reed design. My call making partner is going to Friendship, In. this weekend to the NMLRA's rendevous to sell his wares and a few of our calls. This has been a fun project to colaborate on but with all the effort put into them they are not something to get "Rich" on, are they? By the way, I used a patch of leather to help hold my antler while clamping it tight with the plyers. I never thought about the loose belt trick. Thanks, Christopher.
 
Christopher,
Sometime when you get a chance, maybe you could start another thread about your own antler calls. If you have a photo or two of your calls, I'm sure that a lot of guys here would love to see them.
 
Rich, that's a thought I will keep in mind when things get a bit slower around here. On the photo's, I would love to post some pictures of our calls but Ol' Virg has them all boxed up to take with him to display come Friday. When he gets back I'll take a few out and work on getting a good shot of them to show on the board. I'll keep looking to see if you are going to enlighten us on any more of your call making expertise. Christopher
 
Rich, thanks a ton for being so willing to share your hard earned knowledge!
Christopher, I would be real interested in a tutorial on how to make the closed reed calls you talked about. I cant seem to get the hang of the open reed to well yet.
 
Rhino,
I ain't getting any younger and nobody in my family shows any real interest in learning the trade. The call making is mostly a hobby for me and when I'm gone there will be no more Cronk Custom Calls. You never know when I'm gonna close the shop and just go hunting either. All good things must come to an end. In meantime I am opening this thread for questions because when you actually start making one of these buggers there are gonna be some questions alright.
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Rhino, I would like to give a tutorial on them. We're pretty proud of the way these things sound as well as the asthetics. Like I said my partner is off to hawlk our toots for the next couple of weekends and I usually do some of the work in my shop and then we get together at his well tooled manufacturing business to put the finishing touches on them. If you can wait for a few weeks for us to work on a couple more and take pictures of the process then I will do my best to get back with you on it. My hardest thing is to be able to post the pictures once I take them. Rich, I can understand why you keep popping these calls out, it's a way to keep in touch with our calling hobbie and gratifying at the same time to turn these antlers into a usable hunting tool. Don't give it up too soon th web wouldn't be same without "Cronk's Custom Calls."
 
Rich, you were explaining to Skued about a 1/4" flat spot between the air channel in the mouth piece and the hole in the barrel. Is this like a raised bridge or baffle in the air channel? My guess is that this is where you insert the cork to secure the reed. I'm trying to get it figured out. After this picture you then show drilling the antler out from the mouth piece. When doing this are you elimating the flat spot or staying above it. I'm also suprised that you Dremmel the air channel instead of just drilling it with a bit. Does this allow you to better tune the call? Thanks again, Christopher.
 
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