My first laminate

[sharkathmi]

Greetings All,
A friend gave me a 4" square of 3/4" walnut. I cut a couple pieces out of it and glued them together, then I glued them to the white oak. Here is what happened:















All your tips helped a lot in the finishing. I had the Deft in the house before spraying to keep it warm.
I sprayed in the garage and kept the call out there to dry. Used lighter coats also.
4 coats and not a bubble.
I'm going to get a buffing wheel tomorrow and play around with buffing out the calls. Any tips on that?

Also, and be honest, is this too many pictures to post?

As always, comments welcome.

M

[Frogman]

I like the pictures.  You sure are picking this up quickly.  That's a nice looking call.


Jim

[WhiteHare]

You really have the bug and are doing well.  Nice work.   It looks like your talents are many.  I haven't tried calls yet but have been playing with other items.  Keepers for my lanyards, Christmas ornaments, and a couple of pens.
Maybe some day.

[HaMeR]

That is a nice looking call. White Oak/Walnut is quite American you know.    

One suggestion if I may. Look at your last picture. The better call makers are finishing the inside. While you are learning quickly & using your imagination with the woods & designs the function & longevity of the call should be 1st & foremost. I wouldn't want a purdy call that looks good splitting out on me.     Finish them inside & out then tune them. I think you are on your way to making some real eye candy. Hate to see things not work out for you.  

[sharkathmi]

Thanks for your comments Jim and Whitehare. I appreciate the support and kind words.

HaMeR - Thanks for the kind words also. How would you suggest I finish the inside? I sprayed down in there on all 4 coats to the point that it was getting dangerously thick on the end. I don't think the spray is getting down in there because I hold it with a dowel stuck down in there and that is making it a blind hole. I think the spray looses velocity before getting to the bottom. I sand down in there with a dowel and sand paper. I could do an oil finish down in there if using two different finishes won't mess things up. Am I also understanding that if you don't get finish down in side that the call may crack later on? :shck: That's not a good thing
Instead of trying to spray down in the bell, would you use that Min-Wax wipe on poly finish down in there? Just a thought.
Thanks for the help.
M

[Bills Custom Calls]

Shark
I don't want to steal your thread here But here is one I done today



It may not be perfect but I done the finish on the lathe
It is something new I tried on the last couple calls I made and it seems to work better then what I had been
doing.

What I had been doing is
Since I use friction polish for a finish
I would sand with the dremel and then I would just put a little bit of friction polish in the call and put a small buffuing wheel on the dremel and work the polish in that way.It gives the call a good finish but I always thought I could do something different
I have been told it is very important to make sure the inside of the call is sealed with someting because it will soak up moisture and then that will turn into mold and that is not a good thing

Now if you don't have a dremel you can
put some kinda finish oil or polish in the call and wipe it around with a soft cloth and that will take off what don't soake in.
It won't look as nice but it will be sealed

[HaMeR]

Bill got here 1st.   

Yes your calls can crack. The 1st finish rule of woodworking is to seal all sides the same. Since it's tough to do that with the spray finish you can use the wipe on poly I would think. I think it might be better to use something that penetrates better tho. BLO should be a good oil for this. I'm sure you'll get more help on this from the other call makers. Keep up the nice turnings. You are progressing nicely.

[Hawks Feather]

Q-tips work pretty well for inside the call.  You just don't want to use a finish that dries really fast - like thin CA or you will have a Q-tip call.  Just spray some of the Deft on the tip (fairly close) and it will soak it up and you will be able to wipe the inside of the call.

You can take the top layer of Deft off with 0000 steel wool, but you will need to wipe it down well afterwards or you will have steel wool in the finish. 

Jerry

[pitw]

You guy's keep giving out this kind of information and I might build a call.

[alscalls]

I just finished doing just that to the two calls I posted earlier.....Q tip and DEFT Works great.

[Jimmie in Ky]

Luckily your call design is going to help you limit moisture within the call . But it does need to be sealed some how to keep all moisture from getting in there. All wood is a living breathing materila through otu it's useful life. You will even find that if you don't dry the call before the final bore for reeds they can and will fall out later. Jimmie