Call conditioning

Zkid09

Senior Member
without looking back, i remember someone asking about conditioning aluminum calls.. im very new to pot calls but i will give my experience!

i bought a HS strut black magic a few days ago. i cleaned it with alcohol and it was okay, but left some to be desired.
i then took a piece of green scotch brite and scuffed a patch of it. it was much better. it sounded a lot more realistic and wasnt as whiny for lack of a better word.
i then tried some 220 on a small place and scuffed over it with some scotch brite again and definitely like it. with a small section done in 220, then some with only the scotch, it has two very distinctive sounds. the place with 220 is higher pitched and more raspy, but the just scuffed section has a more throaty sound to it.

like i said, im very new so some of my wording may be off as to how to explain it, but i believe it will help a few of the newer guys!
 

JimLandt

Senior Member
I have trouble getting my Glass to sound right, do I really need to get more agressive with the conditioning? I hate to mess up all the pretty graphics but pretty won't kill a turkey.

One of the best tips I ever got for conditioning certain, hard to use, glass pot calls, made of both plexi-glass and real glass/crystal, is to just pick up a piece of granite off the gravel road and scuff the surface aggressively. It will totally ruin the look of whatever graphic might be on it, but it will make that pot sing sweet and raspy like nothing else you can buy.
 

strutlife

Senior Member
Maroon scotchbrite can be bought at places that sell automotive paint or most body shops have them you could get cheap.
 

Wayne D Davis

Senior Member
For the narrow striking area on an Eddie Salter scratch box whats best "back and forth" or "up down length? Its only like 5/8th wide
 

josh chatham

Senior Member
It depends on what type of call you are talking about. I will assume that you are talking about Friction Calls:

Glass or Crystal: I Grit Blast with 220 Grit Aluminum Oxide. If the surface needs to be touched up I use 60-80 Grit Gator Grit Sandpaper depending on how raspy I wan the call to be.

Slate: I use a Maroon Scotch Brite Pad to scrub the surface as needed. You can also use a lighter or candle to make any Slate Call sound better. I do not care who made it, it will make it sound better!

Silver Aluminum: Scrub the surface as needed with Maroon Scotch Brite Pad.

Treated Silver Aluminum: Use Call as received and do nothing to it. I have a call that I made over 2 Years ago with this Material that has never been conditioned and still works as good as the day it was made.

Anodized Aluminum: Use Alcohol Shot Prep available at your local Pharmacy or use Alcohol on a cottom Ball to clean Call surface as needed. Do not condition this type of Calling Surface or you will have to do it everytime you want to use the call because it will start oxidizing!

Box Calls: clean off old chalk with a clean dry cloth and apply new chalk to paddle.


Hope that this helps!

Exactly how do you use a lighter for a slate call? I have one that needs to sound a little better! Do you lightly burn the surface?
 

DLH_Woodstock

Senior Member
Great post

This was a great post!
I had never heard of using a lighter to dry out a slate call. I have not done very well in the past with my slate calls but this year was much different. The difference that drying out my call made was tremendous. Thank you rutandstrut :cheers: for my best year ever in the turkey woods.

You can also use a lighter or candle to make any Slate Call sound better. I do not care who made it, it will make it sound better!

It depends on what type of call you are talking about. I will assume that you are talking about Friction Calls:

Glass or Crystal: I Grit Blast with 220 Grit Aluminum Oxide. If the surface needs to be touched up I use 60-80 Grit Gator Grit Sandpaper depending on how raspy I wan the call to be.

Slate: I use a Maroon Scotch Brite Pad to scrub the surface as needed. You can also use a lighter or candle to make any Slate Call sound better. I do not care who made it, it will make it sound better!

Silver Aluminum: Scrub the surface as needed with Maroon Scotch Brite Pad.

Treated Silver Aluminum: Use Call as received and do nothing to it. I have a call that I made over 2 Years ago with this Material that has never been conditioned and still works as good as the day it was made.

Anodized Aluminum: Use Alcohol Shot Prep available at your local Pharmacy or use Alcohol on a cottom Ball to clean Call surface as needed. Do not condition this type of Calling Surface or you will have to do it everytime you want to use the call because it will start oxidizing!

Box Calls: clean off old chalk with a clean dry cloth and apply new chalk to paddle.


Hope that this helps!
 

AStrick

Senior Member
How a bout reconditioning call strikers? It seems after just a few yers my strikers go bad and sound more like a dieing rabbit than a turkey?
 

bfriendly

Bigfoot friendly
I put my box call in top of the dash and hit it with some high Heat defrost.........always sound much better when it is super dry.
Still dont know how to use it very well, but I am haaving a good time!!:banana:
 

matt79brown

Senior Member
I usually stick my striker in the wet ground as i re-position myself. Then find that it's useless for the rest of the morning. This has helped me kill most of my birds. If you don't understand this, then your probably not hunting public land. Really tho, thanks everyone. Lot of good pointers here!
 

Hamer174

Senior Member
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

I usually stick my striker in the wet ground as i re-position myself. Then find that it's useless for the rest of the morning. This has helped me kill most of my birds. If you don't understand this, then your probably not hunting public land. Really tho, thanks everyone. Lot of good pointers here!
 
condition calls

On my slate and glass pot calls I really like to use a primos slick stick. It has a rough grinding side that gets down into the glass very well then I flip the slick stick over and smooth it with the stone side. I leave the dust on the call. It's so quick and easy and doesn't take up any room in your vest or pack. You can also store a piece of chalk and scothbrite in the end of the slick stick. Great little invention and less than $10. It's the best thing I've found for glass pot calls.
 

CoopD68

New Member
Could you explain the "lighter or candle" method of conditioning a slate call, please!

Thanks and good luck today!

It depends on what type of call you are talking about. I will assume that you are talking about Friction Calls:

Glass or Crystal: I Grit Blast with 220 Grit Aluminum Oxide. If the surface needs to be touched up I use 60-80 Grit Gator Grit Sandpaper depending on how raspy I wan the call to be.

Slate: I use a Maroon Scotch Brite Pad to scrub the surface as needed. You can also use a lighter or candle to make any Slate Call sound better. I do not care who made it, it will make it sound better!

Silver Aluminum: Scrub the surface as needed with Maroon Scotch Brite Pad.
Treated Silver Aluminum: Use Call as received and do nothing to it. I have a call that I made over 2 Years ago with this Material that has never been conditioned and still works as good as the day it was made.

Anodized Aluminum: Use Alcohol Shot Prep available at your local Pharmacy or use Alcohol on a cottom Ball to clean Call surface as needed. Do not condition this type of Calling Surface or you will have to do it everytime you want to use the call because it will start oxidizing!

Box Calls: clean off old chalk with a clean dry cloth and apply new chalk to paddle.


Hope that this helps!
 

CoopD68

New Member
Thank you! Haven't heard of doing that before. I'll certainly give it a try. Been very quite here in Monroe County so far this Turkey season.
 

bfriendly

Bigfoot friendly
I usually stick my striker in the wet ground as i re-position myself. Then find that it's useless for the rest of the morning. This has helped me kill most of my birds. If you don't understand this, then your probably not hunting public land. Really tho, thanks everyone. Lot of good pointers here!
Being stubborn myself and wanting to keep calling until something walks out on public land, I finally understand. I have learned that sometimes the best thing to do is forget your arsenal of calls at the truck.....Or go all out calling like a crazy drunk chick! maybe just scratch some leaves Or slap the ground with your hat to mimic wing sounds. If they are around they WILL HEAR YOU.....they may just come looking even if they don’t make any sounds. I heard not one gobble last year.
 
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