Building diagram calls

[Sheepdog]

I started building turkey call for myself this spring. I’m struggling getting a good diaphragm for bugling though. I’ve tried black .003, green .003, natural .003, gray .004, red .004. I’ve got medium frames and small - turns out they are the same size as most of my old elk diaphragms. I’ve tried bracketing stretches from .06-.3 on a feather ridge press. I just haven’t been able to find a sweet spot. Anyone here build their own and mind sharing any info here or by PM would be greatly appreciated

 

[Dave_]

I started building some a few years ago with a homemade jig. I haven't built any in a while so I need to check my notes for specs. my jig is homemade so I don't know specifically how much stretch, just how many quarter turns of the handle. I'll see if I can find my notes and get back to you.

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[Dave_]

OK found my notes, I'll caveat with saying that I'm still learning also and I haven't found the perfect recipe yet either. I'm just eyeballing it and it's hard to be consistent with the homemade jig, so when I started testing only like 1 in 5 would sound just ok, but 1 in 20 would sound really good. The rest just sounded like crap. I'm slowly getting more consistent now that I found roughly what works for me. I number all my diaphragms with a sharpie and keep a little chart with materials used, and rough notes on sound results so I can try narrow down the best combos of materials.

I've only played around with .003, .004, .005 natural latex and .004 yellow. For me the thicker latex seem to give better bull sounds. For me, the single .003 may make some ok cow calls or high pitched location bugles, otherwise seems like you need to double it or go thicker. I've had my best luck (so far) with the .005 natural latex (single or double) or .004 yellow latex (single or double). I haven't tried 3x yet. I've found you don't need very much stretch at all, some of mine I don't stretch at all just make sure the latex is flush & flat, hold in place and crimp it. So maybe start at 0 and slowly work up until you find your sweet spot. Also make sure you know the size/shape you want to cut the tape, if they are all to big or small they will all sound wonky, so you may try testing your sizes/trimming also. Some of the calls work better after you break them in also, so I usually don't trash one until I test it at least twice. I'm mostly using the small crowned frames with adhesive. I also have some small flat frames and narrow frames also but haven't played around to much with them. I might try those narrow frames for cow/calf calls this year.

Hope this helps. It's fun to learn and test what works. I killed my 2022 WY gen bull using a homemade diaphragm and killed a turkey this spring with one of my elk diaphragms, that was pretty cool.

 

[Sheepdog]

Dave_,

thanks for the tips. I was definitely going with too much stretch like I would with a turkey call. I’m getting a chance to mess with them again today. Getting much better calls with .004 yellow around .05 stretch on domed youth frames with adhesive. The youth frames I get seem to be closer in size to the elk calls I’ve used before. I’ll have to play with it a little more and try some double reeds like you suggested.

I get all my supplies pioneer or brookside. I’ve never seen latex larger than .004. Where did you find the .005 stuff?

For cutting calls I’ve got a feather ridge cutter. It makes life a lot easier, just line up the call on the cutter and pull down the lever. It’s quick and consistent.

 

[Dave_]

Nice! I bought most of my stuff from Pioneer 2-3 years ago. Maybe they stopped carrying it...

I might need to buy a cutter someday. I just trace a piece of pipe that matches the curvature I want then cut it out with scissors and trim. So I make a few mistakes...

Cheers

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