Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting Friction call maintenance.

I'm sure it's the same for all us,

I use a Slate, a Primos Glass and an Aluminum.

As I use the striker(s) I get the residue from the call on the striker, I then sand the Call and striker to improve friction and sound.

The Slate is doable, the glass is a headache, and the Alumimn isn't much better,

You cleaning the call and the striker, or just the call?

Sand paper on the striker, 3M pad on the call?

Do all calls have this issue?

On the aluminum call 220 sand paper on call and striker , on the glass any of the commercially available stones works best for me, my favorite is made by primos. The red scotch brite will work on the aluminum in a pinch but eventually it will need a better cleaning . Lightly on the striker so you dont change angle on the tip

Stones?

I sand my strikers flat and then hold it at an angle, using the edge, Wrong?

Don't know if it's wrong.

All of my strikers came with a round edge on the tip. A couple of the commercial call strikers are completely rounded.

I prefer laminated or dense hard wood on glass, haven't had a particular on slate, and still playing with one aluminum call to get the sweet spot.

I have a couple of copper calls, the difference is the quality/hardness of the copper plate. One is hard, and couple passes with a quality course emery paper will do for hours. The other is a soft surface, and tones drop noticeably after a few passes. I find myself continuously rotating the call to a new area of surface.

I generally treat the call surface, dust it off, and then wipe or buff the striker tip.

Of the two glass calls, one has a small half dollar area roughed, and the other came with the entire glass surface treated from the maker. IIRC, he used a standing belt sander to rough the call surface. I've expanded the first a bit with rough emery cloth, but not by much.

Don't know if it's right, but has worked for me.

I have only one striker that has a flat tip, which came that way. It has a plastic horn, hardwood stick and polymer tip. It is especially useful when the slate call is damp or wet. In that condition some of the other strikers I have used do not work well. I do not sand the tip, rather just buff with 3M Scotchbrite patch.

All my other strikers have rounded tips and respond differently if I lightly sand or buff them. I just experiment.

The maintenance on the slate call is buffing with a 3M Scotchbrite pad only.

a trick i was taught for a slate call on damp days is to keep a old film canister full of backing soda or use a camping salt shaker that has a top that closes. anyway sprinkle the baking soda onto the top of the slate for improved friction under damp conditions.even some on the tip of the striker will help too. anyone else try that on those damp wet mornings?

We talking about the Primos Slick Stick?

I hardly EVER touch the surface of my calls.

Most I do is wipe them off with rubbing alcohol. I dont use slate tho, due to damp morning failures. Glass, copper, and synthetics for me.

I very gently take the tip of my strikers and twist them back and forth a few times in a low grit sandpaper. Put the sandpaper between your thumb, and first two fingers, and poke in the tip for a twist or two.

Thats it. Less I fool with the surfaces, the better they sound.

Jim,

Do you find the soda just sucks up the moisture and now you got double the wet? Wet soda, on soon to be rewet slate?

If it works for you keep at it. I never thot to try it.

First off... The way Kenneth shoots, ain't a damn thing gonna help his hunting mojo


Laminated striker ain't ever a bad thang, best thing I've found so far...


I only have slate, I use a 3M pad and light abrasive pad. I don't care for aluminum. I should own a glass but the slate has lots of blood on it...

I played a wood haven glass the other day and it was sweet music for sure..

Careful, you may retire your slate, or only unbox it for sentimental tries.

I feel you can get as soft a call out of glass and synths as you can with slate.

Just alter the pressure a bit on the surface.

But I also understand the adherence to tradition.

Let's clarify, "you never touch the surface", with your hands or with a scouring/sanding item?

I'm scouring my slate every call sequence, or the surface has no friction.

That was hurtful.

Cabelas has that Glass for 67 bucks, just saying..........

$90 around here

True Ken.

I dont touch the surface as much as possible with my bare hands, but am not obsessive about it. It happens, just I try not to do it purposely.

But I also dont scratch up my surfaces hardly at all. Rather, I work with strikers to ruff them up just a bit til they catch and/or find the right striker tip shape and striker material to let that call work without heavy duty maintenance that affects sound and such. I never burn or rub them flat.

Just a slight ruffing to get sound, and find the sweet edg.

i'm not sure if it is removing the dampness or giving the surface a little friction to bite into the slate so a sound can be made but i think a little of both. if you have a old slate call you're not afraid of messing up, run it and the striker under the faucet then try to use the call after shaking off the water. now do it again and after shaking off the water put some baking soda on the surface and try the call. it's not going to work in a down pour but on those damp mornings when you really want that slate to work and it's just not singing like it does when really dry out, you might just get that song you were looking for in a pinch.of course yo can always just use a different call too but some folks just like using slate more than anything else. anyway this tip came from an old guy who makes some calls around here and it works to a degree but it's not waterproof.

Sorry Kenneth havent been on last couple days . Yes primos slick stick is my favorite , you can do glass or crystal with the stone and it has slots with scotchpad in them to clean strikers, also sheetrock screen does a good job on striker tips . You will find that using red or green scotch bright will give you slightly different sounds . Red usually will give a little more rasp . For aluminum the sand paper used lightly will clean the strriker tip better , and on most pot calls when your striker starts slipping its from build up on the striker tip as much as the surface of the call needing conditioning . I have an aluminum call from a company called enticer turkey calls , called silver fox that i really like , his website has a lot of instructional videos and he sells a little plano box with material in it for cleaning all types surfaces , sand paper sheetrock screen , scotchbrite and also different stones , he sells it for $6.95 I think. Its a really good little kit that is about the size of a cell phone and goes with me all season .

For a damp or wet slate when in the field I carry and use a butane lighter. Lightly apply the flame and you will be good to go.

Regarding the Woodhaven classic I have run one for years and it does reach out and pull in birds. One of my must have calls. BTW, their custom service is tops as I have had them rebuild it just prior to the opening of my season and they came through in plenty of time.