Most of you know how much I like fine strikers. I started hand whittling some for myself a few years ago. Needless to say I have made several. A forum friend asked me to make him one out of Cherry. I use my Cherry strikers a lot on copper/glass pot calls made by Mike Yingling. They just have a sound together I really like. I thought I would show you the steps I go through to whittle out a striker using my Case pocket knife and sandpaper. Fun hobby if you have a lot of time.
Block of wood
(http://i57.tinypic.com/5eivih.jpg)
Shaping it to look like a striker
(http://i57.tinypic.com/2z5rivm.jpg)
Starting to take shape
(http://i57.tinypic.com/epjep1.jpg)
Close
(http://i58.tinypic.com/prazc.jpg)
Comparison to a striker I hunt with
(http://i60.tinypic.com/30273ol.jpg)
Finished and ready to go
(http://i61.tinypic.com/fdx8bl.jpg)
Lot of time invested there. They are great strikers. I ALWAYS have one with me.
Nice!
Got to love a "handmade" striker. Looks great Rickey.
Very nice!
Nice Rickey....I need one :)
Good job Rickey! Too much work for me. :TooFunny:
That's COOL 8) Rickey Most guys wouldn't spend the time to do that .
Nice job Rickey, looks great.
It is a fun hobby Robert. But it does take a few hours to make one from start to finish. Next time you and David are up here you can go through my box and pick out a couple for each of you. I have some Dogwood, Peach, Pecan, and Pear wood I am going to make some out of this fall. I whittle a lot while I am sitting in a tree. ;D ;D
What do you charge for one?
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I do not sell them. I would be making about 50 cents an hour if I did. ;D ;D
I have two sets of 25 different woods that I made for myself. I also made a set for my son and a set for a good friend. I have made a few for some hunting buddies and need to make a few more to give to them. Some of the harder woods like Rosewood and Walnut are hard to whittle. Also some of the woods that have twisted grain patterns can be hard to figure out which direction to run your knife. They want to splinter.
I have used my strikers on pot calls to kill several gobblers.
I like them
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:icon_thumright: :icon_thumright:
I whittle a lot while I am sitting in a tree.
Quote from: West Augusta on August 17, 2014, 03:16:23 PM
Got to love a "handmade" striker. Looks great Rickey.
I guess you would know a thing or two about that.. :goofball:
Here's one I finished today out of Peach. Soft wood that sounds good on copper and slate.
(http://i61.tinypic.com/11uym3t.jpg)
Looks good
Nicely done!!!
I want mine from dogwood please. :turkey2: :TooFunny: Nice work Rickey :icon_thumright:
MAN RICKEY I WISH I HAD YOUR MONEY AND TIME...ID BE ALOT HAPPIER
Maybe my time Jeff. If you had my money you would be in big trouble. But when you get my age and the kids are all college educated and on their own it does not take much to get by. But wait, then the grandkids start showing up wanting something from Pawpaw. Oh well, they will get it as long as I have something to give.
MAYBE HE HAS A HIDDEN TREE THAT HE CLIMBES TO HAVE SOME QUALITY ALONE TIME TO
WHITTLE :laugh:
Bill,
I am not sure if these are going to work. Quite a bit of spalting in a Pink Dogwood. I am hoping to have enough wood to make four like these. If I do one of them will be headed to Rome, NY. But with the fine strikers you make you will laugh at my Hillbilly style.
(http://i59.tinypic.com/zldag6.jpg)
Quote from: hunter22 on August 21, 2014, 11:07:56 AM
Maybe my time Jeff. If you had my money you would be in big trouble. But when you get my age and the kids are all college educated and on their own it does not take much to get by. But wait, then the grandkids start showing up wanting something from Pawpaw. Oh well, they will get it as long as I have something to give.
You could always give them a pot call or two.You should have plenty to go around. :TooFunny:
Quote from: hunter22 on August 21, 2014, 04:04:20 PM
Bill,
I am not sure if these are going to work. Quite a bit of spalting in a Pink Dogwood. I am hoping to have enough wood to make four like these. If I do one of them will be headed to Rome, NY. But with the fine strikers you make you will laugh at my Hillbilly style.
(http://i59.tinypic.com/zldag6.jpg)
No laughing here Rickey they look fine to me and I'm sure they play as well. You mess with enough calls to know what works and what doesn't.
I think these might work. I wasn't sure when I started whittling and saw all the spalting. Still a long way from finishing.
(http://i58.tinypic.com/2j41o3q.jpg)
From the first photo when you started, that is some very good work.Especially just using a knife and sandpaper. They are really taking shape,and they will rip on a call for sure.
Nice work on the strikers ,,,,very cool
I seem to have missed this thread. Pretty nice Rickey!
How dry does the wood have to be?
Denny
Denny,
I do not have a moisture meter and would not know what was good if I did. When I started whittling a few years ago I got a couple big boxes of 1"X1"X12" pieces of all types of wood from ebay and a forum member. Lots of Oak , Cherry, Maple, Teak, Ash, etc. This wood was all kiln dried. I have about used it all up. Now I am trying to use wood that I find. The Dogwood strikers I am working on now came from a Pink Dogwood that had some dead limbs and had been that way for over a year. The Peach I recently made came from a limb I cut last summer and it had been drying in the barn for a year. I think the best wood to use is standing dead stuff if you can find it.
I promise this will be my last post on this thread. I wanted to show the finished Dogwood strikers. They look okay and sound great on slate.
(http://i61.tinypic.com/14dj3ev.jpg)
Very nice Rickey.It was cool to watch the process from the rough pieces, to the finished product.They really turned out well. Excellent work.Mark