It's a cold opener in Minnesota,temps in the teens mourning,,I grew up when there was no video games pool tables were very much a thing of desire and status but we were always told you had to maintain the right environment for the slate beds.
I'm not bringing my nice slate calls out in sub freezing temps for fear that slate is a little brittle,,any thoughts on slate and temperature,,I know humidity and dampness is a factor but how about just plain freezing temps???
Love to hear the call makers weigh in on this.
I don't have any experience hunting in sub freezing Temps, but I know that you can't just take your call from the warm house to the cold outside and expect it to play. The call needs to acclimate to the temperature for several minutes.
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I know I have received calls on very cold days that have sat in my mailbox all day and the first think I do is open them up and play. 2 years ago it was 19 degrees for my son's youth hunt and I believe I carried an aluminum surface and a green slate for pot calls that day.
I made and tested my pots during winter months and never had any slate crack, the only issues are that the sounds are not as good say if the temperature was warmer out. My opinion is you risk more of a crack when it's more humid and if the wood is not dried and expansion takes place and tightens up the gap around the slate leading to pressure cracking it. Run them calls.
For the best sound it probably will need to acclimate, but I would not worry about the slate just being out in the cold for a second. Especially the colored slates. That piece of slate went through heck in the manufacturing process to end up where it did. If it was going to fail because of a fault within itself, it was most likely to fail then.
The roof on my house is 3/16 to 1/4 inch thick (probably a few closer to 1/8) slate that has seen 167 years worth Vermont weather. That's not much thicker than the piece of slate in your pot call. Slate is tough stuff.
If it's really cold , i warm my pot calls with handwarmers ...
I hunt late fall and also cold Iowa springs with sometimes snow on the ground and have never had problems with any of my pot call surfaces including slate.
Quote from: Ol timer on April 16, 2020, 08:12:41 AM
I made and tested my pots during winter months and never had any slate crack, the only issues are that the sounds are not as good say if the temperature was warmer out. My opinion is you risk more of a crack when it's more humid and if the wood is not dried and expansion takes place and tightens up the gap around the slate leading to pressure cracking it. Run them calls.
This right here. The wood has to be dried right. I had 2 calls that the surfaces cracked in from the wood not being properly dried and I also had one go dead from moisture. All 3 calls weren't properly dried before they were turned.