There's an old thread from about nearly 4 years ago I had been meaning to revive. After several attempts to fix said problem, no panacea was found. Let's make a turkey call!
Step #1: Equipment and Materials.
There are a few "must haves" when it comes to making mouth yelpers. Here you can see the things I normally use when making a call. As we go through the process, you will see how I use each tool. Some are more necessary than others. For example, by no means is the Feather Ridge jig or cutter required. The jig can be substituted for Scotch tape and your own deft touch. The cutter is easily replaced by a pill bottle template and a set of scissors. Conversely, you can purchase a competition style setup, which will yield much more precise level of call build, but for a pretty penny.
Ultimately, latex/proph, frames, and tape are the 3 must haves. How you arrive at the finished product is up to you.
Step #2: Stacking Latex
Stacking the rubber component of our call is the first step in our journey to the perfect mouth call. I've used Red4 and Blue Proph in my example. These two offer a visual contrast to help show the offset.
Begin your stacking process with the heaviest of your reeds. This will be your top reed. One thing to realize is that for a large part of this process, the call is upside down. So we lay our top reed down, and tack the following reed to it with the corncob holder(or whatever tool), with a small amount of offset. This will "attach" the two reeds and make them easier to transport while maintaining the offset and even stacking. Now repeat the process with the third reed. If you're only building a two reeded call, you are on to the next step.
Step #3: Stretching Latex
Here I have provided you with some combinations of latex and stretch. Use these to get started. Develop your own recipes once you've gotten the basics down.
Lay your stack of latex down into your jig/press/table where you plan to stretch it with the top reed, red in our case, down. Clamp the call down and stretch to your desired tension.
Step #4: Applying the Frame
Take a frame, I use Small Crowned w Adhesive, and peel the paper off the back. I like to nearly fold them down to closed so that my pliers can get a nice good bite onto each side. Clamp your pliers onto each side of the call at the tip of each "U". I don't like to do this to the point where it's really deforming the aluminum of the frame. Just tight enough to solidly lock in the side tension.
From there, with the call still locked into the jig/press/Scotch tape, we pull back tension. Ultimately the amount you pull is up to you. I like to just get the wrinkles out while some prefer the leading edge of the call to have a "Smile" or half moon appeal. Up to you. This is where I like to use the longer nosed pliers so that I'm not working against myself trying to get the pliers to the frame while also pulling the latex towards me. Pinch the frame with your pliers and hold the call with them as you remove it from your stretching medium. With the call out of the stretcher,fold the bottom tab up to seal up your call.
It should look something like this:
Step #5: Cutting Latex
We now have the internals of a mouth yelper. Time to trim off that excess.
Pulling some tension on the excess as you cut around the outside of the frame will help to cleanly remove the extra latex.
Now we will add our cut(s) to the call. I always add the cut to my calls BEFORE they get wrapped in tape. I do this because nothing is more likely to ruin this call than a poorly made series of cuts. To defend against wasting additional materials, we cut first and then apply the tape at the end.
Again starting with the call upside down, slide your scissors between the top reed and the reed below it, then flip the call back around so that you're only going to be cutting the top reed and make your cuts.
Step #6: Tape
Now that we have finished the internals of our call, it's time to get it taped up.
All that's left to do is cut it out to fit your palate.
If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. This board has a lot of great call makers lurking around!
