Designing and making pot calls

[tenringtaylor]

Hey guys I'm not new to OG but I dont spend much time in this side of the forum. I'm going to venture into building pot calls and have some ideas but I was curious how you guys are cutting the pots? Are they CNC'd or made on a lathe? I could use some direction in who I should look to for making the pots.   
Thanks guys

[WillowRidgeCalls]

Drill Press, Bandsaw, Belt Sander, Sore Elbows. 

[handcannon]

Majority of the guys on here use lathes. A few go with the drill presses.

[Longbeardfever4ever]

I use a lathe. Some big names use CNC and they have their own right in things such as mass production..it takes talent to program one of those things from what I've heard!

Love my wood lathe though.

[lightsoutcalls]

I use a lathe.

You need to decide what you want to get out of callmaking before you start making calls.  Do you want to craft a handmade call for specific individuals?  Do you want to make your calls out of any number of woods according to an order for one call- a dozen calls?  Do you want to flood the market with your "brand" with ads in every sporting magazine available? 

Get a feel for what you want to do with your calls before you jump in with both feet.  Some folks could care less if their call is one of 10,000 turned to exact dimensions by means of a computer and automated equipment.   Other folks like to be able to talk to the callmaker and give specific input or make special requests regarding a sound they want out of their call.  I don't see a thing wrong with making calls with a CNC machine... as long as you don't present them as custom made or handmade.  There is definitely a market for mass produced calls. 

[FJC]

You can buy a CNC for a descent price and spend half the man hours and make a better sounding call if you are planning on selling them in large quanities.  A CNC with a 4' X 4' table including router is about $3500, with the program and computer your looking at about $5000.  If makeing money is in your plans you could make that money back at a couple of conventions if they sound like a turkey.