Wood soundboards

[Gobbler2577]

I've been making pot calls for almost two years now and for some reason this year I decided to build a few with wooden soundboards.  I wish I would have done this sooner because I love the sounds, but I am having a problem.  I bought the first soundboards from a popular source and initially they looked good.  I kept them in the house where temp and humidity is relatively constant.  Many of them split and almost all of them warped.  I have since ordered more and while they haven't warped or split there is a great deal of variation in thickness.  My question is this:  do you fellows that make a good many calls just make your own wooden soundboards or is there a good source for precut ones?  Thanks for any input.
Larry.

[KentuckyHeadhunter]

The well known callmaker I learned from makes his own from mostly cherry.  Wood soundboards can be tricky because they will have a sweet spot sometimes due to the grain.  Certain parts will vibrate better than others around the circle.  If that makes sense.  Playing WITH the grain on that edge seems to achieve more vibration.  This probably doesn't answer your question but its what I have learned from a respectable source. 

[mastevt]

Stabilize them and you wont have any issues.  Got several sitting on my bench in the garage right now, in open air, for over a year, and not a single one has issue with warping. 

[WillowRidgeCalls]

If your having problems with your soundboards just store them in a zip-loc bag. Wood soundboards are all I use and have for years. I plane my wood down to the thickness I want and store the boards in a plastic tube. When I have the time, I cut a bunch out and put them in a zip-loc with the wood name on it and drop them in the tube also.

[mspaci]

when you say stabilize, not sure, how do you do that? I was thinking if they are dry & you sand & put a finish on them that should be good enough? Mike

[WillowRidgeCalls]

It is. Unless you planning on using a lot of spalted woods or burls, those are better stabilized because they aren't a real stabile wood in the first place. If all your using is a good solid wood then a finish is all you need on them. Don't try and make up a bunch of soundboards all at once, make them as you need them, just keep your wood supply dry and you won't have problems with them. Stabilized wood means it's stabilized with resin and in doing so take a lot of the tone qualities out of the wood, makes it more like a glass soundboard. You can get a good sealant by putting a couple coats of tongue oil on them,  tongue oil is what's used on wood duck calls to seal them, and they get plenty of water on them.