Building Mouth Calls

[Dylanh]

I want to get into building my own calls. I do not really want to do this to sell them, but I just want to build them for myself. I have become rather good at calling with a mouth call and I have started to research all of the different ways the turkey mouth call can be made. The different stretches, reed material, reed thickness, number of reeds and cuts. I am going to attach a link to a starter pack i am thinking about getting. Do any of y'all have any experience with this or can you suggest something better to start with? I also am unsure of how you cut the reeds other than with scissors.  I want to experiment with the ghost cut and not sure how I would do that with scissors. I know you can build them without a press, but I really want to have uniformity so I would like a press as well. Any information would be appreciated.
http://www.turkeyhuntingsecrets.com/store/store-calls-Mouth-Call-Maker-Kit.htm

[GobbleNut]

Someone referenced this same kit in the mouth call making discussion section a while back and thread and comments are still at the top of that section.  Here are my first thoughts on it again...

"That kit looks similar to the Call Purrfect kit that has been out for decades.  I had one way-back-when but found out before too long that it is pretty limited in what you can do with it in terms of reed tensioning...a factor that is very important in making calls.  I'm sure you would be able to make calls that will make turkey sounds but, quite honestly, there are better methods of making calls, including not using any kind of jig at all.

My advice would be to order call-making materials from a supplier (you will be able to get a lot more call-making materials for your money that way) and either get another type of jig that gives you more range in reed tensioning...or use a jig-less method of call making altogether.  If you go to another type of jig, you want to get one that allows you to vary the reed tensioning/stretch.  If you need more information on materials, jigs, or jig-less call making, I'm sure the folks here can help you out with recommendations.

Also, lots of good advice and answers to questions you might have can be found in previous posts in this section..."