tuning a box call ???

[nyhunter]

What do you guy's do to tune your box call after it gets the chalk wore off and gets the black streak on the Lid ?

[TRKYHTR]

You have to constantly keep putting chalk on it. I chalk mine at the beginning of the day on a hunt and if I use it aolt I chalk it every 2-3 times I call on it. The chalking is not a one time thing. I keep a small piece of chalk on the inside of the call that way I have it at all times. The black streak as you call it is where the lid is rubbing on the rails to make the sound. That is normal. If you want to clean the chalk off the lid you can by using a dry paper towel and can even use a scotch brite pad to lightly wipe away any excess chalk. You really don't want to sand the lid as it can change the sound of the call. Once the chalk is removed then re chalk the call and it should be fine. Good luck,

Joe

[WillowRidgeCalls]

If your getting black streaks on your lid, that is a sign of a poor quality chalk, or your applying to much pressure down on the lid. The black streaks are burnish marks, caused by not enough chalk on the area where it rubs on the rails. It should show angel wings on the lid where it rubs on the rails, but you shouldn't be getting black streaks, that's a sign of junk chalk. Some calls prefer a courser grade chalk, like a railroad chalk instead of a carpenter chalk?
Who's chalk are you running on your call, what brand?

[bamagtrdude]

You have to constantly keep putting chalk on it. I chalk mine at the beginning of the day on a hunt and if I use it aolt I chalk it every 2-3 times I call on it.
Joe

+1 on this right here; I chalk the dickens out of my box calls; it's just ...  "part of using a box"...  From time to time (usually at the beginning of the season), I'll take the same Scotch-Brite pad I use for my slates, and "wipe off" the old chalk, and then re-chalk liberally...  I also try to use the same chalk that came with the box call; it may be different from box to box (I've got a few)...  But, ya, CHALK 'er up!

[gaswamp]

Most good quality boxes don't require a lot of chalk to run

[nyhunter]

I have both Rail Road and Carpenter chalk.

[outdoors]

         X 2.                 
Most good quality boxes don't require a lot of chalk to run

[ferocious calls]

         X 2.                 
Most good quality boxes don't require a lot of chalk to run

I have calls I made that were never rechalked since the tuning years ago and still sing great. Been using the same box to call in hunters at shows for 5 years and never rechalked it. Some box calls are just that way. This call has so many strokes on it I can't even imagine how many, many thousands anyhow. Once a call is tuned I expect it won't need rechaulked that season unless it is abused and all the chalk is wiped off or it becomes fouled with dirt or oil from hands and such.

[Old Gobbler]

Dick Kirby used to say he would chalk a call one time a year

I chalk my pushpins perhaps 2-3 times a season , but I play them plenty to customers over the phone etc....

A little 1 inch stick of brown chalk could last me 10 years at that rate

[bamagtrdude]

Welp, I've recently purchased 2 "fine, quality" box calls from Mike @ Spring Creek, right here off this forum...  One is a purpleheart/cedar & the most recent is a Brazilian cherry/cedar; imo, they're about the finest box calls I own, no lie...

Yes, they will run without chalking them up a bunch -- *BUT* to my ears, they sound "better" when they're really chalked up...  Perhaps my problem is -- I give my box calls H*LL in the field; when I pull out my box call, it's to use it for very long-range calling; in fact, the Brazilian cherry/cedar box called a gobbler up last week that had to have been about 4-500 yards off...  Not bragging about that feat, but just saying - that worked because I lit Mike's box on fire...  After he started coming down the logging road towards us, I had to re-chalk the call to pull him on down the road towards us; actually, I *decided* to re-chalk, let me say as a correction there; I didn't really have to do anything, but I decided to keep on w/the box call since it had brought him that far, gobbling all along the way...

Just speaking from my own personal experience - not trying to politic "my way or the highway" - but, I've purchased quality box calls, and even so, I've always felt they've sounded the best chalked up real good...  I also - as an aside - scuff up my slates & glass friction calls, before & during hunts, as well...