Anodized aluminum

[wvmntnhick]

Not sure what the deal is but I can't stand the stuff. Got a Halloran anodized aluminum and played it for a bit. Didn't care for it. Ended up sanding that anodized coating off of one half of it and personally, it turned it into a keeper. Actually considered giving it to my nephew or father as it did fine with everything but purring. Personally, if I can't purr on a call, I'm not keeping it. Needless to say, it's going to share some time with my Crystal mistress now as well as my Yingling pots that are in my vest to stay. It's currently fighting with my Sinclair titanium for some playing time.

[scoot12]

Not sure if Hallorans is slick anodized or not.  I personally like the slightly bead blasted aluminum the best.  The slick stuff can be finicky but their are different levels of the bead blasted aluminum calls.  Scoot

[TauntoHawk]

I liked my halloran but liked the sound of the atomic 13 better but both were anodized and i thought played real easy. I always touch it with a scotchbrite pad a little to keep clean and roughed a tad but not removed.

[MikeStaten]

I had a halloran aluminum and it was a bead blasted anodized surface.  It was too "grippy" on the striker for me.  To the point where the striker chattered on occasion in the rollover.

I too like the Atomic 13 better as it is still bead blasted but less so.

My favorite aluminum surface is the smooth anodized like on Lonzos Acrylic or Hanks.  You need to touch it up occasionally but it sounds really good when conditioned just right. 

[bunk]

I did the same thing to my Dawkins anodized aluminum. I removed the anodizing in a small spot where I run the call just like you would on a glass call. It runs so easy now and the sound didn't change. You get a little build up on the striker with the bare aluminum but I think it runs even better with a little build up.

[Spitten and drummen]

my favorite by far this year has been the dawkins stoned aluminum in a plastic pot. liked it so much I got a stoned aluminum in black acrylic from lon trice. slipping is almost non existent , and I have not had to condition the call at all and been running it the entire season. build up is pretty regular on the striker tip , but a little twisting on green scotch brite clears it right up.

[goblr77]

Not sure if Hallorans is slick anodized or not.  I personally like the slightly bead blasted aluminum the best.  The slick stuff can be finicky but their are different levels of the bead blasted aluminum calls.  Scoot

Halloran's is blasted and anodized. It must be blasted with a grit that's too coarse. The call just doesn't play well. The green aluminum is the only Halloran call I've ever traded off and I'm a fan of most aluminum calls.

[Mabren2]

I haven't had much experience with aluminum calls, but I made a few this year to try out. I made one with the black anodized surface. To me the surface was too slick, didn't play easily, and could not purr on it at all. I sanded off a little bit like mentioned, and it made the call much better in my opinion. I also made 5 of the blasted anodized aluminum calls, and on those I used a slate soundboard that could be used for purring and tree talk. I felt like the anodized surface felt a little weird, possibly a little to grippy, and it seemed to really load the striker up quickly. I sanded a patch on the first one, and it really woke that call up in my opinion; enough so that I sanded a patch on the remaining 4 I made and sold. My customers loved them, and I wish I would have bought more of them because everyone that played them wanted to buy one. I kept the first one for myself, and I know that the other four have accounted for at least 5 birds, so I definitely will be making more of them. However, since I am sanding the surface to get the sound I like, do you all think I would be better off to just buy the plain aluminum, versus paying more for the blasted anodized stuff? I don't know enough about it to know if there is something in the anodizing process that could alter the sound even though I'm not playing the anodized surface? Then part of me thinks that by only sanding a small patch I am giving the customer another option by being able to play the anodized surface to achieve a slightly different sound. Any thoughts?

[yelpy]

Stay with what is working with your calls. I wouldn't change a thing if guys are liking them and the birds too.

[wvmntnhick]

Stay with what is working with your calls. I wouldn't change a thing if guys are liking them and the birds too.

What he said. If it's working, don't fix it. I'm sure anodized has its place but I'm certainly understanding why one particular maker said he hates it. Personally, I'd not remove it all. It may appeal to both crowds this way.

[Mabren2]

Thanks, pretty much what I was thinking.