# Turkey Call Striker How-To



## ghost5 (Aug 19, 2012)

After doing the posts on the calls someone asked if I could do a post on how to turn the striker. These open a whole other can of worms when it comes to how to do them. There are simply no end to how people make them and like the calls when you change something the way it works changes.

Having said that here is a simple striker I turned out of Eastern Red Cedar which I like to use on slate calls. It is a bit soft for a really hard playing surface but sounds good with slate. 










First start with a blank 12" long and 1" square, doesn't have to be exact this is just what I cut. Get it between centers or like here in your chuck then bring the tailstock up. 










Once you do this simply hog off the wood to the basic shape and length. The finished length will be around 8". You can see the taper for the peg starting.










I go ahead and shape the top of the striker which can be just about any shape you care to turn. This section is 3"-4" of the total. Get this pretty much done because you are going to have some wicked chatter in a minute. After that thin the peg more. Light cuts, sharp tools folks. 










Continue tapering the peg. You want the thinnest part (down near the tip) to be around 5/16" to 1/4" thick. I leave a small knob at the end to make playing easier. Notice all the chatter marks this is from the wood flexing.










Now go to your 80 grit skew without turning the lathe down. We are still cutting here not sanding. use this to get your final shape on the peg. Then turn the lathe down and run through the grits to finish.










There it is a striker ready to add a bit of finish to then run it on your call. When you add finish do not coat the playing tip of the striker I leave the last 1/2" plain wood. 

The tip will need to be lightly sanded with 150-220 grit to condition it and you will need to carry a small piece to the field with you to touch it up as needed. 

The harder the wood the higher the pitch of your call will be. You can also do these as two pieces, top and peg then put them together or do glue ups and turn those for some really cool effects.


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