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 Little scratch box we been working on.. 
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Longbeard

Joined: Fri May 18, 2012 9:25 am
Posts: 161
Location: Fredericksburg, Va
Post Little scratch box we been working on..
Get a look at these little scratch boxes we been working on, easy to use small light and cheep,(be 20.00+ shipping) I will be posting a few for sale soon. Made from Paulownia wood. Me and my buddy Jeff have been working on this call for about 2 week, trying diffrent things and have made what we think is a super nice call. We tryed diffrent sizes, how long it was and a lot of stuff. but we got it now.
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Wed Jun 20, 2012 6:00 pm
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Co-Owner/Dog Feeder

Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 10:20 am
Posts: 3774
Post Re: Little scratch box we been working on..
I have been down the pawlonia (princess tree) wood road some time ago--got the late Ray Sutphin to try make me two scratchboxes , similar in design to yours, about twenty years ago. Mine have cedar sound board or striking surfaces as the pawlonia wood by itself (in our experience)was too soft to hold a consistent edge and produce good calls over any sustained period of use . Ray was described as one the three greatest call makers by Earl Mikel , and between me as the giunea pig field tester and his talent as a call maker , after fooling aith lots of solid calls from the same block of wood, we decided to abandon the solid pawlonia piece project as the calls were also fragile and the sound no better than those from other wood. The cedar side for a striking surface was the best we could do .Anxious to see if you have figured out the palonia puzzle. I love that wood though. So light. Can see why the chinese treated it as a treasure.

_________________
"even after almost a half-century of hunting of the noblest game bird I am going to confess that I am still in the kindergarten; and I doubt if any human being ever acquires a complete education in this high art."
- Archibald Rutledge


Wed Jun 20, 2012 8:57 pm
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Poult

Joined: Wed Jun 20, 2012 4:35 pm
Posts: 5
Post Re: Little scratch box we been working on..
Gobblenow, which type of Pawlonia were you working with? Wingboneman has done his research on this so I will let him give more details, but I will just say that Tomantosa (spelling???) is the variety that is prized and used for musical instruments and the variety we used in these calls. There are 5 types I believe, but the Tomantosa is the only one suitable for making calls due to the width of he grain patterns in the other varieties.

Wingboneman, I will let you fill in more details...


Wed Jun 20, 2012 10:05 pm
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King of Spring

Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2004 4:50 pm
Posts: 2647
Location: central Va
Post Re: Little scratch box we been working on..
Called coffeewood around here. Brought big money at one time.


Wed Jun 20, 2012 10:24 pm
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Longbeard

Joined: Fri May 18, 2012 9:25 am
Posts: 161
Location: Fredericksburg, Va
Post Re: Little scratch box we been working on..
Went up and spent a half day with the paulownia wood man. Was able to purchase some very good kiln dryed Paulownia. And got a lot of good info on the different ways the wood is being used. Fender is using it in making the Fender Telecaster, and they are getting the Paulownia from The man we meet with.
Found out that paulownia is native to north America to. (please read http://www.paulowniatrees.org/45043-NL-Sep06.pdf ) Seen a Paulownia Dulcimer also.

Would like to add this, the most important thing, The Paulownia I have is Paulownia (tomentosa) and there is Paulownia (Elongata). the elongata is the very wide grain and not suitable for call making. And it is very hard to tell one from the other. The man showed us one of each and you could tell the Elongata was much lighter and softer then the tomentosa.


Wed Jun 20, 2012 11:01 pm
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Longbeard

Joined: Fri May 18, 2012 9:25 am
Posts: 161
Location: Fredericksburg, Va
Post Re: Little scratch box we been working on..
Coffee wood and Paulownia or not the same wood. I asked the man we got the wood from and he said no it was not the same.

If any one would like to hear a call out of it call me 540-419-5257
I have talked to a lot of people that said they have used it in calls with no luck... Well they are not using Paulownia (tomentosa) .
I have did my home work on this wood and have been messing with it for a long time. but not tell now have i found kiln dryed wood to work with in this quality.

I will make a you tube video in week or two using calls made from the wood and post it.

If anyone would like to try it in calls i have some i will sell. Just call me Or PM me.
Curtis


Wed Jun 20, 2012 11:12 pm
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Longbeard

Joined: Fri May 18, 2012 9:25 am
Posts: 161
Location: Fredericksburg, Va
Post Re: Little scratch box we been working on..
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Wed Jun 20, 2012 11:18 pm
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Co-Owner/Dog Feeder

Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 10:20 am
Posts: 3774
Post Re: Little scratch box we been working on..
Proof is in the pudding, as they say and if it is hard enough to hold the edge you have found the right wood. And good for you. I do not know the specific subspecies of wood we tried. It was wood for the export market to the orient where the wood was very high priced at the time, as BD said. I had a friend who made a fine income from exporting the stuff in the 1970s. If ypu say it is a good durable call then i am confident it is.

_________________
"even after almost a half-century of hunting of the noblest game bird I am going to confess that I am still in the kindergarten; and I doubt if any human being ever acquires a complete education in this high art."
- Archibald Rutledge


Thu Jun 21, 2012 7:18 am
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King of Spring

Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2005 7:40 am
Posts: 2696
Location: Baltimore, MD
Post Re: Little scratch box we been working on..
Looks like all your samples are quarter sawn. Very pretty. May look at other methods of cutting to get the grain running the other direction. That could possibly make the thin edges of a scratch call stronger. However, if you have it working this way why bother. Curious to see the finished product.

Vic

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Vic

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Thu Jun 21, 2012 8:18 am
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King of Spring
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Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 4:44 pm
Posts: 2711
Location: Bedford, VA
Post Re: Little scratch box we been working on..
wingboneman wrote:
Coffee wood and Paulownia or not the same wood. I asked the man we got the wood from and he said no it was not the same. Curtis


After doing a little research I found that...
Paulownia, Paulownia Tomentosa, Princess Tree, Empress Tree, Coffee Tree are all one and the same and are native to eastern Asia but have been widely planted here in the USA

“Tomentosa” derived from the Latin meaning ‘covered in hairs’. The underside of the leaves on a young tree appear to have white hairs growing on them

“For centuries, Japanese craftsmen have considered Paulownia to be the wood of choice for crafting fine furniture, musical instruments and carvings. Increasingly, American craftsmen are choosing Paulownia lumber for those and other purposes. It has been used for furniture, solid-body electric guitars, dulcimers, harpsichords and other musical instruments.”

Stands to reason that wood used in musical instruments would make a good turkey call.
Glad you were able to make a call from it, maybe quarter sawing is the trick.
http://www.na.fs.fed.us/pubs/silvics_ma ... entosa.htm

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Thu Jun 21, 2012 5:28 pm
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Poult

Joined: Tue Dec 19, 2017 12:29 pm
Posts: 1
Post Re: Little scratch box we been working on..
i've been working on a scratch box for a while now but so far i do not have any success. been thinking i might get some advices in regards to it. should I post some pics: https://neotires.com/carlisle-tires of my tires? thanks!


Last edited by Amigh1981 on Thu Feb 04, 2021 9:18 am, edited 1 time in total.



Tue Dec 19, 2017 12:37 pm
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Co-Owner/Dog Feeder

Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 10:20 am
Posts: 3774
Post Re: Little scratch box we been working on..
Most call makers are pretty open to discussing "how to" with less experienced makers, so contact some of the better known scratch box call makers and see what they say. Ive made some myself but have not achieved the tones of the pros fwiw.

_________________
"even after almost a half-century of hunting of the noblest game bird I am going to confess that I am still in the kindergarten; and I doubt if any human being ever acquires a complete education in this high art."
- Archibald Rutledge


Wed Dec 20, 2017 9:37 am
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Longbeard

Joined: Fri May 18, 2012 9:25 am
Posts: 161
Location: Fredericksburg, Va
Post Re: Little scratch box we been working on..
Amigh1981 wrote:
i've been working on a scratch box for a while now but so far i do not have any success. been thinking i might get some advices in regards to it. should I post some pics? thanks!

dont get on much anymore with FB but be glad to help you try to figure out what is going on. lot of little things have to be just right to make a good scratch box. i dont make them anymore but make a plantation scratch box. 540-419-5257 is best way to get me. call or text


Mon Dec 25, 2017 3:36 pm
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