I used to make them and sell them as fast as I could make them, kind of got burned out on trying to keep up with orders, plus finding quality horn kind of makes it tough to keep up with demand. To make the distress calls out of horn tip, is most challenging, because not every horn tip qualifies as "useable" and you don't know if the tip is usable, until you cut it from the horn. Most horns will work for howlers, but even when making them, you really don't know if the horn will work, until you get started grinding, cutting, and sanding on it. One of the best looking howlers I ever made came out of along curved'ol cow horn that had been branded and I didn't think for a minute that it would turn out to be anything special. My cousin gave me the horn, I made him the howler and he recently sold it for $100.He recently gave me a couple of 5 gallon buckets of horns and wants another howler. Imagine that![8D]
The tools I use include a dremel with a whole array of different bits, a hand held belt sander, a battery powered hand drill, a hand held grinder with flap disc and cut off wheel, a flat file, and lots of sand paper. Not a speedy process by any means.
The way I make these calls isn't for everyone, and not the safest way to make calls. My fingers are often in close proximity of high speed moving parts, and I'll admit that I have lost some skin on my grinder and belt sander. My dremel has also "bit" me a time or two. SO, if anyone trys to make your own calls by using power tools, let me be the first to say, BE CAREFUL! And don't forget to wear protective eye wear, that's one thing I do protect all the time!