SwampCollie

A fairly simple question or two regarding care of a box call:

1) When chalking up your box, do you apply chalk to the paddle and the lip/edge of the box itself, or just one or the other? What works best for you?

2) Is all chalk created equal? Whats up with brown vs blue vs white? What is the difference, and what works best for you?

I have found that the brown, soft chalk seems to work best, but it may just be me...is there any difference?

Thanks much.

jalvja

I chalk both the lid and the sides.Take a piece of sand paper to em both too.Very lightly and against the grain.Only thing to look for in chalk is make sure it is oil free.

Muskeon jim

Ditto on the make sure its oil free chalk. I only chalk my lid, it will transfer to the sound boards. Myself I dont sand anything unless there is a slick spot that can not be roughed out with a 3m green pad. I use a green pad on the sound boards to clean them up before a hunt, to ensure no finger grease is on them, and look for finger spots on the lid incase my kids snuck a spot on them, if so I green pad it before chalking it. Shallow Rio may have more advice for you, than me. He taught me what I know....Jim

metaldonnieg

is the "teacher chalk" what you guys are referring to as white?

ShallowRio

Jim, I should have told you to get the kids a junker call, LOL[/align][/align]Lets start by saying all chalk has some oil or wax content or it wouldn't hold together. I don't care for a dusty chalk, white is generaly too dusty for my like'n. The blue carpenters chalk (paintable) seams to work all right but I hate all that blue. The red/brown seams almost gooey, don't care for that either. And, the green stuff just doesn't sound right.[/align]I like Lynches box call chalk, it use to be a light brown but is now an off-white color. My neighbor use to have a Lynches box call. After season, he put it in a drawer that also had a can of gun oil in it. Just by being in the same drawer, the oil killed the box call. I don't figure Lynches chalk contains any oil.[/align]There should be no need to chalk the lip but I supose this could be a preferance thing. I occasionaly dust off the lip. When I first chalk up my box call, I will Gobble on it to break in the angle wings or W on the underside of the paddle. A well tuned box call shouldn't require a truckload of chalk to efectively produce good Turkey vocalizations.[/align][/align]

tkycaller

I like to chalk only the paddle on a box and also on the push peg calls only the sound board. I use the brown chalk. No oils or wax to build up. As far as sanding goes I only sand the lips if they show sign of fraying or a shiny spot from fingers or whatever. When I sand the lips I make sure to use light pressure and sand the whole surface so I don't get a flat spot. Keep the same curve. The paddle gets an acroos the grain sanding so it bites into the sides,so to speak.

RDHunter

I only sanded and chalked the paddle lid once a season but since I got the Hurricane box call from Quaker Boy , I don't worry about chalking.
With the Hurricane theres no sanding or chalking necessary and it's water proof , I get some good sweet sounds with that call.

Dr Andy

Sorry guys but I use some leftover sidewalk chalk from when the kids were little and it works great! I wouldn't stress over what "brand"
of chalk.

IT's also just the right size to fit inthe little choke tube containers.

SwampCollie

Thanks for the replies gents.

I own/use a Woodhaven Real Hen box and have been really smitten with it. Last night, just before posting this ?, I chalked up the paddle and lip with some brown HS Strut chalk, and the call almost refused to make a sound, let alone a decent one.

I went back with some 0000 steel wool and went againest the grain on the paddle, and that did the trick. I suppose having too much chalk on both surfaces is a bad thing indeed. Live and learn, thats why the forums are here.

Thanks again for all the tips.

Andy

taperunner4

Chalk the lids only with oil free chalk. Doing the sides and or using improper chalks will change the tone of your box or make it almost useless. This is what my local shop owner told me and he was told this by one of the Lynch reps. The cost of good proper box chalk is only a few bucks so there is no reason to risk your sweet ol boxes that you love. Hope this helps.