For my woodworking project at school, I am going to make my own strikers for my slate. I was wondering if anyody has any ideas/suggestions on making them. I am going to use my Primos Lucky Striker for my first pattern. Eventually, I will encorporate my own ideas and designs into it. Does anybody know if wood glue will weaken the sound?

when i made them on a lathe, i didnt glue anything in fear of killing the sound. you can find 1" blocks of wood that work well..(think it was 1" i used..) then turn the edges and round the block as a whole cut to about a foot. then go ahead and turn your striker how you like.

my shop teacher never let me turn mine down far enough. the lathe/piece made a hum/whistle when it got down pretty thin and he would make me stop...another 20 seconds and it would been done, but i understand his cause for concern...

you can do all kinds of things for designs with the top of the striker..dont let a store bought striker limit you...look at some customs online to get ideas...

good luck! take some pics!!

You can glue them up with no problem...Just make sure the two pieces fit together tight...If they are loose that will kill the sound even if it's glued.

Make the main shaft from dowels rods, It's so much easier and safer than trying to turn them down on a lathe. You can find dowel rods out of all the major hardwoods in woodworking magazines and searching the web. Concentrate on shaping the head of the striker and the calling tip.

Experiment witht he calling tip itself. Straight peg versus a taper as each does affect the sound.
Watch your peg overall length. Too short and it will be come to high pitched.

JW

Thanks, I have some ideas I created on Auto Cad, maybe I'll put them on here.

Here is some of my ideas!

Nick i turn all my strikers by hand here are pics of a few i make and sell

http://s261.photobucket.com/albums/ii52/mrgobbler43/?action=view&current=8943dfd5.pbw

Those are pretty nice!!!

I like alittle mushroom tip on the business end of mine.