As some of you might have read I dug out my old call making supplies, cleaned off my lathe and turned a couple deer calls (posted in another thread).
Since I have everything (band saw, table saw, drill press, and lathe) uncovered and operating again, and my son is now old enough I can work without watching him constantly, I've decided to order a few turning squares & reeds plus some finish and make a few calls as time permits.
So let's step back in time about 55 years now. I'm 5 or 6 years old and dig up and re-plant a catalpa tree sprout where I want a shade tree in the back yard. The tree not only lives, but it actually becomes a dandy shade tree I've enjoyed for years now.
Well, the tree has lived past it's life expectancy and today it suffers from ant infestation in it's hollow core. Still standing, but I don't know for how much longer.
Several years ago I had it trimmed back severely to lessen the risk of it falling and doing property damage. I took the big pieces of wood, split them and piled them up for firewood.
The tree today -
This morning I had a doctor's appointment, so I didn't schedule any work today. When I got home from the doctor I got the idea to find a piece of that catalpa wood and see if I could turn a call body out of it.
It turned out better than I expected!
A coarse grained, very light weight wood, with nice color!
Here's the call body resting on the tree it grew from -
It will be a couple weeks before I get more finish & reeds to make more calls or finish this one, but I think I'll just keep it for myself and see if it brings me luck this year!
It will be the call I grew from a sprout!
