Striker Tips

[brantley6400]

I saw on a hunting show a guy using a pot with a striker tip that looked burned. Just wondering if that why? Does it make re-conditioning the tip unnecessary. Does it work on only certain surfaces?
 

[Cut N Run]

I know a guy who carries a disposable lighter in his vest that he uses to heat the ends of his wood strikers to dry them out.  By having the tip dry and not damp from humidity, he gets a cleaner, crisper sound to his calling.  I believe if you heated the striker too much then you'd destroy the tip and shorten the striker.
 
Jim

[WillowRidgeCalls]

Back in the old days, before we had access to a lot of these exotic woods, burning the tip was a way to make the striker harder. Burning the wood will seal the pores up tighter and make the wood harder. It's used today more on softer wood strikers, a lot of the short strikers had the tips burnt so the striker slips more, most short strikers are a low pitch and burning it helps them play better.

[charlie elk]

Old days?[:-]  I still burn some of my striker tips, didn't know why except it makes some of them sound better.
Thanks for the reason.

[BluMtnGobbler]

Thats very interesting never heard of that. May haveto try it.

[TeocTom]

My cousin usely burns the end of his striker tips. One time in the woods i had to give him one of mine that i had made becuause he overheated it and it basically burned up. I really can't tell the difference. i use a walnut striker on glass because it grabs really well and i can make some great purrs with it. I am afraid that if i burn the end it will loose the grip on the glass.

[Turkeybuster]

I like to scrape the tip lightly with a knife to clean them , it makes the wood lay down and hardens the tip. Sanding will raise the grain to a certain extent.

Jon

[Fan Club]

Anyone favor strikers that have had the tip "hot dipped"? It's certainly another way to harden the tip of a striker without burning it.

My current favorite striker is a K&H striker with a coated tip that I found at Cabela's bargain cave last March. Not sure but I think it came from a "White Liar" call. The tip is coated in a thin gray material (epoxy?)

It makes all of my calls come alive, whether slate, ceramic, glass or aluminum. It seldom needs conditioning and has a real bite to the surface. I'm fairly sure it was designed and intended to be waterproof with the call it was originally paired with.

I could be wrong but I see the mass produced call makers heading in this direction as there has been a huge influx of waterproof calls on the market the last couple years.

[Treerooster]

I don't burn the tips of my strikers.

For one, I'd be scared of messing up the tip by burning it too much.

Also I carry several different strikers of various wood with me. I do that because they each make different sounds on my pot call. If I were to burn the tip it may negate the differences in wood a bit and that would go against why I carry the different woods.

If one of my strikers doesn't seem to be working properly it usually needs cleaning. I am reluctant to sand the tip of a strikers as that may change the shape of it. A green scrubber pad can clean a striker or scraping with a knife works too. Another way I clean a striker is with a sterile alcohol pad. This seems to clean out the pores of the wood pretty good. I just rub the pad on the tip and wait for itto dry thouroghly, about 5 minutes.