What is your profession:

I am a woodworker, I started off building houses. These last few years I have  built architectural pieces like mantles, doors, stair cases, etc…I do other forms of lathe turning as well. I also make an inlayed base for imitation eagle claws for a Boy Scout camping program based out of Kansas City, called the Tribe of Mic-O-Say. They have celebrating their 80th  anniversary.

What are your hobbies and other interests:

I enjoy camping and helping the Boy Scouts. I like studying ornamental lathe turning and other types of lathe turning. I enjoy studying machinist work and collecting antiques tools.

Where were you born and raised:

Independence, MO

Who influenced you in your callmaking craft:

A painter that I worked on the job site with, helped me get started. I showed him a ornate hand turned desk pen, and then showed him some of the claw mounts and inlay. He said that I ought to start making duck calls. We talked about it for a couple of years. He loaned me resources to study, and gave me feedback on my designs.

How did you learn your craft:

Self taught and studied books and magazines. I also learned off the internet by looking at different types of calls.

When did you begin making calls:

I started by making a call in 2003 for the CCAA duck call competition, which I won second place in the novice division. In 2004 I entered the NWTF duck call competition and won third place. I also entered the CCAA competition that year again and won the Best Design of Show Award.

What year did you begin making calls: 2003  

What materials do you use to make your calls (types of wood, acrylic, composite materials, etc.):

I mainly use wood. I enjoy doing inlay the most, so I use a variety of woods for different colors such as African Blackwood, Redheart, Holly, Cocobolo, plus many other exotics. I also use cherry, walnut, maple, and other native woods. And about anything I can get my hands on; I have used some Ivory and hope to use more in the future.

What is your favorite material to use and why:

My favorite material is wood, all natural and no stains. My favorite native woods would be dark walnut, cherry, and maple. My favorite exotic wood would be African Blackwood, because it off sets the color of other woods so well. I would also like to make some duck calls out of pink ivory; the dark red is unique. I like Cocobolo, because it has a great contrast of colors.

Do you decorate your calls in any way (carving, checkering, burning, banding):

I design and make my own inlay using a bandsaw and machinist tools. I do not use any CNC machines on them at all. I learned these techniques from making the claw bases for Boy Scouts. I also designed a new retaining ring which is glued together in a crisscross layers like plywood to give it strength and it opened up new design possibilities that can be seen in my more recent calls.

Will you make custom calls from exotic woods: Yes

What kind of sound are you looking for in a call (raspy, smooth, high pitched, timber, open water): I have raspy high pitched calls.

What design are your calls (Arkansas, Louisiana style, Reelfoot style, Short Reed Goose, Flute, etc.): Arkansas

Why did you choose that type call:

I like the variations of shape and size. It gave me a chance to work with inlay.

Can sportsmen order calls directly from you:

People can feel free to call me or email me with orders or questions.

Do you make hunting calls, competition calls, decorative collectors calls:

Currently I have made  competition and decorative calls. I have also started to add hunting calls to my line.

Price range for your calls from your most economical to your top-of-the-line:

My hunting calls go for $65-125. My exotic wood calls go for $125-150. My decorative calls go for $175-2,000.

What is an interesting story about yourself (related, hunting, family, etc.):

What got me started in lathe turning and doing unique, unusual designs began many years ago, when I was in the army stationed in Asia for two and a half years. I saw these carved ivory balls that had layers of balls cut inside of each other with up to ten balls in one ball.

Once I got back to the states, I worked with a framing crew on housing, and when we got rained out I would go to the library and study. After about four or five years of doing research I found a book on how to make the Chinese balls. This was the beginning of a long process that continues today. Because of this I’ve done research and studied ornamental turning. I found out that I needed to study machinist work as well to make my own tools so I could turn the Chinese balls. This opened a whole new world for me.

The machinist tools interact with my wood working and give me a whole new range of machines and toolage that is not available in the wood working field. It seems that I use more metal tools than wood working because of their accuracy. The study of ornamental turning combined with the wood working and the metal working is unbelievable.

So after many years I have accumulated six metal lathes, three horizontal mills, two vertical mills, four pin routers, five wood lathes, shapers, etc… In the future I hope to design and build more ornamental tools to open up other areas for design. It is amazing seeing what a little three inch ball made of ivory can start. In the future I hope that some of my work can start the ball rolling for other craftsman.