Making a duck call jig

[JScott]

A friend of mine at work makes duck and turkey calls in his spare time at home. One of the items that helps is a metal jig that is used to shape the barrel of a duck call accurately and quickly. I offered to make a prototype for him to try since the commercial ones available for sale are pretty expensive.

This is what I am trying to create.

   

   

I have some small blocks of 4140 pre hard so I started with the smallest one.  This was a good chance to use my indexable end mill.  It has two TPG222 inserts.  I just wanted to get rid of the scale and rust on the outside of the block and get things squared up.

Here is a first pass using some dark cutting oil.

   

After I got the sides cleaned up I started on the ends.  The ends were rough saw cut and were not very square.  To get things aligned in the vise I gently clamped the 4140 block to a small angle block.  I rested the bottom of the work piece on a single steel ball so it could tilt and pivot while everything was tightened up.  As I gently tightened the vise I tapped the block with a nylon dead blow hammer.  Then I tightened the C-clamp again.  Then really snugged down the vise.

   

You can see the steel ball under the work piece.

   

And taking a pass on the end of the block.  The end mill was making nice 6 and 9 shaped chips.

   

The finished product from yesterday.  Not great but not bad.  Next up will be to drill and bore the hole.