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How to Make a Wingbone Turkey Call
  HOW TO MAKE A WINGBONE TURKEY CALL
By
OF GROENIER'S CUSTOM CALLS.
A 76 time AWARD WINNING  TURKEY CALL MAKER AT THE MIDWEST AND NATIONAL N.W.T.F. CALL MAKING COMPETITIONS. 4 OF THEM 1ST PLACE RIBBONS WITH A WINGBONE CALL.
Warning
If you are going to sell wingbone call, in some states they can not be made with wild turkey bones.
TURKEY BONE PREPARATION FOR WINGBONE CALLS
1.   Disjoint wings from the turkey and remover all feathers, mest and sinew that can be done using a small sharp knife.
2.  Cut the ends off the three bones using a fine toothed saw. (see figure)
3.  Remover the marrow from the radius and ulna bones using a pipe cleaner or an air hose to blow it out.
4.  Place bones in boilling water, to which you've added a small amount of dish soap and bleach. Boil until you can remove the meat and sinew. Boil them again to get the greease out of the bones.
5.  Set bones aside on a paper towel to dry.
6.  After the bones are dry , the Humeerus bone has a considerable amount of webbing inside, so be sure to get this out with a knife, file, drill or some othe mechanical means. I use a dry wall cutting bit in my Dramel Tool.
7.  The bones should dry an even white color. If not , be sure that all traces of marrow has been removeed and reboil the bones for about an hour and add a small amount of detergent and bleach to the water.
   * Another way to get the bones an even white color is to immerse them in hydrogen peroxide after boiling them. Rinse throughly with water and let dry.   40% peroxide can be gotten at a hairdressers beauty salon. I soak the bones over night in the peroxide. ( be carefull with 40% peroxide, as it can burn your skin )
8.  Glue the bones together using epoxy. Be sure to use clear epoxy so that the joint won't yellow if you do not wrap the joints. I use 5 minute epoxy for gluing the bones together. I use cotton mixed with epoxy to fill in the void between the bones as I put in the epoxy.
9.  Glue the large end of the Radius bone into the small end of the Ulna bone and the large end of the Ulna bone into the small end of the Humerus bone. You can use masking tape to temporarily hold the wingbone together while you tune them to the tone you want. Slide the bones back and forth until you get the tone you want and mark it so you know where to glue them. Different lenght and size of of bones will give you a different tone. ( You might have to cut some of the end of the bones off or sand them on the inside or outside to gte them to fit together. )
10.  After I have the wingbone call made I sand it with up to 600 grit paper to get the scale off.  After sanding I buff it with a 6" buffing wheel and white buffing compuund. The bone will get a high gloss Ivory shine to it, and like ivory will turn yellow after a few years.
Wrapping the joints with thread
I wrap all my wingbone joints with thread to make them look good.
1. I wrap the bone joint with rod thread. Before I put on the thread, I use Epxoy mixed with cotton to make a taper in the joint for wrapping the thread. After the Epoxy cures, I sand the joint to get a smooth taper for wrapping the thread.
2.  Before I start the wrap I drill a small hole in the taper of the first joint and use a wire with a loop on it. I bend the end to fit into the hole. I cut a grove in the taper for the wire to fit into. I also use a ring to which I can attach a lanyard. Prior to starting the wrap I mark the starting point of the wrap.
Marking starting point of wrap.
Putting in the Lanyard wire
Drill hole in joint and wire and ring for lanyard
Starting the wrap
End the wrap by threading the thread through the loop and pulling it under the wrapped thread.
Put in the tread for ending the wrap.
3.  After I have wrapped the thread I put color preserver on the thread and let it dry and then use Flex Coat over the thread wwrapping. ( When you use Flex Coat you have to turn the call while the Flex Coat is drying or it will sag.)
It takes about 3 hours of hands on  to make a wingbone call. Total time with drying is about 4 days.
Wingbone yelpers have been used for thousands of years by the native americans.
1.  The way to use athe call is to cradle the large end between your thumb and index finger. With the other hand cup the end of the call to help control  the volume and pitch.
2.  Place the small end against your lips with the tip barely in. Suck in air like you are kissing.
If you have any questions or comments, you can contact me at
If you use these instructions let me know how you turn out.
revised 4/11/2008
If you would rather have me make a call for you, Please contact me
You can copy these instructions, but please give me credit for them.
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