Duck Call

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Kenny Durrant

Kenny Durrant

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Joined
Sep 11, 2012
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A friend has a neighbor that had a Labrador Retriever for a pet and hunting companion When she passed away they had her cremated. My buddy gave me some of the ashes and asked if I would try to make a call out of them. First time ever dealing with this material and I had one shot to make it work. He also asked if I could put the name of the dog on the call. After a few days of thinking of how I was going to pursue this project I proceeded to give it my best shot. Here it is! Questions and Comments are Welcome.
 

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Kenny Durrant said:
A friend has a neighbor that had a Labrador Retriever for a pet and hunting companion When she passed away they had her cremated. My buddy gave me some of the ashes and asked if I would try to make a call out of them. First time ever dealing with this material and I had one shot to make it work. He also asked if I could put the name of the dog on the call. After a few days of thinking of how I was going to pursue this project I proceeded to give it my best shot. Here it is! Questions and Comments are Welcome.
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That's going to mean so much to someone.
 
Kenny Durrant said:
A friend has a neighbor that had a Labrador Retriever for a pet and hunting companion When she passed away they had her cremated. My buddy gave me some of the ashes and asked if I would try to make a call out of them. First time ever dealing with this material and I had one shot to make it work. He also asked if I could put the name of the dog on the call. After a few days of thinking of how I was going to pursue this project I proceeded to give it my best shot. Here it is! Questions and Comments are Welcome.
Click to expand...
Great piece Kenny! What are the materials? Which kit did you use?
 
RichAldrich said:
Great piece Kenny! What are the materials? Which kit did you use?
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Thank you Richard. No kit or bushings. It's all free hand turning. The materials are Elmers Clear Glue and Alumilite Clear Slow. I started with a polycarbonate clear tube. I painted it white because I wanted the inside to look smooth and to make sure I had a good layer of ashes on the tube. I mixed the ashes in glue to make a thick paste and to seal them the best I could. Once the ashes were dry I cast it in the resin. The ring is Maple. The fist thing I did was turn one end so the ring would fit. Once that was done I turned the rest of the call to shape. Then I sanded and finished just like I'd do a pen. After that I used epoxy glue to attach the ring and I was done. I watched a video on using ashes and they stabilized the ashes first. I didn't want to do all that so I went the route I did. There's a few small bubbles but you have to look closely to see them. It was really a quick and easy process and although not perfect it was a good outcome. IMHO. My friend was more than happy with the call. I told him up front that it was something new to me and it could be a total disaster. He might have just been happy to get something back!!!!!
 
I have been away for a while with little to no internet options, but I'm back. What a great way to provide a tangible memory of a beloved dog. You did an outstanding job on this. Well done
 
Nicely done Kenny! What a great memorial for the recipient's hunting partner. I would have never thought to glue the ashes to a tube then cast it. I have mixed some ashes in epoxy resin before but, just like some pigments, if you pour to soon they can settle. Thanks for sharing your process.
 
woodwzrd said:
Nicely done Kenny! What a great memorial for the recipient's hunting partner. I would have never thought to glue the ashes to a tube then cast it. I have mixed some ashes in epoxy resin before but, just like some pigments, if you pour to soon they can settle. Thanks for sharing your process.
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Thanks Scott and You're Welcome. Over the years I've been casting I've found that casting embedded objects has its challenges. I thought about the ashes settling. I've found it's much easier to glue things to the tube first. There's less space to trap air for one. When casting shredded money I found that gluing things to the tube give you a cleaner looking blank. Plus there's hopefully no voids or bubbles to fill when finishing. I probably could have avoided any bubbles if I would've screened out the bigger pieces but it's all part of the memory. Plus I didn't want it to look like it's was painted grey. Actually the part that took the most work and thought was the ring. I use a roller rotary for my laser. If I would've made the ring first I wouldn't have been able to engrave it. The air would've blown it over or at least made it wobble. I ended up turning a cylinder 3" long with the ID and OD to size. Then I did the engraving. When I finished the engraving I put it back on the lathe and parted off what I wanted to use.
 
Kenny Durrant said:
A friend has a neighbor that had a Labrador Retriever for a pet and hunting companion When she passed away they had her cremated. My buddy gave me some of the ashes and asked if I would try to make a call out of them. First time ever dealing with this material and I had one shot to make it work. He also asked if I could put the name of the dog on the call. After a few days of thinking of how I was going to pursue this project I proceeded to give it my best shot. Here it is! Questions and Comments are Welcome.
Click to expand...
Absolute beautiful work as always Kenny.
I'm sure the recipient was ecstatic to receive this wonderful reminder of their beloved dog. And a very unique idea.
 
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