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I am attempting to make my own turtle shell call. So far I have taken a shell I found while deer hunting this past fall and cleaned it up a bit. It had some stains on it from the dirt/mud that it was half buried in. I cut out a piece of old slate chalk board that was from an old antique slate board that was used in schools way back when Hector was a pup. I chipped away with a pair of pliers until I had it close to the right size to cover the bottom of the shell. Then I used my fixed position belt sander and trimmed it to fit. I used an epoxy glue to mount and to fill in any gaps between the slate and the shell. On the front of the slate where it was open to the front I put a grooved piece of pine just so it wouldn't break if I mistreated it. Just to give it a finish I sprayed it with an ivory colored spray paint. I am planning on putting some art work on it in the future. It has good sound so far. It changes pitch from one place to another using a left over store bought striker made of hickory. I tried the carbon striker but it sounded like scratching your nails across a chalk board in school. It makes good purrs also. I use some 200 grit paper on the slate to give it some good sound. Here are some pics of it so far. I'll post some more when I decide on what art work I'm going to use. I have two more shells to use for improved models in the future.
