Slate call maintenance

[GRUNDY]

My slates got kinda squeaky sounding from all the practice I've been doing. I sanded them down a little and hit the ends of my strikers too. The calls sound good again, but had a couple guys tell me to never do that? This sounded weird and not being a turkey calling expert i just don't know for sure; neither slate had maint. directions on the packages either. Opinions anyone?

I also have one striker i don't like, so I sanded the end down and changed the angle, it now sounds better to me, is it possible that such a modification could have adjusted the striker to my "style" or what? Does anyone else tinker with their calls like this?

Brian

[duckcommander101]

I sand mine before the hunt if needed, but I haven't been gutsy enough to mess with the strikers, I am afraid I will mess them up if I do something wrong.

[Bearhunt50]

I have a Oldyeller slate call and I sand the slate regularly and the striker I use the side of my bench grinder so it will grind flat and then I use the sand paper that came with it to round off the sharp edge around the out side of the striker and it sounds like a brandnew one. Hope this helps

[Brown duck]

Sometimes if my call isn't sounding right, and roughing it up doesn't seem to help, I'll find a rock to torture my striker with - usually makes all the difference.