TWO NOTE Whistle 1

TWO NOTE Whistle

A two note whistle designed for LOUD. Two crisp, clear single notes makes this whistle very distinctive. The  sound is very clear. That makes it not just an excellent safety and warning whistle but with two individual notes it could also be used for basic signaling. If you're clever and have a need you could develop simple two note codes and patterns. Just 70mm long, 20mm wide and 10mm thick. Carry it in a pocket or purse or attach to a bag or backpack or hang  around your neck with a lanyard.

The sound this whistle makes is sharp, resonant, LOUD and distinctive. It's tuned to C7 and E7. For the low note put your finger over the hole near the front. Leave uncovered for the high note. Unlike some of my other designs that play two or more notes at a time, this is a one note at a time whistle. Each note is rich and loud and will carry a long distance. 

More Whistles

Too many whistles and more on the way. What can I say? I'm a designer and going with the flow for now. Want to 3D print whistles? I've got several models to choose from. See all my whistle designs in the WHISTLE WORKS collection... https://www.printables.com/@timcel/collections/3200326

Other variations may be added in the future and I reserve the right to make this thing better in any way, anytime I want or make it go away. 

The bottom of this description has links to other whistle designs

Why Whistles?

Different whistles. Different tasks. This whistle has an intense, distinctive sound. Every 3D printer owner can help by making lots of whistles to share with your community. These whistles make excellent safety whistles. They make great gifts for friends and family.

Whistle Design

As a designer, I frequently use 3D printers for design development and prototyping. The goal for this project was to create a whistle with a rich, full, distinctive sounds that 3D prints well and can be customized. Being a simple device, I assumed whistles would be easy. Wrong. Turns out designing a good whistle is hard. Probably one of the reasons I like it. Dozens of prototypes and weeks of development went into creating, testing and refining designs.

The tone is sharp, full, distinctive. Unlike many 3D printed whistles, this one works with medium and the infuser is designed to compress and enhance high pressure blowing. Fair warning: itis very loud and intense! 115db - 120db. One of my one-note whistles tests at 125db+ but this two-note whistle seems much louder. For comparison, a rock and roll concert can be 85lb-100db. Rolling Stones and heavy metal concerts a bit louder. So, be careful how and where you use a whistle and always be aware of how close you are to others when using it. Whistles may be a great warning tool, but use them responsibly. Pro tip: If you use a whistle often, ear plugs or ear phones or other form of hearing protection is a good idea. 

Printing

You've been waiting for the right time to use that shockingly bright filament you've stashed away. It's time. This is a safety whistle. Make it bright!

This whistle is positioned to print on its side best print quality on the critical fipple, window slot, and a clean sound chamber. That leaves the bottom (which is positioned on the side while printing) available for customized messages. You can leave the bottom blank if you just want a NICE whistle, or add favorite slogans, or information for local groups and organizations.

Printers used for testing Prusa XL, Prusa Mk4s, Prusa Mini, Bambu X1C, Bambu Mini. There are no reasons any well tuned modern printer won’t print whistles.

Basic Settings

Rafts: No

Resolution: .15 or .16 depending on your slicer

Infill: 15-20%

Use a .4 nozzle. Smaller nozzles are not needed.

Slow speeds down. Particularly first layers, outer walls, and top surfaces.

Prints of its side not on the bottom. So that means small surface area touching the print bed. A smooth plate and bed adhesive really help. But if you insist printing on a textured plate and your prints get knocked off the plate, add a 5mm brim. 

Notes

Don’t assume this just another print and use your default settings. This whistle is small and needs special attention. Plus, whistles are challenging to 3D print.  See notes below.

Printing Techniques

Printing small 3D models successfully requires a different approach. Because these models have a lot of vertical mass for their small size and a tiny contact area they can easily get knocked off the plate. So, I recommend the following…

• When printing small models start with a clean, smooth plate and use bed adhesive

• Slow things down. When printing small items, slow first layers, top layers, and outer walls. I usually run first layers at 30mm to insure a perfect first layer.

PLA

The model was designed to be printed with inexpensive PLA filaments. The idea is for you use left over spools so you can print lots of whistles with whatever filament you have around. Best to stick to regular PLA and not use filaments with added materials. IE carbon fiber, glitter, etc. Also avoid soft filaments like silks and some matte filaments as they’re more prone to stringing. For this project, it’s a good idea to dry your filament before printing. Wispy strings interfere with wire vibration and often cause a 3D printed whistle to not work. PETG certainly works but it is even more prone to stringing. Drying PETG before printing is even more critical.

The included 3MF files contain recommended print settings. Note that Prusa, Orca, Bambu and Cura slicers can open these same 3MF files and print settings will be included.

Whistle Problems

Turns out 3D printing any whistle can be challenging — particularly small whistles. I tested over a dozen available models before deciding to create my own designs. Some whistle printing problems are related to design. Some are specific 3D printing issues: layer bonding, stringing, retraction settings or filament issues. 

Wispy strings inside the sound chamber or in the window/fipple path can interfere with sound creation and projection. Stringing is often a symptom of wet filament. If you’re able, start by drying your filament. The next adjustment is to optimize printer retraction settings and to run retraction tests. Look for YouTube videos to help you test and adjust temperature and retraction settings for your particular printer. Next, make sure nozzle temperature is correct for the filament you’re using. To prevent air leaks, layer-to-layer adhesion must be perfect. A slight clog in your nozzle can create gaps between layers. Any air leak in the sound chamber can result in whistles not whistling.

Always test print first

Print out a single whistle to make sure it works well for you before committing to 10-50 at a time. What you're looking for is a full, resonant sound under low and high pressure blowing. No airiness. These whistles should deliver a crisp, sharp sound with little blowing pressure. If your printer is not well tuned or you have filament issues and your whistle doesn't whistle try these other changes: scale the model to 105 percent, change layer height, or adjust filament temperature. I have found that different filaments can sometimes give different results. When changing filaments I run a test before committing to large runs. I’ve printed 1K so far and get best results by using simple, basic high quality filaments. If you have a problem, try a different filament. That might be enough Again, print single whistles until your settings are dialed in before committing to production.

Test every whistle

You never know if a whistle works until you try it. So, like ACME in the UK who have been making whistles since 1870, I test every whistle. Rather than blow through each whistle and pass along germs I use a bulb-type camera lens blower. Simple and it works great.

Remember: Make lots of whistles to share with your friends, family, and community

Related Models

NICE Whistle 1...https://www.printables.com/model/1493196-nice-whistle-1
NICE Whistle 2...  https://www.printables.com/model/1573093-nice-whistle-2
PROTEST Whistle... https://www.printables.com/model/1575106-protest-whistle
DBLDBL Whistle... https://www.printables.com/model/1624965-dbldbl-whistle