Gemstone Whistle (optimized for FDM printing)

thingiverse

OpenSCAD sourcecode is now readily available for everyone to use. Usage You need to remember that this whistle is a musical instrument with four distinct tones, rather than an alert device. Instead of blowing hard at all times, find the right amount of air to produce each tone correctly. Occasion A large number of these whistles were printed and displayed at the Linuxwochen event held in Vienna, Austria back in 2015, available online at http://www.linuxwochen.at/wien/. About the design The inspiration behind this whistle's unique design comes from years of accumulated knowledge. One major benefit is that the blade is sharper due to the horizontal printing method used. Although the blade has a slightly blunter angle when printed horizontally, it surprisingly makes no difference at all. What also matters here is the resonant chamber - which is remarkably air-tight even when the printer settings aren't ideal since every interior wall is angled at 45° and thus unreachable for any airflow potential openings. It is because of this unique approach that super detailed text is easily achieved as it's carefully placed on inward slanted walls at a steep 45° angle. As a byproduct, the shape turned out to be naturally resembling gemstones thanks to design limitations. Printing tips Experimenting with different filaments showed me that the sound quality suffers significantly when using any other material than optimal ones, specifically noticeable through the loss of airiness; it all started when I was trying 0.1mm layer height and just 30% infill. Additional information for beginners - you might have heard this one before: FDM stands for fused deposition modeling.