Squirrel Whistle Calls (Two Versions) Updated to Mk 2

thingiverse

UPDATE: I updated the squirrel distress whistle calls to make them print better. The previous versions were too thin for many printing methods, but they should now work fine. I also added a loop for attaching a string on the v1 model. So, I got into squirrel hunting and discovered that these little critters don't taste too bad! However, they're quite elusive. I saw some squirrel distress whistle calls online and tried to replicate them from pictures, but it didn't go well at all. That's when I bought two of the most popular ones on the market and figured out what I was doing wrong. I remade both whistles and tested them, and they worked perfectly! Even if you're not hunting squirrels, these little whistles are still fun to mess with. They'd make great projects for Cub Scouts, Weebleos, or Boy Scouts. The first thing I learned (once I had the commercial ones in hand) is that the hole in the middle needs to be about 5mm. Any smaller and you won't get good results; any bigger and it's not much different. You also need a small chamber in the middle for the best sound. The size of this chamber has to be just right, or else you'll end up with a deeper sound. In my initial attempts, I made the mistake of making the chamber too big, which resulted in a deeper sound. However, I'm now happy with my results and may even try making the diameter of the v1 model slightly smaller at some point in the future. The bigger whistle is my favorite (v1), as it's almost perfectly close to the Mr. Squirrel Call, which works wonderfully. This one sounds just as good as the commercial version, if not better. It's my 3rd or 4th revision, but I'm confident it's now perfected. The smaller whistle is modeled after the sound-making portion of the Lohman Mr. B's Distress Squirrel Whistle, which has a resonance tube that makes the call louder and more directional. If you print the tube, you won't need to glue the two pieces together; they'll fit perfectly into it. I printed two of each model out of ABS on my Zortrax printer and glued them together using acetone. To do this, I simply held the two pieces together in my hand and used a cotton swab soaked in acetone to fuse them permanently. If you don't have access to a high-resolution printer like a Zortrax or SLA, these whistles may not turn out as well. Printing two of either model should take about 30-45 minutes. I'd love to see how they print on other printers like PrintRbot or Makerbot, so if anyone tries it, please post a picture here! I've grown lazy and now use TinkerCAD for all my CAD designs. It's faster and easier to use than any other package on the market. With its new design interface, you can add bevels to your geometric primitives, which is something I do all the time. This squirrel distress whistle was made with Tinkercad. You can edit it online at https://www.tinkercad.com/things/a4TQcHqtnSS