Loudest Whistle on Thingiverse… The Answer Might Surprise You!

Posted on July 1, 2018 by Maker Block

You’ll need a pair of these

Whistles have been a staple on Thingiverse for years, probably because they’re such a small, simple, and impactful way to demonstrate the usefulness of a 3D printer. 1 I don’t know how many there are, but there are a LOT of whistles on Thingiverse. I’ve been curious about which whistles on Thingiverse are the loudest and conducted a semi-scientific experiment to figure this out.

Six whistles

I say “semi-scientific” because I don’t have a decibel meter.2 My methodology was to have my family at one end of the house while I went to the other side, closed the door, put in my earplugs, and wailed away on six whistles as hard as I could. In any case, here’s my findings:

Name	Thingiverse ID	Mass (grams)	Price	Print Time (minutes)	Rank	Decibels
Extremely loud and compact emergency whistle [v1]	2933021	3.9	$0.12	22	1	TBD
2 chamber whistle (LOUD) [w5]	2616512	8.1	$0.24	49	2	TBD
Extremely loud and compact emergency whistle [v2]	2933021	3.7	$0.11	18	3	TBD
v29 (Over 118 db!)	1179160	13.9	$0.42	90	4	TBD
Emergency Whistle with Solidworks 2014 source	495172	1.2	$0.04	7	5	TBD
Whistle Ring Modified [v2]	2027115	1.6	$0.05	9	6	TBD

I added a few columns that may (or may not) be of interest to you. I indicated the weight of each whistle, because sometimes I want to know how many whistles I could produce off a single spool of plastic.3 Sometimes I want to produce the loudest whistle for the time I have to produce a whistle.4 I showed the cost per model5 , because it brings me so much joy to know I can make my daughter’s classroom louder than a jet engine for less than the cost of a pack of gum.

I know there are a number of important variables are are simply not addressed in this test. Different frequencies sound louder or might be easier to hear through the door. I tried to blow each whistle the same amount, but some whistles are louder with less forceful or more forceful blows. Once that decibel meter shows up, I’ll be sure to post another update.

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Photo by mosambers [↩]
Yet. At <$20 on Amazon, you can be sure I’ll be adding actual readings soon [↩]
With careful design, approximately 2,500 whistles per kilogram of plastic [↩]
The v2 of this whistle is the clear winner [↩]
Assuming a spool costs about $30, shipped [↩]

Maker Faire 2018 – 3D Printing for Home Improvement

Posted on May 20, 2018 by Maker Block

If you’re here checking out my site after my presentation, you can check out all the slides from my presentation above. If you’d like more information about the individual things in the slides, I posted an update for most of them over on Hackaday. If you’ve still got some questions, feel free to leave a comment below, hit me up on twitter, email me directly.

Organizing

Posted on September 24, 2017 by Maker Block

Everyone utilizes their own method of organization, notetaking, and motivation. Some use “Getting Things Done,” others go with “Inbox Zero,” or the “43 folders,” there’s Jerry Seinfeld’s “Don’t Break the Chain,” and a new one called the “Bullet Journal.”

I’ve tried some of these methods, combinations of these methods, and here’s what I’ve come up with for my own life.

E-Mail
1. Reply quickly.
  1. As Tony Soprano once said, “more important than the particular decision is that it happen in a timely fashion.” My number one rule of email management is simply this – reply immediately to anything that deserves a reply. Any timely response, even a non-optimal one, is better than a polished late response.
  2. If you can’t get a quick response out because some action is required…
2. Act or Delegate, even to yourself. If there’s something to be done, do it already. From now on, you live in a world of “to done’s” not “to do’s.” If you can’t do it, then figure out what needs to happen first and work on that. If someone else needs to do it, ask them to take care of it and let you know when they’re done. If you need to do something else, copy yourself on the email and ask yourself to do it. Your own email will arrive in your inbox and you’ll need to…
3. Start a draft. If the matter really requires more information than you have at your fingertips or isn’t urgent, start a draft.
4. Turn drafts into emails. Every day turn drafts into emails and send them out. Since my job has become roughly 80-90% email, this is how I manage it all.
5. Ignore unimportant emails. Most of your emails are unimportant. Ignore them, mark read, move on.
Web Surfing
1. Tabs. Tabs are the enemy. They will rob you of your productivity. If you open a tab, read it, enjoy it, and close it or decide it is information you want to retain. If it is truly important and something you’ll need to refer to all the time, bookmark it. But, remember…
2. Bookmarks. Bookmarks are the enemy. These are kept to an absolute minimum and only for sites you really visit all the time. Otherwise, that information you wanted to keep will be lost in difficult to search bookmarks forever.
3. Everything else. If you find a web page, tweet, or some other information that you want to keep or reference in the future, share it or make a note.
Sharing
1. If you share information you help a friend and preserve the information in your sent folder, twitter stream, etc. Otherwise, make a note. The thing with notes is…
Notes
1. There are only two kinds of notes in the world. Information that is of temporary use and information that is of permanent use.
2. Temporary notes. Write these on whatever you have lying around. Discard when done.
3. Permanent notes. A permanent note really comes down to how you want to treat information. I like information either in an electronic searchable format or I want it written down so I can reflect on it or refer to it later. A permanent electronic note goes into Google Keep or an email to myself, in outine format, listing things in no particular order, with a few keywords in the subject line and body of the email near the link. When I need to find it again, I just search in Google Keep or for emails from me and specific keywords. A permanent written note goes in my…
Notebook
1. The problem with the Bullet Journal method is that it requires setup, discipline, and maintenance. If you screw those up, the notebook and all the lovely page numbers and organization systems become a burden, a hassle or, worse, useless.1
2. There are so many great things about keeping a notebook. It’s a quick and easy way to record interesting and useful information. While my handwriting is horrible, but I’m pretty decent at drawing and sketching. A notebook for me is something where I can brainstorm, start drafting an idea I can return to later, or where I can record information for posterity. I tend to work out ideas on scraps of paper before recording that data in a more permanent format by committing it to my notebook. Sometimes this means copying information by hand or, my personal favorite, literally cutting and pasting information into the notebook. The worst thing is probably that it isn’t particularly searchable.
3. Title and Date. Every entry in the notebook starts on a fresh page with the date at the top right corner and a helpful title at the top of the page. The date does more than provide you with context.
4. Cross Referencing. The dates at the top of the page function as your page numbers. When you need to refer to a page in the past, rather than referencing a page number, just reference the date of the prior page. When you write a cross reference down to a prior page, note the future date on the prior page.
5. DIY Flags. I placed several pieces of duct tape inside the front cover of the notebook. On top of that, I put several small 1/2″ x 1″ pieces of duct tape. These can be peeled off easily and folded over a page for a sturdy bookmark. More on this later.

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Well, this is my theory. I don’t actually know since I haven’t actually tried the Bullet Journal method… [↩]

How to Make Awesome Cardboard Paper Mache Anything

Posted on March 2, 2014 by Maker Block

Awesome Paper Mache Hats

A few weeks ago a friend of mine had a “bad movie night” where he was showing the film1 “Sharknado.” Inspired by the theme for the party, I decided I had to wear a shark hat for the event. After making my hat, my daughter requested a monkey hat. This was not a request I could refuse.

I took pictures of the process to show you how you can make your own. I haven’t ever tried to make paper mache hats before, so this was not only a lot of fun – but a great learning experience. While I own the really great paper mache monster books by Dan Reeder, I only used them for inspiration and tried out a few new things on my own.

Even though I used this process to make hats, the directions here could easily be adapted to making anything out of paper mache.

1. Step 1: Gather Materials and Tools

All the things you need to make your own awesome paper mache anything

Here’s what you need to get started:

Cardboard Boxes. Cardboard forms the “skeleton” of the structure. It’s cheap, ubiquitous, sturdy, and easy to cut and form.
Masking Tape. Once the cardboard has been cut, liberal use of masking tape will keep your creation together until it can be covered with paper mache.
Scissors and Utility Knife. Scissors can be very helpful in cutting cardboard or paper. While scissors can be helpful, and appropriate for kids, I find a utility knife gets the job done faster.
Measuring Tape. If you’re not making a hat (or other apparel or armor) you won’t need this. But it is helpful when making measurements. ((In a pinch, you could just use a piece of yarn or string to mark lengths, and then put the yarn on the cardboard for reference.))
Plastic Wrap. Whether you’re working with gluey paper or paint, the process is messy. I would recommend covering the work surface with plastic wrap. I happened to have a really large plastic bag, which I taped directly to the table.
Glue. I just used a big bottle of Elmer’s white glue from the hardware store, but I’m pretty sure wood glue would have worked as well, if not better. It’s also more versatile and sturdy.
Plastic Tray. The next time you get take-out or have a plastic liner from inside some packaging, save it. It makes a great wide tray for mixing water and glue or when your project is dry, it is also great for mixing paints.
Paper Grocery Bags. The “twist” with this process is that I used torn up grocery bags, rather than the traditional newspaper. It turned out this was a really good idea for a number of reasons. Paper bags are a cheap and plentiful material. When thoroughly wet strips of paper bags are easy to place, mold and shape. However, the most important features of paper bags is that they hold glue and water really well and then dry quickly into a sturdy hard shell. In fact, they form such a sturdy surface that I only had to do a single layer of paper mache around the entire hat. This means that you can quickly put down a single layer of paper bag strips all over your cardboard form, wait a few hours for it to dry, and then get to work finishing the project.
Paper or Newspaper. While grocery bags work really well to cover your cardboard form, they can leave some small gaps where they overlap. When I found gaps in the project, I simply used a few thin strips of the newsprint style paper to cover the holes and smooth out spots on the rough paper bag layer.
Cup of Water and Paintbrushes. An old mug is best and pile of cheap dollar store brushes is probably fine.
Paints. I prefer acrylic paints. They are cheap, can be diluted with water, easy to mix, they stay wet long enough for you to blend, but not so long that you have to wait days for it to dry. They also clean up well with water.

2. Step 2: Create Cardboard Form

Process for creating awesome hat

The process I used to create the cardboard forms for the hats was pretty quick and easy. I measured the circumference of my daughter’s head and then the distance from her ears to the top of her head. Using these measurements, I cut out a strip of cardboard as tall as the distance from her ears to the top of her head and as wide as the circumference of her head – with a little extra to allow for overlap.