Tag Archives: volume

Loudest 3D Printed Whistle – now with 100% more science

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Extremely loud and compact emergency whistle v1

Extremely loud and compact emergency whistle v1

I ordered a decibel meter from Amazon the other day so I could drop some science on the claims from various 3D printed whistles on Thingiverse.  There are several that claim to be the loudest.  Well, today, I began my quest to put these claims to rest.

The closer the decibel meter is to a sound source, the higher it registers.  To eliminate some of these variables, I placed the decibel meter on a counter in front of me and a chair 24 inches in front of that.  For each of the whistles I was testing I stood just behind the chair and gave the whistle three hearty puffs.  The decibel meter, which was set to record and display the “max” reading, would then tell me the loudest reading for that set of three whistle toots.

Without further ado, I declare the “Extremely loud and compact emergency whistle” by Whistleblower on Thingiverse the clear winner at 121.1 decibels.  Both whistles by this designer took the top two scientifically determined spots.

NameThingiverse IDMass (grams)PricePrint Time (minutes)DecibelsSubjective Rank
Extremely loud and compact emergency whistle [v1]29330213.9$0.1222121.11
Extremely loud and compact emergency whistle [v2]29330213.7$0.1118111.53
v29 (Over 118 db!)117916013.9$0.4290110.44
2 chamber whistle (LOUD) [w5]26165128.1$0.2449109.52
Emergency Whistle with Solidworks 2014 source4951721.2$0.047101.85
Whistle Ring Modified [v2]20271151.6$0.05990.86

Just how loud is 121.1 decibels? 1  Well, for starters, it’s just above the pain threshold of 120 decibels.  It’s louder than:

  • Your iPod headphones at maximum volume
  • A baby crying, next to your ear
  • A full symphony orchestra
  • The subway
  • A sporting event
  • A chainsaw
  • A jetski
  • A marching band

It’s on par with:

  • Thunder
  • A shotgun
  • An ambulance siren
  • A rock concert

And, if you didn’t have earplugs, you would exceed the daily safe exposure limit for 121 decibels in 7 seconds.

There may be louder whistle on Thingiverse2 and, if so, please let me know.  I’ll print the model and test against the others in my arsenal.

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  1. This page has several charts to help explain. [↩]
  2. Or some other online 3D design repository [↩]

Loud 3D Printed Whistle Test, Take 2

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Impatient for my decibel meter to arrive from Amazon and eager to get more feedback on the loudest 3D printed whistle, I brought the four loudest whistles to work and enlisted the help of two friends.  We performed the test much the same as the last time – only this time they were on one end of a large parking lot and I had driven to the far side to blow each whistle once, then repeated them each once.  Here’s the result on their subjective test:

NameThingiverse IDMass (grams)PricePrint Time (minutes)RankDecibels
Extremely loud and compact emergency whistle [v2]29330213.7$0.11181TBD
Extremely loud and compact emergency whistle [v1]29330213.9$0.12222TBD
2 chamber whistle (LOUD) [w5]26165128.1$0.24493TBD
v29 (Over 118 db!)117916013.9$0.42904TBD

Whether the1 loudest whistle is the v1 or v2 of the “Extremely loud and compact emergency whistle,” Thingiverse user whistleblower clearly designed an amazing, quick printing, low cost whistle.  It has a very high pitched piercing tone that can be downright painful to be near, let alone create. 2

As before there’s a number of different things that could be happening here.  Perhaps the particular tone of this whistle travels better through open spaces (such as a parking lot) rather than through a door and down a hall (such as inside my house).  I know there are some whistles that require a lot of blowing power to hit maximum volume and others which almost “choke” on too much pressure.

In two days my decibel meter will arrive and I’ll try all of these tests again and post a new table.  If you think you’ve got a contender or have seen a really loud whistle on Thingiverse, let me know in the comments so I can print and test it.

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  1. Subjectively [↩]
  2. Again, I had my earplugs in for the test [↩]

Loudest Whistle on Thingiverse… The Answer Might Surprise You!

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You'll need a pair of these earplugs

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

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:

NameThingiverse IDMass (grams)PricePrint Time (minutes)RankDecibels
Extremely loud and compact emergency whistle [v1]29330213.9$0.12221TBD
2 chamber whistle (LOUD) [w5]26165128.1$0.24492TBD
Extremely loud and compact emergency whistle [v2]29330213.7$0.11183TBD
v29 (Over 118 db!)117916013.9$0.42904TBD
Emergency Whistle with Solidworks 2014 source4951721.2$0.0475TBD
Whistle Ring Modified [v2]20271151.6$0.0596TBD

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

The RepRap Prize

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A commentator suggested that the RepRap Challenge prize is set up to avoid paying out.  This seems like a silly and vacuous charge to me.  The $20,000 and $80,000 prize payouts have firm award dates of 12/31/2012 and 12/31/2015, respectively.  If someone hasn’t achieved the specific milestones by those dates, by the terms of their declarations (and assuming they are good to their word), they’ll have to award those sums to whoever is closest.

In any case, here’s a summary of the list of the requirements for those interested.

Interim Personal Manufacturing prize of $20,000.00 to be awarded on 12/31/2012:

  1. Print at least three different materials, including one that is usefully electrically conductive.
  2. The ability to print electronic circuit boards.
  3. Print beds1 must be of a material which may be reused with minimal refurbishment for at least 20 print cycles.
  4. Maintain a total materials and parts cost under $200 and that 90% of the volume of the printer parts be printed.2
  5. Demonstrate a build volume of the printer above 300x300x100mm in order to insure that items daily utility can be printed.
  6. The capacity to print a full set of parts for a complete replica of itself within 10 days unattended save for clearing no more than one printer head jam.
  7. The ability to print autonomously without a PC attached.
  8. Uses no more than 60 watts of electrical power.

Grand Personal Manufacturing Prize of $80,000.00 to be awarded on 12/31/2015:

  1. That the cost of the material used for printing does not exceed $4/kilogram.
  2. The capacity to print a full set of parts for a complete replica of itself within 7 days, including the time for reloading, and clearing of printer head jams.3
  3. Maintain a total materials and parts cost under $200 and that 90% of the volume of the printer parts be printed.4
  4. Participating teams are expected to regularly publish and make available their technology on an ongoing basis. All technology developed by participating teams becomes open source under a GPL or BSD license. Therefore, the winning team will have to have published at least some of their innovations more than 12 months before the deadline.
  1. Print beds are flat surfaces onto which parts are printed. [↩]
  2. Print beds are not necessarily a permanent part of the printer and are not figured into either the cost or the volume requirements of a printer. [↩]
  3. According to the article it currently takes approximately 21 days with 90% of the time requiring human involvement. [↩]
  4. Plastics such as HDPE and Polypropylene, of which millions of tons exist as waste matter, may be suitable candidates, and recycling of such waste material would be viewed favorably by the judging panel. [↩]

MakerBot, Mendel, Mendel-Mini Build Areas

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Owning a MakerBot, I’m not even sure why someone would need something to print pieces much larger than the MakerBot build area.  Printing something as large as just the maximum build volume of a MakerBot would take ages.

While the official longest print logged on the Makerbot website is Zach’s Disney head, clocking in at 2 hours and 45 minutes, I’ve read about people printing for up to 8 continuous hours.  If the build volume for a Mendel is 4.3 times that of a Makerbot, it would take more than 34 hours to fill that build area.

When you’re printing a door hook in 15 minutes, it doesn’t pay to drive to the hardware store.  When it takes 34 hours to print a big plastic brick, you’re better off driving to the gas station, filling up your tank, driving to McDonald’s, filling out an application, working an hour, quitting and demanding your paycheck, driving to the hardware store, buying a single brick, and then driving back home.  I figure that kind of silliness would only take half a day or so.  Heck, with 34 hours, you could do this at least six times over.