The Art of Handcrafting Custom Game Calls > Handcrafting Other Items, Pens, Bowls, Forms

how to make a dog or general whistle

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adrian:
the whistle can be made from any material. antler, wood, horn etc.
for clarity i have used a 4 piece of oak to show the process
 

 i am going to shape this on the lath but you can do all the shaping by hand.
 so drill an 8mm hole into the wood/material to depth of 3 1/2 cm
then give wood an initial shape, this helps for the next bit


 place the wood in vice. mark two lines. one 1 1/2 cm and the other 2cm from the mouthpiece


 starting at the line nearest the mouthpiece, with a hacksaw or fine saw cut straight down,cut down until you have cut through the wood into the hole you have drilled.
then cut diagonally from the second line towards the mouthpiece so that it connects with the bottom of the first cut you have made.



then back in the lath and finish shaping. sand.
 seperate from the scrap piece in the collet


then taking a 3cm length of 8mm dowel, trim the top of the dowel to give semi circle shape.
insert into the hole and push until the dowel is just visible in the cut you have made.
the amount varies between different materials, the thickness of the walls.
you will need to adjust this dowel to get the sound, you should have no effort to create a sound,
if you have to blow hard trim more off the dowel to enable more air in.
when correct glue in place. then trim when dry. sand etc
this can be the most irritating part when you can just hear a sound coming but its not loud enough,
patience and a fiddle will do the job, the more you make the easier it gets.
sound familiar?


this shows the shape of the mouthpiece


 and this shows finished article, just needs bit of sanding here and there, and wax coat. you can see where the dowel shows through the hole.

 this is very loud.
 the thicker the walls of the whistle the duller/deeper the tone
 two whisltes made from the same piece of wood/horn, will give slightly different notes.

adrian:


just a couple i have made .
 walking stick with antler handle which has whislte in it. very handy.
two dog whistles, one red deer and the other roe deer.
and two wooden ones, both oak. the darker one has thicker sides than the one i have shown here.

VECtor Calls:
On your rifle cartridge whistles vs. these.......  You remove the primer on the cartridge whistle, but these don't have any hole in the end.  Why the difference?  You say these are very loud.  Are they louder than the cartridge kind because they don't have a hole on the end? 

Thanks again!  Awesome stuff!

Parker

adrian:
i have found that there is no difference in volume between the two.
but i have found that it is easier to get a sound from the rifle brass with the primer removed, i have
no idea why this is, but it works.
if you leave the primer in as i have in the past it can be a bit of a bugger to get a good sound, also its a softer,quieter sound.
 and is harder to blow.need more puff.
 and i am all for making it easier.also if the primer is removed its a lot more forgiving if you have the sound hole just slightly out
(ie if the drill slips slightly or if you have to file off a bit of scarf and alter the hole slightly) .
i showed it with the primer out as that makes it a whole lot easier to be successful quickly and saves the patience.

the wooden or horn whistles are a lot easier to get a sound from,a lot easier to alter the pitch as well by moving the dowel in and out.
they are also a lot easier to blow.
i don't know why but must be because of the nature of the material.

VECtor Calls:
Good stuff!  Thank you again.  And I really appreciate the time in you telling us whatvall can go wrong in making these calls so we can be prepared for the mistakes.

Parker

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