Ruby Whistles

The Ruby Whistle is a 3D printable "Low" (tenor) whistle body, frequently used in Irish Traditional music, such as LUX by Sorcha.

It uses a fipple from a Tony Dixon Low D whistle. I chose this fipple because I like its tone.

Parts Needed

• 2× Rubber O-Rings: 25mm OD, 22mm ID, 1.5mm width
• 1× Tony Dixon Tenor Whistle Head - Key of D: Part TB106H

Included Whistles

I've included 3mf renders for the following whistles:

• Low G (Intonation is awful)
• Low F
• Low E
• Low D
• Low C (I can't get it to voice the lower notes)

Features

Each segment has a ridge running down its length. This is to collect seams so that they look intentional.

This model uses Axianov toneholes, invented by Russian flute maker Marat Axianov. These tone holes align better with your fingers, making the instrument easier to handle for a wider range of hand sizes. If you prefer round tone holes that look like they were drilled, you can disable the Axianov holes with a parameter in the source code.

There are two rings just above every joint. This is another attempt to make a functional part appear like an intentional design element.

There's a little dog head at the bottom. It's a tracing of our dog, Ruby. I was considering calling these "Phony Dachsund" whistles, because they require a Tony Dixon fipple, but I like "Ruby Whistles" better :)

Printing

Print with a brim, for stability. My slicer likes a 6mm brim. No supports are needed.

I've had good results printing at 0.2mm layer height. Because inner bore smoothness is so important, you will get better results if your temperature and retraction are fine-tuned to reduce stringing.

I print in PLA, although experimentation has shown that Silk PLA results in an instrument that is easier to voice. This is probably due to the Silk PLA creating a smoother surface on the inner bore. A smoother bore will have a "brighter" sound and be easier to voice, a rougher bore will have a "darker" sound but be more challenging to voice. For me, plain PLA is about right.

Post-Processing

Aerophones, and especially flutes, are highly sensitive to the smoothness of the inner bore. Swabbing the inner bore multiple times, or even lightly sanding it with a high-grit sandpaper, if possible, can smooth out minor printing defects that have a major impact.

Round tone holes will look better if lightly filed after printing, to make them more round.

Before you glue everything together, double-check that you have completely removed the brim, and any "elephant footing" caused by the print. Fixing this is difficult after the joints are permanently attached.

Glue all the pieces together with cyanoacrylate (super glue). Be sure to completely circumscribe the joint with glue, so no air can leak out of the joint. A leaky whistle will have trouble staying in the lower octave, and may be difficult to voice.

Source Code

https://git.woozle.org/neale/whistles/

With the source code, you can re-render models with round tone holes, create your own designs: whatever you want!