The Dale C. Maley Family Web Site

ScrollerOnlnine sells plans to make 9 different wood guns. You can use this link to access these plans.

The military rifle is by far the most complex wooden gun among the 9 gun designs in this set of plans.  I decided to build the simpler hunting rifle and western revolver first, before tackling this complex project.  I always enter project plans in Sketchup because it helps me learn the design and often plans have errors.

The plans call for a whistle built into one of the 2 dowels in the left hand gun section. No details for making the whistle are in the plans.

From past projects, I have learned that building wood whistles is a trial & error process to get a good sound.

I set up an Excel spreadsheet to run experiments and home in on the best design.

I made the reeds about 1/2" longer than needed, so I could grip the end with my fingers and change the insertion length.  When I am done, I will saw the extra off flush with the end.

It took 3 attempts to get a good design.  My first attempt failed, so I drilled the hole deeper to give the whistle more volume. I tried a thinner reed and that did not work well.  The best result was with a thicker reed [which means a narrower air passage], and it was less sensitive to the insertion length of the reed.

Out of curiousity, I went ahead and tried a 45 degree angle cut.  WOW, it gave the best results so far !