Introduction: Siren Whistle. the Most Annoying Toy Ever!

About: Fixer, Finder, Fabricator. I teach engineering to high school students, at St Marys Secondary College in Nathalia VIC Australia

As part of my schools recruitment drive for new students, we have a day that grade 6 kids can come to high school for a few hours and try different subjects. I was asked to motivate kids to choose engineering, which sounds all good, but, then you read the fine print...... 138 kids,... two and a half hours........ Oh crap!

Kids like annoying people right right? So I had a look on instructables for the most annoying toy ever made and Kitemans siren whistle looked like it would be perfect. The only problem was its a little to difficult for grade sixes to assemble.... I know, kids and super glue sounds like great fun.... but there is probably a down side there somewhere.

I redesigned kitemans siren whistle so no glue is required the grade sixes can assemble in a few minutes and it's even louder and more obnoxious than the original. The kids enjoyed making their siren and enjoyed annoying there teachers even more, it took most kids around 20-30 minutes to assemble. Look out for the video at the end 138 kiteman siren whistles, it is the most horrible racket ever.

Step 1: Stuff You Will Need

The siren whistle is made from 3mm cast acrylic, and if you make the case out of transparent material the turbine will be visible and you will be able to see it spin. When cutting the parts out on the laser cutter think about the cut order. Its best to cut the holes first as the rotor can move while cutting, and if the hole is cut last it can cause problems with the rotor wobbling.

Parts and tool List

  • Siren Whistle parts from 3mm cast acrylic
  • Bamboo skewers
  • MIG welder wire 0.9mm
  • 120 grit sand paper
  • Side cutters
  • Hot glue maybe required if the wire axle is a loose fit

Step 2: Sand the Turbine

This step is easy. Just sand the turbine on both flat sides to give it a little clearance, and also sand each one of the blades to make them smooth. If you assemble your turbine and it doesn't work it could be it needs a little more sanding.

Step 3: Fitting the Bamboo Dowels

Now sand the end of the bamboo skewers and they will fit snugly into the three holes in the base of the siren. Trim them off with side cutters and move on to the next hole. You will need to sand the end each time you cut a piece, and make them a little longer than you need, as they can be trimmed to size later.

Next the center can be fitted and be a little careful that it goes on straight as it is easy to twist and break the acrylic .

Step 4: Fitting the Turbine and the Top

Fit the turbine to the MIG wire to make sure it spins nicely, and then the MIG wire can be threaded through the base. If the laser cutter has been set up correctly this will be a tight fit on the base. The top can then be threaded on and the MIG wire cut down to size.

Be careful when you cut the wire as little bits can fly from the side cutters, and if it got in your eye it would not be fun at all.

Step 5: Finishing Off

Now test your siren and all going well you can trim off the excess bamboo dowel. Usually you wont have to glue the wire in place but if the laser cutter has made the hole a little too loose the wire will fall out. A dab of hot glue fix that if its a problem. The noise of a 130 of them all going at once was worst than any trip to the dentist, and I've had a few kids wanting to make another on because "mom took it off me and smashed it"...So its lots of fun then.

If the whistle fills up with spit, dirt or yucky stuff it can be easily pull apart and cleaned and then pushed back together again.