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Homemade PVC Train Horns

Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 11:32 am
by Gun Freak
Saw these on the YouTubes, thought they were pretty cool so I made some :D
[youtube][/youtube]


Anybody else have any experience in this field?

Re: Homemade PVC Train Horns

Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 12:25 pm
by velocity3x
Great work! They certainly have a realistic sound.

Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 12:33 pm
by jackssmirkingrevenge
Haha loved the Halloween comment at the end :D

Nice... so basically the diaphragms oscillate with the pressure, acting as a sort of fast cycling pop-off valve?

Your neighbours must love you :)

Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 1:16 pm
by Gun Freak
Exactly right, the pulsating air is what creates the sound wave, amplified by the bell (funnel).

The neighbors are all aware of what I do and are generally pretty tolerant... But I still try to keep the horn blasting to a minimum :P

Thanks velocity, it sounds pretty good for a 2-bell horn setup, which I wasn't expecting. 3 would be better but... They're too big for my little Cavalier :) so I did what I could with two horns.

Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 10:43 pm
by Blitz
I have a little experience monkeying around with these kind of horns. (Not homemade).

I like. I feel inspired to make something like these for my car, not. Too big for your Cavalier? Balderdash!

Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 9:17 am
by Gun Freak
Go for it. They're so cheap that even if you don't mount them on anything you still have fun making them and testing them haha :wink:

Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 6:39 pm
by Blitz
I actually was considering one as a warning for when I would be firing my MFIC.

Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 8:41 pm
by Gun Freak
Oh come on you're just looking for an excuse to make a set :D

Honestly I think train horns are a bit overkill for that sort of thing. You could get away with a much smaller horn.

Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 8:42 pm
by Blitz
Gun Freak wrote:Oh come on you're just looking for an excuse to make a set :D

Honestly I think train horns are a bit overkill for that sort of thing. You could get away with a much smaller horn.
Well duh. :D

I actually was thinking about a homemade siren, as opposed to a horn.

Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 10:15 pm
by Gun Freak
I've seen those before... Hmmm... Seems more appropriate for your application, but to me they seem harder to build, especially to make a really loud one. But, to each his own I guess.

Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 10:19 pm
by Blitz
Yeah, there's certainly more work involved. :)

Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2013 9:02 am
by mark.f

Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2013 10:39 am
by Gun Freak
More like tow it on a utility trailer :D

Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 1:38 pm
by Lockednloaded
How did you drill into the "flat part" of the bell reducer? Wouldn't drilling there put a hole in the tube that attaches to the funnel? I've seen ones on YouTube where they drill into the bell of the bell reducer, but your way looks like it makes them easier to mount

Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 4:01 pm
by Gun Freak
Funny you should ask... On one of the horns I drilled too far in (hand drill instead of drill press) and went the through that tube. But the bushings I used have the recessed back that allowed me to drill into 3 layers instead of 1. And yeah it made mounting them very easy!