my names steve and im from England, over here big DB train horn kits are very rare and very expensive to import so ive decided to research into making my own train horns. Ive been researching the internet all day on how horns work, also looked at different designs of train horn and in there basic state it shouldnt be hard to make plus i like a challange. I duno if any of you have seen the PVC train horns people have made on youtube? but the pvc piping in the uk is completely different to that of the US and is all eccentric rather then centric peices so might be difficule to make them. However i have access to a workshop with a metal lathe so i was thinking of milling them out of metal with possible plastic trumpets. If anyone has any info that can help me with my project i would much apreciate it, im looking to repoduce a simular thing to the Nathan K3LAs does anyone know what the diameter of the diaphragm discs are in those? as i will make it to simular sizes and tune the finished product in.
i managed to find this picture on the internet of where someone else has machined there own horn but couldnt find much info on it,
oh and has anyone got a copy of the guide to making PVC train horns they could send me to stevenet15@hotmail.com i would very much apreciate it, many thanks and i hope that this thread will progress
i sent them a message on ebay asking if the bits to make them were avaliable in the uk but they never replyed and that was over a week ago
from the research ive currently done i know how to make them its tuning them, to ture them is it only done by trumpet lenth? or how much pressure of the trumpet base is on the diaphragm?
i was gona make the horn chambers out of metal on the lathe and then experiment with differnt trumpet lenths and also different diaphragm materials and thicknesses, but to get it somewhere near was gona make the chambers simular size to the nathan K3LAs and go from there which is why i want to know the diameter of the diaphragm discs in the K3LAs
Welcome Steve. That sounds like a cool project.
If I had a loose diaphram I’d measure it for you, but they’re all inside my horns.
Another part of the tuning is the volume of the power chamber.
If i were to make the horn, i think i would buy the diaphragm kit for the k3 and then make the horns… If you have the diaphragm off just a bit, it will sound terrible i would think.
Where abouts in the UK are you? I will soon have my old set of K3’s back and I may be stripping them down to paint, to re sell, so if your not to far from me I could let you take a gander at the diaphragms etc etc.
Or I can get some sent over with my next order of Horns that I sell over here.
hi mate, im from aylesbury buckinghamshire, where abouts are you?
also i was thinking of making a mould and casting these out of alimilumn and then lathe the cast, its easy enough to do but its cheaper this way then buying a solid peice of alloy to mill down
I’m desperately selling my a*se to promote the Hornblasting scene over here and am planning a London Hornblasting Tunnel run sometime in the new year, basically a whole group of us hit the tunnels of London etc etc.
Welcome to the forum. I think I remember a thread on www.hornwhistleboard.com about PVC horns. Even if you cant find the thread, those guys know about horns, diaphrams, manifolds, and just about everything else involving horns.
Greeting Steve from accross the pond. I would suggest you watch a video on youtube called “How K3LA’s are made (train horn)” it gives a complete teardown and reassembly of a K3LA unit. I had the same idea you have of making them myself from aluminum since I am getting up to speed (and feed’s) on the lathe and mill. Let me know if you got any further as I am curious about this and wont touch doing it out of pvc. ZThanx Drew
Thanx Dan. I can only claim research knowledge as I have yet to aquire a Nathan K3LA or equivilant. I am not in a position of spending a great deal of money, and if I have to I will make the horns myself, so I was interested in this post. It seems that it is extreemly difficult to find a good deal on a Nathan 3 horn, it seems that the market has alot of guys who snatch them and rework them for massive profit. Nothing wrong with making a buck, just not on my dime, ($700+ seems steep) im paitent. All I need is the horns. If you know where the deals are let me know. I looked on E Bay found an older Nathan which I dont know much about. Plus I dont know if a guy can trust some cats out there. Thanx again for the welcome… Drew
