These simple boxes contain a matched pair of cuckoo whistles, the kind that are available as replacements for cuckoo clocks.  The taller box has longer whistles in it so its tone is deeper than the shorter one.  The internal driving mechanism is a football shaped cam and a series of levers and springs that allow the crank to be turned in either direction and still function, unlike the mechanism in a cuckoo clock which can only turn one way without binding.  They will produce the classic two note cuckoo sound twice per revolution.

I designed and made one of these for my grandkids to kids to play with.  I then decided to make the two nice ones you see on display.  The fact that my daughter in law hates cuckoo clocks is just a perk.    [ – place evil grin here – ] 

The material is soft maple and walnut.  The finger joints were cut with a homemade jig and a router table using a straight 1/4″ spiral upcutting bit. The turned parts were cut on a metal lathe.  The finish is Minwax Wipe on Poly Gloss, scuffed and waxed.

 

Launch Gallery