Curiositys sake: Claxton Plunger Horn

Flying Zombie · Dec 3, 2014

I was curious, after looking this one over..

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Vin...045?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19f7fe7d95

How does one of these work? They seem simple enough to make, but I need to know the insides.. what
allows this to make noise?

Zombie/Jordan

Dbubbleguy · Dec 3, 2014

The screw in the center goes through and is firmly attached to a thin metal diaphragm, then extends to the other side The screw comes to a rounded point. The verticle plunger is spring loaded, so that when struck sharply, serrated notches on the plunger facing the rounded point cause it to vibrate the diaphragm as the plunger moves in a downward motion. This creates a really loud noise that that is focused outward by the can shaped body, much like a cheer leader's megaphone. The spring then pops the verticle plunger back up for another raspy toot. :bigboss:

Flying Zombie · Dec 3, 2014

Dbubbleguy said:
The screw in the center goes through and is firmly attached to a thin metal diaphragm, then extends to the other side The screw comes to a rounded point. The verticle plunger is spring loaded, so that when struck sharply, serrated notches on the plunger facing the rounded point cause it to vibrate the diaphragm as the plunger moves in a downward motion. This creates a really loud noise that that is focused outward by the can shaped body, much like a cheer leader's megaphone. The spring then pops the verticle plunger back up for another raspy toot.

Dbubble, thats a Fantastic Explanation. I really appreciate it.
Given you know these sorts of horns with some detail enough to produce
a mental idea of the guts.. What is your favorite style of horn on a bike, with your versed knowledge? [Ive been partial to the chain-pulls, but again, no idea how they work.. just think they're quite a Gem in appearance on a bike] :39:

Zombie

Dbubbleguy · Dec 4, 2014

FZ- I basically like anything that makes noise. For a long while I had an Oxford Model 477 Hawk-Eye Twins horn-light combo on my bike. This was NOS when I got it, complete in original box. See link below. I replaced the light bulb with an LED bulb, which is much brighter. I found that modern alkaline D-cells were too heavy, causing the whole unit to slip down. I replaced the D-cells with 2 AA-cells in a plastic holder. Worked great. I took this off my bike when I found a repop bullet head light that had a 1 watt LED in it... REALLY BRIGHT. Needing a warning device, I mounted a large ding-dong bell on the seat post and ran a cable from the bell to a brake lever on the handle bars. I also like the small honka-honka bulb horns.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/28247229@N02/6406538445/player/7be33a5a43

Flying Zombie · Dec 5, 2014

Dbubbleguy said:
FZ- I basically like anything that makes noise. For a long while I had an Oxford Model 477 Hawk-Eye Twins horn-light combo on my bike. This was NOS when I got it, complete in original box. See link below. I replaced the light bulb with an LED bulb, which is much brighter. I found that modern alkaline D-cells were too heavy, causing the whole unit to slip down. I replaced the D-cells with 2 AA-cells in a plastic holder. Worked great. I took this off my bike when I found a repop bullet head light that had a 1 watt LED in it... REALLY BRIGHT. Needing a warning device, I mounted a large ding-dong bell on the seat post and ran a cable from the bell to a brake lever on the handle bars. I also like the small honka-honka bulb horns.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/28247229@N02/6406538445/player/7be33a5a43

Man! Talk about looking like a space ship coming down the road!
I've seen the Hawk-eye twins before [and a little piece of me wants them simply due to my love for M.A.S.H.] Its really cool, you found New Old Stock of something that cool. I agree that D's seem a bit heavy, for most any place on the bike, though if you manage to get a bullet fender light one fits in, the mounts for the light on the fender would probably hold, but when you can do twin A's whats the point, right? ^.6 If I come across anything that remotely looks like a Noise maker, youre who Im consulting first!

FZ

patman73 · Dec 6, 2014

small fog horn on a bike would be crazy , i have heard of an air horn on a bike it's too loud ,you would need the industrial ear protection like they use in machine shops or you could go deaf
check youtube for air horns & train horn on a bicycle it scarey loud !