Liquid Microphone Telephone Transmitter (Ye Olde)

Someone reached out and asked me to make a series of things to use as visual aides for her class. This is the first make in a series going over how microphones work. Since the telephone is a transmitter, I figured I'd start with this up right model as exhibited in 1876. This is just half the device. I've not included the receiver since her lectures are more about microphones.

A real joy in this work is getting as close as possible to the real thing - not only in how it works, material and dimensional accuracy, but how it is built. I looked through whatever open source materials I could find - photos, illustrations, patent records, and really wonderful material accurate replicas. I try to create models in a way that resemble not only how something looks, but how it is assembled. Hopefully I can give a maker the opportunity to experience that.

There are a few components I added that are not printable (threaded fasteners, paper membrane, binding and connecting wires). I recommend the following:

• 5mm ø polystyrene rod
• 22 gauge copper wire
• 1mm ø polystyrene rod
• Tracing paper, wrapping tissue, or rice paper

I included instructions for this make.

Thank you for reaching out and inspiring new ideas for makes. I hope this brings you some joy and discovery. Please let me know what you think, and if you appreciate the work, please hit the like button.

Print Settings

Printer Brand:

Prusa

Printer:

I3 MK3S

No

Supports:

No

.15 and .3

Infill:

10%

Notes:

Print all parts as imported. For threaded rod I used 5mm ø polystyrene rod and rod threader. For the diaphragm needle, I sharpened down the tip a 1mm ø polystyrene rod. The rest is fairly straight forward.