[Jimdandy]

So its my first post here! yay! :cheers:

Got a question... I have been reading up on this whole DIY CNC router bit for about a year now. I Hope to get that last few parts needed to get going on it soon.

Question: Has anyone seen/come up with a good solution to knock the decible level down of the router while its on? I do realize that the cutting of the material is where a good amount of noise comes from but with a dust collection skirt it may knock it down a bit.

I was thinking about boxing in the router with a couple of ports for airflow and with using the dust collection to cool the box.( there would be two hoses.. small one for the router box and the larger dia. hose for the actual dust collection).

Thanks in advance for any reply

[CarveOne]

To my knowledge the only way to quiet the router and cutting noise is to fully enclose the machine. The enclosure will need to be lined with sound absorbent material and the enclosure must be easily removable for maintenance and alignment. The dust collector (or vacuum cleaner) will still be almost as loud. It will get very dirty inside the enclosure.

I plan to build a sound deadened room for the cnc router and dust collector when my workshop construction is completed.

CarveOne

[Jimdandy]

Thanks for the response! What type of sound dampening material do you plan on using? We have used a little bit of the stuff( dampening pannels and canisters/tubes) at work to limit the Db in the powder paint room but they were a little on the expensive side..

I would also imagine your talking about using a clear poly for the walls, so you can see through it?

JD

[Gir]

Thanks for the response! What type of sound dampening material do you plan on using? We have used a little bit of the stuff( dampening pannels and canisters/tubes) at work to limit the Db in the powder paint room but they were a little on the expensive side..

Using rigid fiber glass insulation wrapped with felt absorbs sound very well. It's pretty cheap and it's easy to make. Owens Corning 703 is very good, but the other numbers have different ranges of sound absorption. You can check out this link to see the coefficients of absorption - the higher the number the better. I actually have OC703 wrapped in felt in my apartment. I've built my own speakers, but the room is so live I needed to dampen some of the sound. It's really neat when you put your ear right next to the panel; you feel like you're deaf in that ear!

1) Buy rigid fiber glass (oc703 is good)
2) Wrap felt around rigid fiber glass
3) ???
4) Profit!

[Jimdandy]

Thanks Gir... Ill definetly try that and post my findings.

[CarveOne]

If you use Lexan or Plexiglas walls for the enclosure I doubt that you will see anything through it after the cutting starts on something like MDF. It may be ok if you are using a good dust collector.

Even "egg crate" foam glued to the inside of cheap plywood enclosure walls will work better than nothing. Anything that can contain the noise will make it less harsh on the ears.

My plan is to escape from the room that the router and dust collector are in. Once the door is closed it should help. There will be an e-stop switch and a view window at the door where I can monitor the cutting progress. Harbor Freight sells electronic hearing protection for $20 that will help when in the room.

CarveOne

[Mike Stevenson]

Between the Router and the Vacuum noise it seems quite loud. I have my machine in a garage. With the big door open you can hear it from outside. But when you close the Garage door you can hardly hear it at all. Egg cartons stapled to the walls are great sound absorber too.

[Gir]

Just to clarify, the egg cartons and egg crate foam work fairly well for just lowering the sound a bit, but the rigid fiber glass is pretty much as good as it gets in the lowish price range. It will obviously cost you much more than egg cartons, but the sound dampening is extremely effective. Putting your ear next to the egg crate foam won't sound much different than normal, but putting it next to the rigid fiber glass you'll hear nothing.

And yes, I have done side by side comparisons.

[docltf]

i use a dewalt router and the screaming noise that it made was brutal.so i built a dc power supply for it.knocked that ac scream out.the cutting noises that it makes now are bearable and you can talk to somebody while it is cutting.the router runs cooler,quieter,brushes last longer.and as a bonus manual variable speed.

bill

[Mike Stevenson]

Take my advise and close all the windows and doors. You are not making a Hollywood sound stage here. Besides Fiberglass is some toxic, itchy stuff.

[artwood_decor]

Hi Bill,
can you post a schematic and maybe picture of what you did?

Lucian

[Gir]

...Besides Fiberglass is some toxic, itchy stuff.

Good point. If you do use the fiberglass, make sure to at the very least wear a protective mask so you're not inhaling any of that stuff.

[Mike Stevenson]

I have an easier method that just occured to me. Take old comforters and blankets and nail them up against walls and hold them in place with Chicken Wire. Extremely effective against sound and completely safe too.

[gerryv]

I was told by someone into music recording that there is a quite direct correlation between density and deadening. Kind of makes sense based on the similar principle applied by many for machine tools. More Mass = less vibration. Sound waves are vibration. Make any sense?

[dertsap]

I have an easier method that just occured to me. Take old comforters and blankets and nail them up against walls and hold them in place with Chicken Wire. Extremely effective against sound and completely safe too.

it would be hard to explain to friends that your sanctuary from the world is a heavily padded room

[Mike Stevenson]

it would be hard to explain to friends that your sanctuary from the world is a heavily padded room

I saw it being done in the sound stages at the Burbank Studios in Southern, California.

[dertsap]

i can see that doing a good job , moving blanket would work well , they aren't puffy but are quite dense and they are large

i used standard fibreglass pink insolation in the walls and ceiling of my workshop ,with that and the chipboard i used inside for the walls and ceiling there isn't a whole lot of noise coming out of there when i'm cutting

[Geof]

What do egg crates and blankets have in common, in addition to sound dampening properties?

They both burn and produce large amounts of dense smoke.

Chipboard burns also.

I don't want to dampen anyone's ingenuity but if you have this sort of stuff in your house you should maybe think about the reaction of your insurance company if you do have a fire. They love finding excuses to avoid paying out.

One way to make a sound dampening enclosure is to take the idea that is used for dividing walls in good quality apartment buildings. The wall is kinda doubled up; studs are used in staggered pairs, one stud is offset toward one side and the other is offset toward the other, and there is no contact between the studs. Gypsum wall board is then installed as is done on a regular wall with the fiberglas sound deadening batts in between.

Because there is no direct connection between each side of the wall there is very little sound transmission; the sound makes the wallboard vibrate and the stud it is attached to also vibrates but the opposite side of the wall is attached to a different stud which is not vibrating; the fiberglas dampens any vibrations that might be transferred from one side to the other through the air in the wall.

So figure out how to make a double shell enclosure with the shells separated in a similar manner.

And line it with gypsum wall board so it is fire resistant.

[Mike Stevenson]

What do egg crates and blankets have in common, in addition to sound dampening properties?

They both burn and produce large amounts of dense smoke.

Chipboard burns also.

I don't want to dampen anyone's ingenuity but if you have this sort of stuff in your house you should maybe think about the reaction of your insurance company if you do have a fire. They love finding excuses to avoid paying out.

One way to make a sound dampening enclosure is to take the idea that is used for dividing walls in good quality apartment buildings. The wall is kinda doubled up; studs are used in staggered pairs, one stud is offset toward one side and the other is offset toward the other, and there is no contact between the studs. Gypsum wall board is then installed as is done on a regular wall with the fiberglas sound deadening batts in between.

Because there is no direct connection between each side of the wall there is very little sound transmission; the sound makes the wallboard vibrate and the stud it is attached to also vibrates but the opposite side of the wall is attached to a different stud which is not vibrating; the fiberglas dampens any vibrations that might be transferred from one side to the other through the air in the wall.

So figure out how to make a double shell enclosure with the shells separated in a similar manner.

And line it with gypsum wall board so it is fire resistant.

What a ludicris suggestion Geof. The guy is NOT building the "Cone of Silence" from Get Smart. He merely wanted to know how to "knock the decible level down of the router while its on." Why we sit here and debate these issues without any feedback from the original poster is beyond the scope of my imagination.

[Geof]

What a ludicris suggestion Geof....... Why we sit here and debate these issues without any feedback from the original poster is beyond the scope of my imagination.

Because it is fun.

Because it is more fun than telling someone they made a ludicrous suggestion.

Because I think it is knowing too much is better than not knowing enough.

Because making a double shell enclosure along the principles I described is quite feasible.

Because thos principles can be scaled up to almost any size.