How To Control Shop Noise Levels?

lethal375 · Mar 10, 2018

Looking for suggestions on reducing the high pitch electronics/servo drive noise.

Even the coolant pumps produce a high decible whine.

I run a small one man shop and would like to hear my grandchilderen some day without a hearing aids.

:toetap:

JLarsson · Mar 10, 2018

Why not ear plugs of some sort or over-the-ear hearing protectors?

9100 · Mar 10, 2018

Modern hearing aids can alter the frequency profile. You might be able to set them up so they pass normal sounds and filter out the offending noise. My audiologist niece is in the hearing aid business and is married to a now retired and instructing "Night Stalker", the guys who fly the Delta Force and Seals around. She tells me about the earpieces they have that block everything except communication. Her husband went through the Barret school. She made him and his friends earplugs that reduced even the muzzle blast of a .50 next to them to a little pop.

If you wish, I will ask her about it.

Bill

Fulcircleny · Mar 10, 2018

One of my hobbies is Sporting Clay's. For about 100 bucks an ear, go thru your primary doctor, have them refer you to an audiologist. They will mold your ears, and produce excellent quality ear plugs, that FIT. I wear them in the shop almost all the time, especially when I Jig Grind. Even if your insurance doesn't, or won't cover the cost, they are well worth it. I have 2 pair, one for shooting, one for the shop. Best of luck.
Chris

davehud · Mar 10, 2018

I'm retired now but after 45 years in the machine shop I now suffer from tinnitus. You young guys listen up, damaged hearing is no joke. If you work in a noisy shop please wear hearing protection!

Bobw · Mar 10, 2018

How big is the shop, and what are your walls and ceilings made out of??

My shop now is a metal building, and the inside is insulation with plastic over that, held in
by chicken wire.. Ceiling also.. Its a heck of a lot quiter than the shop I used to work
at which was all cinder blocks, even with the machines on, but not running it was loud.. That
WHINING from every damn electric thing would drive you nuts.. I don't
have that problem here at all... Except for one machine with steppers, but I never turn it on.

I'd say absorb the sound.. High frequency sound bounces off of hard things and absorbs into soft
things.. Carpet the walls, kind of like those dividers that they use in cubicle farms. Foam
ceiling tiles maybe..

Stirling · Mar 10, 2018

Double up hearing protection!!

On the front of "absorbing" sound what suggestions go to fellas have?
I'm in the same boat. A little 2 car garage with a compressor, cnc slant bed and cnc mill.
I've only had the lathe a short while but the hydrolic pump is audible outside my residence even at idle. Let alone all the cutting noise and compressor thump.
As I'm in a residential area in town I would like to reduce sound leakage as much as possible as to not offend others living around me.
The garage door seems to be the worst culprit.

SND · Mar 10, 2018

Ear plugs for the high pitch stuff, always when I run the cnc.
That said, you'll most likely need hearing aids either way when you get old. I know a bunch of people who worked in offices and quiet places all their life, weren't in any rock bands either, and they're all deaf in their 50-60's and a few with tinnitus anyway. I'm just trying to delay it a bit, though its very minor vs all the other things that can and likely will fall apart before then...

9100 · Mar 10, 2018

Regardless of normal deterioration, multiple studies have shown that exposure to noise has a definite correlation to hearing loss. My niece got her original training in the army and wound up in Walter Reid Hospital shortly after the first Gulf invasion. She tested most of the people we saw in television, said Colin Powell was a real gentleman, Norman Schwarzkoph was a jerk. Her overall comment was "I test a lot of deaf generals."

Something else to consider would be shooting earphones with microphones on the outside and earphones inside and an amplifier between that limits amplitude. That way you can hear everything but nothing exceeds a safe level.

Bill

HuFlungDung · Mar 10, 2018

I prefer earmuffs myself, when things are noisy. It's not about immersing yourself in complete silence. Knocking the ambient noise level down by 20db is a good thing and even cheap muffs will do that. Plus, if circumstances warrant, you can listen to something in your earmuffs if you get some with headphones. In that case, then you want MORE db reduction so that you don't have to turn up the volume on the earbuds to hear what you are trying to hear, and deafen yourself that way.

Mud · Mar 10, 2018

HuFlungDung said:
Plus, if circumstances warrant, you can listen to something in your earmuffs if you get some with headphones. In that case, then you want MORE db reduction so that you don't have to turn up the volume on the earbuds to hear what you are trying to hear, and deafen yourself that way.

I have a set of Peltor Worktunes and they work great on heavy equipment. Excellent NR by themselves, plus a radio tuner and can jack into a music source like a cellphone, the cellphone interrupts the speakers when it rings. Have used them in the shop a few times on jobs long enough to want something better than plugs. They are getting cheap, here's a set for $31.49, I paid closer to $70. I'm sure there is newer better stuff available too. https://www.walmart.com/ip/WORKTUNE...49809&wl11=online&wl12=31185213&wl13=&veh=sem

What I found most surprising was the loss of quality of my hearing, Loud sounds are now not muffled, more like distorted and unpleasant like a bad amplifier.

Ox · Mar 10, 2018

JLarsson said:
Why not ear plugs of some sort or over-the-ear hearing protectors?

Turn the heat down, and fetch yourself a winter Carhart hat with ear tabs.
With the tabbies down, you can notice some calming effect w/o losing much.

Or turn the radio up, but that's prolly not gunna help with the kids part.

9100 said:
Modern hearing aids can alter the frequency profile. You might be able to set them up so they pass normal sounds and filter out the offending noise. My audiologist niece is in the hearing aid business and is married to a now retired and instructing "Night Stalker", the guys who fly the Delta Force and Seals around. She tells me about the earpieces they have that block everything except communication. Her husband went through the Barret school. She made him and his friends earplugs that reduced even the muzzle blast of a .50 next to them to a little pop.

If you wish, I will ask her about it.

Bill

That is really impressive!
I may need those one day.

My G-G-Dad had a pr of them in the mid 70's, and still couldn't hear.
Not sure what his trouble was. He worked at International Harvester from The Second Great War up to ??? sometime in the mid 60's I s'pose. Before that would have been pre-war rural, which I cannot fathom was all too loud at that time... Maybe I/H was that loud at that time?

-----------------

Think Snow Eh!
Ox

Wild West · Mar 10, 2018

As a shooter, I always wear my "ears" in the shop when the decibel level starts to rise. I'm a little late though as I have tinnitus and my ears are ringing as I type.

DDoug · Mar 10, 2018

Sonex is the big name in foam panels to absorb sound.
SONEX Online: SONEX Acoustical foam, SONEX Noise Barriers, SONEX Ceiling Tiles and Quilted Enclosures for soundproofing, noise reduction, professional audio broadcast, recording studio and room acoustics as well as industrial noise reduction and nois

Miguels244 · Mar 10, 2018

digger doug said:
Sonex is the big name in foam panels to absorb sound.
SONEX Online: SONEX Acoustical foam, SONEX Noise Barriers, SONEX Ceiling Tiles and Quilted Enclosures for soundproofing, noise reduction, professional audio broadcast, recording studio and room acoustics as well as industrial noise reduction and nois

I worry about panels in shops.
Oil mist, dust, general uncleanability.

The loudest place I have ever worked was a can plant.
Plugs and noise cancelling headsets.
So loud it got louder when you opened your mouth because the sound ran up your Eustachian tubes.
These days I guess they are using helicopter headsets.

Protect your ears...always.

DDoug · Mar 10, 2018

Miguels244 said:
I worry about panels in shops.
Oil mist, dust, general uncleanability.

The loudest place I have ever worked was a can plant.
Plugs and noise cancelling headsets.
So loud it got louder when you opened your mouth because the sound ran up your Eustachian tubes.
These days I guess they are using helicopter headsets.

Protect your ears...always.

They make "Tuffted" ones with a smooth vinyl surface I see them in machine
shops.

Also, the OP has indicated "servos" so I assume some CNC equipment.

As most are enclosed, coolant mist removal is not hard, been discussed
many times here.

If your shop is getting oily, so are your lungs.

Chip Chester · Mar 10, 2018

Sonex was originally an industrial-environment product, before it migrated to recording studios and sound-shaping installations. They have (or at least had) various coatings (including flame retardant) that can allow them longer lifespan in harsh environments. They'll be good for the higher-frequency stuff, mostly. The higher frequencies are very directional, so a bit of treatment between it and you, and between it and reflective surfaces, can give you a quiet(er) zone in which to work.

Another thing to do if you're wearing quiet ear muffs is put some rear-view mirrors on your machine, so you can notice when someone walks up to speak with you. Better than getting the bejeebus scared out of you when someone taps your shoulder as you're dialing in the edgefinder...

Bill D · Mar 10, 2018

I wonder if flood coolant and lots of it makes it quieter? Why not just just flood the entire enclosure so all the cutting is under water. I wonder how loud a fire pump is.
Bill D

MetalCarnage · Mar 10, 2018

For the normal "ambient" noise in my one man shop I wear a set of Decibullz and when I have to cut something obnoxious I put on a pair of Peltor Ultimate 10 muffs over them. I figured it was much easier and cheaper than trying to sound deaden the work space which even if you do the noise would still be too much.

JMHO

-Ron

lethal375 · Mar 10, 2018

All great points and all have there merits

I do have and use hearing protection

As for the the larger ear muffs, I dont care for the feel of them in the shop. I guess I am just funny that way.
Love them when running heavy equipment but not when working inside unless for specific reasons like air impact guns, air hammers, etc.

One of the main culprits in my shop is the centrifugal coolant pump, when that thing kicks on it really has a loud grainy whine. I am planning on trying some sound deadening around it but don't want it to overheat.

Are there any better pumps/systems that are quieter?

I only use air or flood coolant.

Mist systems make me nervous. There is enough crap in my shop air without adding another element. Shops that use alot of mist systems just seem to have a smell and film on everything. YUCK!!!!!!

I will look into the sound deadening panels, provided they are not a fire hazard.

Even in a small shop there can be alot of things going on and simply wearing hearing protection nonstop can have its limitations.

I would like to incorporate both reduction and protection.

Hearing protection alone cannot be a "cure all" for noise issues.

The answer for an overly warm house in the winter, is not to open a or more window(s) but to reduce the heat and or the source of the heat.

Logically, reasonable/affordable noise reduction should be top priority, then any protection methods are that much more effective or not even required/needed.

How To Control Shop Noise Levels?

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