As the title states i want to enclose the vac.ever since making the enclosure for the shapeoko itself the router is nice and quiet but the vac is insane.This is what im thinking please tell me if im wrong/wayoff/or just plain stupid lol.I want to make a box for the vac to sit in.It will have a hinged door for removel and i was thinking a hole cut out for some kind of filter (i assume it has to breath?) somthing to fit a house a/c filter of sorts or just somthing cheap and common like a 12x12 ish.Bad idea?
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Me too. The dust collector is super loud. I was thinking a plywood box with a baffle for exhaust and line it with sound dampening foam.
Rather than trying to trap all the noise, heat, and airflow, perhaps it would make more sense to get a quieter system?
Dedicated dust collection systems seem to be quieter than shop vacs, and there are quiet shop vacs.
Discussion of this here: http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f32/quietest-1hp-dust-collector-61852/
Some interesting things:
- Wynn Nano canister — http://wynnenv.com/woodworking-filters/
- Harbor Freight 1HP dust collector (green) uses an induction motor and is quiet
- sorbothane vibration damping — http://www.amazon.com/Isolate-It-Sorbothane-Vibration-Damping/dp/B004LYGH3U
That said, there did seem to be some complete plans:
- http://billpentz.com/woodworking/Cyclone/air_cleaner.cfm
- http://www.instructables.com/id/Dust-Sniper-quiet-extractor-system/
But with all that said, I’ve been trying to work up a reasonably quiet and inexpensive unit using stuff from Home Depot (and contemplating a Harbor Freight run) — current problem is working up some sort of air exchange and an inexpensive enclosure, and the dust collection connections for both the Nomad and the Shapeoko.
I have the 1hp harbor freight dust collector and made a steel trash can dust separator/thien baffle for it. I modified the bag system on it by buying a 1 micron dust collector bag on Amazon. Unfortunately that bag did not fit, so I used my shapeoko to create an adapter from the 4 inch outlet to the 14" outlet that the new bag needed.
I’m still working on a new dust shoe design, but with the temp one I’m using, there is no noticeable dust in the air with aggressive feed rates in MDF.
This solution is very effective, and noise is not noticeable when compared to the router/bit in the material.
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This is an interesting one.
On Sunday I used my S3 and my new dust boot - it worked a treat and the there was virtually no dust from the two items running. However the noise was unbearable. The shapeoko and vac together were just silly especially as I had to have my enclosure open.
My plan is to build a dust extraction hole in the enclosure and feed in some vacuum hose, then run that into a dedicated dust extractor - it might make it tolerable. I know many people use very thick hoses but realistically you should be able to get away with a 1" hose going from the dust boot.
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I mounted my Harbor Freight dc on the wall and have it in a closet. It is surrounded by MDF doors. The noise is still higher than i like. With my CNC running inside its enclosure and the DC running my phone app decibel meter shows around 75 decibel. So my DC closet helps, but I am considering moving the dc to an outside wall of the shop and building a little bump out for it on the back side of the shop. I may put the air compressor in there too.
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I tried to quiet my shop vac in years past in a foam lined enclosure with baffles and muffler system. I achieved some quieting, but nothing I was happy with. What I did achieve was spending a lot of money and time while shortening the lifespan of the shop vacs.
Result: I purchased a 3HP cyclone dust collector for all machines with a 2 1/2" and larger dust port, and Festool dust collectors for anything 2 1/4" or less ports.
More money up front, saving money long term.
Shop vacs are relegated to cleaning up debris from the floor and stuff I don’t want in my dust collectors.
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Hmm,Thanks for the input fellas.Now i really wanna do this,sounds like a challenge. ive done a couple of elevator shafts and xray rooms in 1’thick drywall it had a layer of metal inside aswell. most of the time it was two layers some walls required three for fire rating and always over lapping the last seam.I may do somthing like this with mdf like @dtilton71 did but i may do layers and add sound proof stuff inbetween the layers as i go.Ill have to decibel it and report back (thanks for the idea Dustin),
@markwal (baffle for exhaust and line it with sound dampening foam.) ?? Do tell…what do you have in mind for the process or any links for the thought?
Thanks for the advise but im going to stick with the vac for now.It was a gift and it has just sat here needing a job to do,its just to big to tote around so im always using the little one,ever since the enclosure it has had a home and it does its job well.But when it finally dies i may decide to go the harbor freight (green) route.I already have mdf on hand and the noisy sob of coarse,small trip to the depot should come together with little as possible spent.at this point even if it was a tiny bit more quiet would be a great start,Im finding most of my run time is in the evening very very late evening and the shop sits closer to the neighbors than me and im afraid the noise may be to much.No complaints yet so im thinking if i just do a little somthing ill def be in the clear.
Thanks everyone please add more if you come up with somthing 
I used a recycled clothes dryer exhaust fan one time. Works good and quiet.
A friend has his set in a box outside The cyclone and all is outside on the wall.
If you’re going to build it a house, might as well be outside
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Wow. That’s pretty quiet! Neat and tidy too.
That would look good in your shop.
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