My sound proofing enclosure for the XXL

I thought I would share what I had made for sound proofing my SO3 XXL. The sound proofing material I used is essentially recycled blue jeans. Here is the link to what I had ordered:

Steps I still need to take:

  1. Make sound proof front cover
  2. Install overhead LED strip
  3. Install Camera to monitor jobs
  4. Sound proof a basement box for the shop vac
  5. Rewire power button of shop vac to turn on/off from outside the sound proof box
  6. Order or make Suckit Dust Boot
  7. Order 10’ shop vac hose to run from sound proof box to sound proof box and into dust boot

So far just covering the front with small .25" foam poster board this thing is SOO much quieter than before. The wife was obviously thrilled as well :joy:. Once completed I am really looking forward to how quiet this will become.

Hope you enjoy:

Router power cable:

Control board power switch:

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I will be very interested in hearing how the noise suppression works with this insulation. I built a 4x5x7 “cube/room” in my garage workshop in which to run some of my louder hand tools. I used an insulation designed for noise suppression and I am not impressed by what it does. It’s quieter, but it’s not what I expected. I don’t have a db meter so I can’t give actual data. I suppose there’s one for my cellphone, but I haven’t looked.

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I so far really am impressed with this stuff and I love how it is NOT fiberglass. I actually didn’t even realize how well it was working until I was talking to a friend of mine as I leaned into my CNC box to remove a piece and he was so impressed as my voice got heavily muffled. I didn’t notice until he said watch this and leaned in as I had while I was outside of it and he said a few words to test it. But nothing compares to the wifey calling me a genius for this idea :smile:

I still have not had time or money to build a door with this installed but I will be looking to test that soon. Hopefully real soon. Here are some pics of what I am doing now on my off hours to sound proof a box for the shop vac:

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Hey Yeah that insulation looks like it does the job really well! I’m looking at buying some myself. Were do you have the PCB for the machine at? I noticed you had the switch on the outside? I was going to chip in my two cents and say that putting the whole grbl board outside the enclosure is a good idea. At least in my case the sound proofing makes it really hot in there. for the longevity of the brains, its easier to keep them cool externally.

That insulation looks amazing! How many rolls did you use to line it all? Is a 6-pack too much?

That makes total sense especially given I water cool computers AND the danger of an aluminum shard getting in there as well. Mine is on the right Y axis extrusion but the holes are facing downward. I have noticed it get a little warm in there but I haven’t really done jobs that last too terribly long so so far so good!

I initially got 3 x 6-packs and I am nearly through 2 whole six packs now. So once I figure out the front cover and finish this basement box I will be more than likely 2.5 x 6-packs in if that helps. This stuff really is amazing! I recommend using a respirator or a mask when installing just cus its dusty but it is not too terribly bad. Huge fan of this stuff so far!

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I used the same metal enclosure that the machine came with I just mounted it to the outside. So it still uses the aluminum plate for dissipating the heat. I’m planning on milling a couple holes in the shell so i can fit a computer fan to it and ventilate it a little better as well. That board gets hotter than the stepper motors i feel like. I’d say apart from the board though I can’t express my satisfaction with how bulletproof this machine is. So glad i got a shapeoko

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Let’s find a way to water cool it :smiley:

This looks great! I’m starting to look at enclosure designs, yours is great inspiration, how are you going to do the door?

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I am finishing my basement into a shop and I’m using Roxul insulation that I bought at one of the big box stores. Plus installing special drywall that is 2 pieces of 1/4" drywall sandwiched with green glue in between to provide sound isolation. Right now it’s a blank slate but once finished I will be laying out the shop tools and will most likely build something like this to further isolate the Shapeoko sound. The table saw, thickness planer and Shapeoko make the most noise followed by the router table.

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I created a soundproof for my Shapeoko3 and it can be modified for a larger version. I placed the sketchup models here
https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/user/635dbd26-c4fc-4b12-8cf9-a36edc20ee4d/TheResearcher?nav=models

Its very quiet, and once the vacuum is encased at the bottom its very easy to work without head gear.
I used stonewool insulation to keep the noise down and it really does the job, This can be found at home depot or lowes.

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How well does the plexi work for sound proofing? I was thinking about going a similar route with it but plexi is expensive for the size I need and I don’t know how well it would work for the sound dampening

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I am still playing with ideas for the door but nothing solid just yet. The great part about this box is it will be really easy to add it once I am solid on it. The main thing that is stopping me is I will potentially be moving to a house in the next month or two which will give me a ton more space to be able to work on this. As of right now I built this in a town house and any time I need to make adjustments/improvements I have to move a lot around just to gain access to it.

I made dual doors, just for easy of use,. the plexi flass is dual layered. meaning i bought 1 piece cut it in half and slid it inside rabbits and can see through both pieces. there is a space between the glasses.

The white circle at the top is a foam wrapped plywood piece where i use a gate lock to close and seal the doors. I use weather stripping to keep sound out. If i did it again i would consider one large door but the weight bearing on the door hinges is substantial, just use more?

The hose you see goes through the top to where the vacum is.
USB camera and power are fed through the hole to the left, i can close the doors cut my piece watch it from the house via the laptop connected to the CNC and camera. Any questions please reply back.

Wayne

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That is quite a tall enclosure. It looks like it will work well though. My back doesn’t like leaning over and twisting/turning so, for my needs, I would just have the top of an enclosure open and close, so not nearly as tall. But, again, that is for me.

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Maybe, a more flexible material would also work for your application?

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?sku=43315&gclid=CjwKCAjwqcHLBRAqEiwA-j4AyHW6yTk9Lzfv3IKalNCFlBQ8SyLLvheQIqtQ07lgbR3Sk3xSrq_GJhoCmOkQAvD_BwE

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What would you think about using foam insulation panels (there’s one called silverboard that comes in a 2x4x1 sheet for about $6 at HD and alleges to have some acoustic qualities). It certainly would be a lot lighter than using plywood or particle board and it could be built as a five-sided cover that could be lifted off when better access to the machine was needed. Maybe even use two pieces per side with the denim stuff as a filler. I wouldn’t mind having it as five separate pieces that could interlock when needed and then stored out of the way when not needed.

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So here is some more progress I made last night after I finished up a few orders:

Here I used a 2" hole saw I got for a pretty decent price of just $13. I was really afraid the bit would be too wide for my chuck on my drill but it JUST fit :sweat_smile:

Then used the same hole saw on the top and fed the new Ridgid 10’ 1 7/8" hose through the top. I really like the flexibility of this tube, I just dont like the orange color. Savant PCs color is purple :smiley:

I had initially used a pipe to funnel the out air port on the shop vac to a direct hole on the box but that made the sound too loud. So I reversed the direction of the out going port to just face the back of the box. Now, once the box is closed up it will push static pressure into the box which will allow the hot air from the motor to be pushed out the 2" hole on the outside of the box. I haven’t tested this part just yet but even running this shop vac as is in the picture above makes a huge improvement on the sound. I still just cannot say enough about how well this insulation is working!

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So no door just walls and top? Would you make any changes now that you have had it for a long time?