DC spindle on Shapeoko 3xxl?

CNC Machines Shapeoko
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Im buying a Shapeoko 3xxl and need to definitely keep the noise down. Is it possible to run a 400 watt DC motor in place of the router? No 220 volt available nor do I want. What would it take to set this up and has anybody tried it. Thanks
Dave

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If you’ll stretch this back to the Shapeoko 1/2, people have mounted pretty much everything:

https://www.shapeoko.com/wiki/index.php/Spindle_Options

That said, a lot of the noise comes from the endmll cutting, so even using a perfectly silent spindle may still be noisy depending on feed and speed rates — when I run my Makita at low speed, it’s pretty quiet until the endmill starts cutting and I turn on the vacuum (mental note, must buy quieter vacuum).

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+1 to what Will’s saying—it’s going to be noisy, so you likely need to be thinking about building a sound-dampening enclosure. Shop Vac has a few models with “SNR” for scroll noise reduction, whatever that means in the context of a shop-vac… but I have one and it’s not too bad.

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Will, I think I will go with the Makita. Any downfalls with it?
Dave

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Jonathan,
Thanks for your input. Thats on the BUY IT NOW list.Anything to keep the noise down.
Dave

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Negatives for the Makita:

  • no light
  • speed control not as finely grained as the Dewalt
  • teal colour (but there are clones available in black (MLCS Rocky 30) or green (Grizzly something-or-other)
  • requires the use of an adapter or a 3rd party spindle mount
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I can live with that.
Dave

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The best noise reduction I’ve found are hearing protector head sets, 34 decibles. You also can’t hear the neighbors complaining. I took my sound enclosure apart because I could not access the machine well enough for maintainance and cleaning. And the vacuum makes the most noise.

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Thanks Jude. Gotta good set for shooting.

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Best hearing protection, Bose QC35’s :slight_smile:

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Me too, but I never take them with me, they’re always in the shop. Maybe I need to keep my guns in the shop…

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lol I have thought about that. I need to go outside while my SO3 is running to see how bad it is. Fortunately my neighbors on one side are weekenders, and the neighbors on the other side just moved (well, fortunate that they can’t hear the noise, but miss the neighbors).

I use a set of 3M WorkTunes earmuffs and they work really well for cancelling the noise, and when I’m streaming Jimmy Buffett or Willie Nelson to them that’s all I hear. :slight_smile: In the future though I do plan to replace my Dewalt with a quieter water-cooled spindle, and plumb in dust collection and air line so I can move those noisemakers to an outside shed. I already have a very quiet dust collector (not hooked up yet), but am looking for a quiet air compressor.