I have been playing around with some of the Rockler Vacuum Pods for work holding. They seems to work okay for workholding, but I need to come up with a solution to quiet the vacuum pump. The pump is an ancient Gast 1022 (no longer made but similar to 1023) about 10cfm and LOUD.
Standing in front of the Shapeoko, it is about 87dB. I added on one the Fritted outputs, usually used for quieting compressor vents (short duration venting). It dropped it to 82 dB or so. Any one deal with quieting a vacuum pump. In the lab (I teach chemistry as the day job) I’m used to old Welch duo-seal mechanical pumps (oiled) that just kinda chug along, oiless rotary vane pumps (at least the one I have) are a bit louder than I am used to. Any thoughts on quieting it down? (I think most is exhaust noise, rather than motor noise)
Thanks
John