Agree with Nick, I would not use that system to drive dust collection - remember that while collection the dust (airborne particulate matter) is an important aspect what you are really after is chip/debris collection and management. You’ll need some serious suction power to remove chips.
What you could use that WEN system for is to power airflow through the enclosure separate from the chip/debris system. Might make an interesting two-part setup and is something that I’ve been contemplating as I recently shifted my XXL to a different part of my shop and material collection has become more of a priority.
I bought custom cut extruded acrylic windows for about $200 (dual pane 1/4” thick panels)
I used Nitrile adhesive to secure the windows in place. The glue was runny and messy and got clover the edges of one panel making it look crappy. im going to order two new windows and replace the wood strips used to seat the panels with white square trim so it looks nicer.
The nitrile adhesive used to bond the panels is necessary as nitrile has the lowest permeability to helium which is what will fill the gap between them for sound dampening.
The inner layers are almost all the way up and im working on lining the underside of the table with MDF. Its going to house my shop vac and my Wen shop dust/air filter. I just got the Wen in a week ago and its been great. I ordered a Dewalt DXV10P shop vac which is advertised as being quiet and has great reviews. I also bought a dust cyclone and various hoses and fittings to make it all work.
On top of all this I’ve already wired my led light strips. I have a warm and cool set of high CRI lights with a CRI 0f 95+ so the colors are more vibrant and accurate and everything looks studio quality. no need for lights this fancy I just like ballin out.
Also I bought 72 sq ft if Noico sound deadening sheets. I use this on my car to add mass and ill have enough to add a whole layer around the entire inside of the enclosure. the 72 sq ft weighs about 50 lbs so all that mass should help a lot.
Heres a picture of the shop vac, enclosure, and noico sound deadening. This photo of the enclosure doesn’t have the windows in it ill post some newer photos later tonight or tomorrow
I have a Dewalt DXV10P in my garage and just used a mobile app for my phone to measure the dB’s. Not sure if the app is a good one or how accurate it is and keep in mind that was with no hose attached and not sucking up any chips/dust, so take these numbers for what they are. Phone mic about 6" away was a max reading of about 76dB and about 6’ away it was about 71dB.
(edit: also noticed that there is a calibration setting for the app and I have nothing to do this properly with so once again how accurate…?)
Thanks, Patrick. If you have another shop vac or common household appliance to also measure, that might give something to at least compare to. I think Fein rates their vacuum at 68db.
@RoughDraft40, you we’re looking for a reference to gauge the noise level of the Dewalt vacuum. Assuming you already have a machine with the Carbide Compact Router a reference would be the router running under no load with the RPM dial at about 3.5 and it’s closer to about 77dB (phone and app not calibrated so reading could have a % error) with the hose attached.
I got my sound deadening and shop vac in the mail. The shop vac is nice and quiet but does let out some warm air as soon as you turn it on. It probably has do with the compression of the air which increases its temperature. I’m curious how hot it’ll get in its own enclosure
I got plenty of sound deadening mass sheets. I covered two walls and still have three large sheets left in the first box and I have another box of the stuff with 9 large sheets each.
Now I’m trying to figure out what to add next for sound dampening
I know earlier in the thread we talked about using rigid foam insulation but I’m thinking I might use comfortbat 60 as I can buy it in 2’ x 4’ sheets that are 2” thick (the enclosure sides are 2’x4’ so they fit perfectly)
I know rigidfoam is lightweight but I don’t think it’ll do much compared to comfortbat as mass seems to be the key unless I’m wrong? Each rock wool panel weighs 6 lbs and I’ll use 12 panels total for the top and bottom enclosures. It’s 6-7 lbs per panel so about 77 of rock wool plus the 50 lbs of Noico sheets and another who knows how much in Baltic birch and MDF panels enclosing everything.
Is absorption and mass the best route or is it best to laminate rigidgfoam to the plywood walls?
Rockwool is understood to convert sound energy to heat through sound waves creating movement and friction in the material. You can absorb high frequency sound with thin open celled foams and that sort of thing but rockwool or similar flexible materials are needed for midrange and low frequency. Density is frequently used as a proxy for sound absorbtion with rockwool, if you use the noise specific rockwools such as Knauf Acoustic Partition, Rockwool RWA Acoustic Insulation etc. they are frequently graded by density.
Rigid foam will conduct mid and low frequencies and will reflect high frequencies.
As for the walls, there’s two things they can do
They can be rigid and reflect sound back into the enclosure to stop it getting out, this means that things in the enclosure need to end up converting the sound to heat
They can absorb sound from the enclosure and minimise the amount that leaks out
In practice they will do a bit of both, a sandwich of rockwool, or high density rubber foam product such as this stuff https://www.trimacoustics.co.uk/product/srs-acoustilay/ is likely to do a pretty good job. The main trick is to not have the outer panel rigidly attached to the inner panel, the stronger the mechanical coupling the better the structural sound transmission, you want the sound to have to travel through the absorber material, not just to the edge of the panel and through the frame, rigid joints and small leaks can let noise out like water if you’re not careful.
I decided on using neither rigid foam or roxul, instead I’m using moving blankets.
I spent $230 on a dozen large heavy duty blankets that weight 90 lbs/dozen (7.5 lbs/blanket). I saw one video where a gentlemen wrapped his CNC (enclosed in an acrylic box) with 3 layers of lighter moving blankets (usually 50 lbs per dozen or less) and just that did a good job. 12 blankets being 72 x 80 will give me tons of coverage. Combined with the 3/4” ply and Noico sound deadening, a nice layer of silicone around all the seams, and dual pane acrylic helium filled windows and I should be in excellent shape.
The moving blankets came in early, and I have soundproofed the top and bottom of the enclosure. The top of the enclosure used 5 blankets. first I applied one to the left and right walls that are 2’ x 4’. then I applied another blanket but unfolded so it could cover the left side, and half the back, and then did the same for the opposite side. then I applied another layer covering the back. the result is a pretty damn dead enclosure.
I placed two UE Megabooms inside and played some music/podcasts and turned down the bass (the CNC won’t produce many frequencies below 100hz I’m sure).
from standing outside the enclosure, I can have it 2/3 of the way up and talk comfortably. In the guest bedroom which shares a wall to the closet directly against the back of the enclosure, I can hear it at 2/3 volume but its not super bad. you can definitely hear it, but no one is ever in there so it doesn’t matter. I also have a little more soundproofing I can do, and the doors aren’t sealed properly (but they’re close). The doors also don’t have both acrylic panels and no helium yet. A large majority of the noise is coming out of those front doors so the addition of both will make a huge difference.
The bottom is also soundproofed but still not finished yet. The shop vac is pretty quiet so its not gonna be a huge deal.
I also added high CRI LED light strips and got them wired up and working. looks super cinematic as they have super good color reproduction and make everything look more realistic and true to life. one of the doors was also taken off as im working on sealing the edges up with acrylic and its easier with the door laying flat on the ground.
