Loud Noise From Tooling

[HellfireJack]

Buy all of your neighbors MP3 players as a late Christmas gift?

I do a lot of my tooling on a wooden folding tv tray using a marble slab with either a towel or a poundo board beneath it. It's small and practical and I can move to any room in the house with relative ease.

[busted]

I don't have a very exclusive or expensive range of tools, yet. So I simply work on the kitchen table, with a cutting mat on it. I don't have a leather mallet or such either, I just have a wooden one. So, pounding these stamps makes quite a lot of noise. Not that I myself get disturbed by it, but I have a half a year old son, who doesn't like it at all, especially not when he's going to sleep.

My fiance doesn't mind all too much, she can simply stay in another room. But it's not so simple that I can do this when she's out with him for some hour, a neighbor have just complained about it too. We live in this old block of flats, where you can hear noise from neighbors pretty easy - sadly enough (trust me, I don't like to hear them either...). I do have my parents place, that I can go to if I really need to, but it's like a 40 minutes travel to get there, so it's a several hours project to go there and work a little, and then head back. It costs money too going there, of course.

SO... What "tricks" do you have to give me? If there are any. I guess such a marble/granite slab and that kind of rubber mat beneath it, and getting a leather mallet would help a little? I also thought about getting a suitable large tree stump indoors and use for table. As it's massive, it should really absorb much of the vibration/noise etc., and keep the sound level to a minimum. Or am I all wrong?

I really can't afford to hire a place to use at workshop right now, but I might in the future (as I have a lot of other projects going on or starting up, and will need such a space sooner or later), I don't have the money to get a house on our own either. Renting an apartment is the only option right now, sadly enough. So finding another place (besides going to my parents, and use my fathers "multi purpose workshop" that is). I really want to start working more with this stuff, but as it is now, less or hardly at all is my only option.

Would you pm me please. I can't find your email address.

[Skald]

Part of the problem solved, today I got myself a very fine maul by the mail, sent to me by the dear gentleman busted. Once again I am overwhelmed bu the kindness and supportive attitude here, if there were just a few more of you around in the society, the world would be a far better place.

I am soon turning the "walthru closet" into a miniature workshop, and I'll order such a rubber mat and a granite slab next week. So, thank you all, especially Mr. Busted.

[tg lucas]

I use a variety of different mauls and the quietest one is a leather headed one, for some reason it makes no where near the sound of my poly or wood ones. Also I use a rubber grip mat under my marble slab that really cuts down the sound as well.

[Lasse C]

De enklaste lösningarna är ofta de bästa. Har du provat att skaffa en stadig säck som du fyller med sand och sedan lägger en stadig platta på?

Sanden tar upp och fördelar energin, så det borde bli ganska lite som går vidare i väggar, golv, etc.

Sen kan jag av egen erfarenhet säga att ljudmässigt lönar det sig att skaffa en gummiklubba! 32:90 på Biltema eller 49:- på Clas Ohlson.

Lasse C

(Som har betonggolv i verksta´n, som ligger i ett industriområde... )

[oldtimer]

Hej

Snacka med en gravstensfirma om dom har "provbitar" av slipad granit. Jag fick tag i en fin sten som är 2 1/2" tjock ~20 x 30 cm . En sån o en gummimatta under absorberar mycket av oväsendet, sen en plastklubba som Lasse nämnde så har du nog gjort vad du kan.

/ Knut

[dragonspit]

Hej

Snacka med en gravstensfirma om dom har "provbitar" av slipad granit. Jag fick tag i en fin sten som är 2 1/2" tjock ~20 x 30 cm . En sån o en gummimatta under absorberar mycket av oväsendet, sen en plastklubba som Lasse nämnde så har du nog gjort vad du kan.

/ Knut

I dont know if this is feasible at all for you, but its something I have run across recently. I work away from home and stay with a friend in a condo. I was noting how much noise I was making and do 2 things when I am going to be working any length of time. but in both situations, i have a 12" x 12" granite piece I work on. I imagine a wood slab would help or work as well.

1. is, i lay my granite, on the very edge of my bed. and scootch my chair up close. i dont have a great back, so I limit myself to short bits to do this, if I was younger it wouldnt be so bad. I am fortunate because I am in a corner room I get light from windows in both directions. but the bed, really quieted things down.

2. then, one day last week, whilst drinking my morning coffee, I tend to sit in my chair (it does lean back) with my legs up on a window sill, daydreaming out the window while I wake up. the other day as I was sitting down, I picked up my granite piece, and a couple of tools and when I sat down, I put my my legs up as usual and laid the granite on my lap. although you would think the granite piece to heavy, and it aint lite, it wasnt bad. so now I just lean back put my coffee on the window sill along with my tools and I get great light through the window. its about as relaxing as I get. mind you, you couldnt do a really big piece this way or for hours either. but I worked today for an hour or more on a piece with no problem, and Im 50.

so maybe something here can be of use. just throwin some stuff out that I do these days to quiet up the noise. I imagine if I used a leather mallet, it would be even better. I currently use one of the poly types.

[Skald]

Till "svennarna" här:

Jag håller på att fixa till en liten klädkammare här att hålla till i. Skall fixa till ett ganska så massivt och tungt träbord så att det passar där, och klä golvet med sådan gummimatta som brukar användas i industrilokaler.

Kanske kan koll in på en stenfirma i mina föräldrars del av stan (vet inte om de gör specifikt gravstenar där, men jag gissar på det), och se om de har någon bra bit jag kan få billigt, annars får jag helt enkelt beställa en granitplatta. "Poundomat" eller liknande matta skall fixas också.

Skulle det visa sig att det fortfarande låter som om jag försöker riva lägenheten, så får jag prova "sandsäckstricket" också hehe... Kan tänkta mig att det är effektivt, men av någon anledning går jag inte direkt igång på tanken att ha en sandsäck hemma om det inte behövs.

And now some for all:

I've tried tooling a little in my lap, but I feel that a lot of precision and vision gets lost for me that way. I've also suffered quite severe damages to both my neck and lower back when I was younger, doing stupid things with mountainbike and snowboard, so I better not push my lock all too much and sit bent like a cheese doodle for hours. I have managed to "gym away" most neck and back problems, but I have to be quite careful with working positions and such.

[glennaycock]

Thanks Skald for the avatar info, as he doesn't look Indian to me. I thought he was some form of Yeti, or abominable snowman from your neck of the woods.

It is a very striking picture.

Good luck with your endeavor.

Funny, I thought it was Rob Zombie

[Sylvia]

I know this is an old thread but I had to add a few things.

Man, I don't miss neighbors sharing a wall with me at all! You could try overlaying some acoustic dampening materials over your shared wall to help you both out. Some thick polystyrene sheathing would help and would give you a little more insulation too. It looks like this. http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100320352/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

I have some of this in the music room to keep the amp noise down. (I still like to keep my neighborhood happy... even if we don't share a wall)

I have a wooden maul too... and the noise was driving me nuts so I glued some veg tanned leather on the ends with contact cement. That quieted it down quite a bit. But I bet your new maul is much better.

I'm actually working on a 16" x 16" metal bistro table that already had a cracked ceramic top. I've busted through that completely trying to punch a hole. So I put an inch piece of board up there.... still noisy. Hubby stopped by a local Granite counter top place today and they gave him a 17" x 13" x 2" piece of granite. It's actually the "doughnut" hole piece left from cutting out the place for a sink. Free is good! I've not tried it yet but I am pretty excited about it.