Official Luthiers Forum!

Does such a thing exist?
I currently have a generic 2HP Taiwanese-made dust collector (purchased in New Zealand), but I despise the noise it makes. So does my wife! I wear hearing protection when I use it, but would really like to have a quieter environment.
I'm in the process of moving back to Canada -- arrive next week -- so wonder if any OLF'ers have recommendations for quieter dust collection solutions that are available from Canadian suppliers?

A broom?

Thank you, I'll be here all week...

Sorry I can't be more helpful...

Locating the unit in a separate room with sound insulation can make things a little more bearable.

I have one of these. http://www.oneida-air.com/inventoryD.as ... 05H&CatId={7F6C8978-92E8-4902-9A37-D8A254EDF4FC}

My shop is in my basement. I have R-30 insulation, 3/4" plywood, then slate or bamboo on top of that. My wife says it sounds like a very low hum, and doesn't mind the noise at all. Keeping her happy is pretty important! The system runs at about 80dB @ 10'. I wear hearing protection most of the time anyway.

Good luck on the move.

M

Breath DEEP...........Breath DEEP....!!!
Tom

_________________
A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

What Clay said. The only trouble is make up air in the winter. A good system will suck the heat out pretty quick.

Where you moving to Tim?

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

Michael: a testimonial is nice to have. I think that there are a few suppliers of the Oneida units in Canada, so I'll follow up on that.

Danny: moving to Montreal area. I rather like the eastern townships, and we've got a couple of places lined up to view after we arrive next week (my wife is originally from Trois-Rivières, me Toronto). It'll likely be late February or March before our stuff shows up, and I need to have shoulder replacement surgery immediately after with a lengthy recovery expected. So in a way I'm jumping the gun by researching dust collectors -- it'll be a few months before my ears will be challenged again by machinery.

Ah, if you're willing to upgrade...

We are currently building our own cyclone 2hp using an old bag collector motor and a Super Dust Deputy. What surprised me is that it's not the motor that makes the noise, it is the air moving around corners and inlets and such. The motor itself is fairly quiet. We're waiting til we can afford the oneida filters which apparently have a muffler built in. Not sure how much noise it'll make when it's done. We'll baffle as much of it as we can when it's done...

I walled in my 5 hp cyclone with 5/8" fireguard sheetrock on z soundbar,2x6 studs,roxul safe'n'sound insulation then skinned with 1/2" plywood. This has been very effective.
It vents into an adjacent storage area, sharing the same heat source.
Ihad considered putting it outside in in its own shed but the heat loss/make-up air issue always raises its ugly head.

_________________
My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

Just piggy-backing this thread, but I currently have my collector unit in my workshop, but for space and other considerations would like to move it outside.
In terms of heat loss/air makeup is it possibly practical to recirculate the extracted air though, say a large HEPA filter or similar?

_________________
The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Yes, that's what those nice cyclone / HEPA filter units do if you can afford/fit one.

_________________
Pat

I was thinking more along the lies of a large "box" built alongside the workshop,feeding the air back through a filter, not looking to lay out wads of cash when I already have a decent extractor.

_________________
The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I have an Oneida Dust Gorilla in my shop and it is not quiet, even with the nice filter. I just wear ear protection.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Just to be aware; if you vent a DC outside, and if the inside space has any appliance also requiring venting(water heater,furnace,fireplace), the likelihood of backdrafting the appliance is high. Most building codes will require make-up air for kitchen or bath fans over a few hundred cfm.
This is why make-up air is necessary. In cold climates this air will need to be heated.
There are products available for heat recovery venting but the cost can be high.
As nice as would be to house the DC in a remote location the other issues seem to negate any gain, plus then you need to go out to empty or check the bags/filters.


B

_________________
My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

My Onieda is pretty quite. I had a grizzly and it was loud and didn't suck anything like the Onieda

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

John, the Oneida is the only dust collector I've had except for a super whiny shop vac so I can't say I have a lot to compare it to. I'm sure you're right and that others are louder.

If anyone is interested I used a sound level meter to make some measurements after I installed the unit.

My shop is 12' x 22', standard house construction, i.e. drywall over insulated walls and ceiling.

Average values in the shop varied with distance, the high value of 83.5 dBA was measured at my downdraft table which is about 3 feet from the cyclone. I have a plywood panel in front of the DC filter which helps cut the sound level. Lowest value was 79.3 dBA at the far end of the shop.

80 dB is still loud enough to cause possible damage with 8 hours of exposure so I still wear ear protection when I run the collector.

These measurements were taken right at the collector about 1/4" from the surface.
Air Filter top: 94 dBA
Air Filter bottom: 91 dBA
Cyclone top: 90.5 dBA
Cyclone bottom: 91 dBA
Impeller housing: 92 dBA
Output elbow: 92.5 dBA

For comparison (sorry for the lousy format, can't copy and paste a table here):

Jet take-off (at 305 meters), use of outboard motor, power lawn mower, motorcycle, farm tractor, jackhammer, garbage truck. Boeing 707 or DC-8 aircraft at one nautical mile (6080 ft) before landing (106 dB); jet flyover at 1000 feet (103 dB); Bell J-2A helicopter at 100 ft (100 dB).
100 8 times as loud as 70 dB. Serious damage possible in 8 hr exposure

Boeing 737 or DC-9 aircraft at one nautical mile (6080 ft) before landing (97 dB); power mower (96 dB); motorcycle at 25 ft (90 dB). Newspaper press (97 dB).
90 4 times as loud as 70 dB. Likely damage 8 hr exp

Garbage disposal, dishwasher, average factory, freight train (at 15 meters). Car wash at 20 ft (89 dB); propeller plane flyover at 1000 ft (88 dB); diesel truck 40 mph at 50 ft (84 dB); diesel train at 45 mph at 100 ft (83 dB). Food blender (88 dB); milling machine (85 dB); garbage disposal (80 dB).
80 2 times as loud as 70 dB. Possible damage in 8 hr exposure.

Passenger car at 65 mph at 25 ft (77 dB); freeway at 50 ft from pavement edge 10 a.m. (76 dB). Living room music (76 dB); radio or TV-audio, vacuum cleaner (70 dB).
70 Arbitrary base of comparison. Upper 70s are annoyingly loud to some people.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I have a Grizzly 2HP cyclone and I certainly wouldn't characterize it as quiet, but it's generally only running when I'm using another machine that's equally loud or louder (table saw, jointer, planer, etc.). So it only makes sense to wear hearing protection anyway. If it's your wife you're worried about, maybe try a plywood or like material as a sound barrier around it? Plywood and egg cartons? Just thinking out loud here.

_________________
sweat the small stuff.

The problem with surrounding any tool with plywood or such, is that you are usually multiplying the sound, like in an echo chamber, and redirecting it as well. If you have a basement shop, the redirected sound is going to go up, right where your once understanding family is now not so understanding. And yes, I speak from experience here!
To minimize the sound, move it out of the corner, and into the middle of the room. Unfortunately, the corner is usually the most convenient place for a D.C.

Alex

_________________
"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

I can definitely see how that would be the case. I wasn't thinking about the DC being in a basement. I read an article in Fine Woodworking some time ago titled, "A Shop Built around an Island." The DC is placed more or less in the middle of the shop and the tools encircle the DC. That's basically how I've layed my shop out. Although, I'm in a 3 car garage, not a basement. I'm drifting a bit off topic here, but I thought of this when you mentioned placing the DC in the center of the shop.

http://www.finewoodworking.com/workshop ... sland.aspx

_________________
sweat the small stuff.

Like Alex said, the plywood barrier redirects the sound to a degree. Mine is there simply to reduce the noise at my downdraft table which I use a LOT. If you really want to know what's going on with sound levels you will need a sound level meter, your ears are not a good judge of varying sound levels unless the differences are large.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Our treadmill has been collecting dust for a good while now and it is so quiet, I forget it's there.

_________________
Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Is that a shop made downdraft Steve?

Yes it is.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"