Headphone Survey for Spindle Owners

[magic]

This is the survey area for any spindle owners who wish to brag about how quiet your spindles are.

[Gary Campbell]

Spindles may be quieter than a router when NOT cutting, but little difference when pushing a loaded bit. Full cover ear "muffs" when most any tool is running.
Gary

[dana_swift]

I'm hear to testify that when Gary lights off all of the vacuum blowers there would be no difference between a router and spindle. Its noisy!

As I said in the other thread: "Zee NRR III" they work well. I used them in Gary's shop and they worked well for me as usual.

D

[cnc_works]

My spindle is so quiet that it doesn't make a sound when it falls in a forest even if there is someone around.

Donn

[harryball]

The smaller "hobby" shop with fewer noisy things the more a quiet spindle will be appreciated. If you are doing 3D relief carving with a small DC or one sitting outside etc... the spindle is wonderfully quieter than a router.

However, if you have a 3/8" bit cutting 3/4" ply in a single pass, a 3HP dust collector running, two fiens as vac pumps and a shop air cleaner running... not to mention the air compressor then there is no different in sound at all.

/RB

[tkovacs]

I like my spindle and I'm glad I got it but Gary and RB are right - cutting noise, vacuum and dust collector noise are an assault on the ear drums.

I have recently been using "noise isolating" earbuds from JVC and they work pretty well.

[gene]

Buy a roots blower . Then you can mount a chainsaw without a muffler on the bot and you wont here the saw run over the blower. Honestly its so loud i have woke up 2 dead people. However i am glad i have a spindle.

[knight_toolworks]

cut some purpleheart. the high pitch is horrible.

[chiloquinruss]

I agree with all about the noise once you get the machine started and its cutting away, my problem is that my spindle is much quieter than my dust collector and so I am 'always' forgetting to turn it on and ruin the piece and break the bit. Now one would think after a while you would remember right? But NOOOOOOO I don't / didn't and broke another one today!
Russ

[myxpykalix]

Russ,
In the circuitry for the spindle isn't there some way a small warning light could be inserted and mounted on your carriage to tell you when the spindle is running or not?

Also when you are starting toolpaths from within the shopbot software don't you have those warning popups that tell you "router/spindle speed 16,000rpm" then "turn your router/spindle on". I have them.

[bcondon]

I have build too many things, and mowed the lawn, used skill saws too long so my hearing is affected. When I had hearing testing done, the doctor came in with his head down and just said
"THIS ALL COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED IF YOU JUST WORE HEARING PROTECTION"

SO now I have many sets of hearing protection hanging on items like: lawn tractor, Snow Blower,
Shopbot(several sets for friends) and in my basement near table saw/ spindle / etc.

I also have the yellow workmate with FM radio that can be put on when working and with the TV on with a FM transmitter to reduce the drone of the sander 8-)

[chiloquinruss]

Jack - I've copied the threads on the extra circuitry for the led warning lights, I think that will come later. I have a standard not an alpha so the software does not control the spindle, that's done external manually. What I have a is a 'stick' with 'spindle on' written on it!
I move it from the control box to the computer keyboard when turned on and vice versa when turned off!
Not eloquent but for now it seems to work for me. And Bob is right the ear phones only add to my problem. However yesterday was a banner day, I got through 4 jobs and NO broken bits!
Hurray! Russ

[davidp]

We have a spindle and a 15 hp Vac and 3 hp dust collector. The dust collector is remote from the SB and we have a muffler on the Vac even when cutting do not need ear muffs.

The noise level when cutting is not that much higher than when not cutting, if the cutting is really noisy something is wrong so I look and fix the problem.

The spindle is much much quieter than a router.

David

[wberminio]

I found benefit of the spindle is that it not only is less quiet,but that is Not a high pitch sound like a router.
My setup is similar to David's.
I have a spindle, 16.9hp regen vacuum,3hp cyclone dust collector.The noise level is tolerable even when cutting plywood.
I still use ear phones.

Erminio

[henrik_olofgors]

Yeah, it's not just decibel, the quality of the sound matters more (within reasonable levels).

High pitch like from a router or a vacuum blower (or a bad bit with a bad feed in a bad material with a spindle, sure) is really dreadful. We have a colombo 5, but before we sound insulated the adjacent room where the blower and the DC system is, it didn't matter, you would barely hear the spindle even with the infamous CMT bits -- the vacuum noise was so searingly dominant. Like an aircraft forever stuck in takeoff.

Now that the "sound room" is properly insulated, I can enjoy the aureal pleasantry of having a spindle. With a good bit and a good feedrate in a forgiving material, it is quite possible to carry on a telephone conversation just a few feet from the live 'bot.

The good thing about the high pitch noise is that it's very amenable to insulation. I spent half a day rigging the blower (putting it on rubber 'feet' etc), putting some sound tiles up and installing layers of sheetrock and foam on the door to that room, voila, bad hearing days be gone.

(I certainly wear hearing protection 99% of the time whenever a machine is on, but it's possible to talk on the phone, done it on a few occasions, that's all.)