Question Noise and neighbors

Hy there forum,


Since half a year I am waiting for buying a stepcraft router but I did not do it yet because in the future I have to move from where I am currently living. I am wondering how loud are these machines ? I mean can I use them in an apartment building ? Wouldn't I then be the annoying neighbor that is all the time drilling ? Please share your experiences regarding this . I need to adapt my new home to this

Hi AVacaru,

there are different noise sources:
- the step motors
- the milling motor
- the exhaust (if you use one)

The most noisy source is often the milling motor, but there is a big difference between a very loud Kress and a quite HF-Spindle. The Proxxon is somewhere between.

For me, the noise from stepmotors and the HF500 was still to noisy for working in my flat, so I built a housing for my steppy ( see ). Now, the only noise is my vacuum cleaner, running on low-level.

Cheers,
Thomas

Hi AVacaru

It also depends on what you are cutting - for instance engraving on acrylic or cutting balsa wood is much quieter than cutting hardwood.

I would say that you will need some kind of noise suppression such as an enclosure if you are going to be using the Steppy in an apartment. I use mine in a detached separate building, I find that I need ear protection on most jobs.

Noise is a definite factor. I collected links to threads with DIY-enclosures:
http://cnc-wiki.de/Modifikationen/Einhausung
Sorry, text is written in german.

One more thing to consider when living in an apartment building is the vibration that is carried through solid structures in contact with the machine. Think about an electric drill. If your neighbour is just revving up the drill in his apartment then it can hardly be heard. As soon as the drilling starts, the noise is considerable, especially if it is a hammer drill.

The rubber feet probably help, I have no idea how much though. I took some other precautions as seen here . Haven`t used the machine much and I am cautious about the time of day I use it. No problems so far.