sound proofing your grinding room?

Josh Muller

Josh Muller

Joined
Jun 22, 2003
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my brother lives in residential area where he'd like to keep the peace with his neighbors as much as possible. he's just getting into knife making, and has a set up in garage that uses a drill press, an angle grinder, a bench grinder, a 4x36" belt sander, and a 1x30 belt sander.

his area is pretty ghetto (though not as getto as it gets in his city) - but enough that keeping the peace both means keeping police from coming to your house, and keeping you physical safety and that of your house hold from constant threat. so until he gets the place at least decently sound proofed (50% reduction), he cant really do any significant knife making.

so how do you guys in the city sound proof your shops?

any ghetto cheap tricks are appreciated :D
 
When I was in a band we would use big(square) egg cartons...or those cardboard things that will hold 4 coffees or sodas. Foam egg crate works well to but I wouldnt want to hit it with sparks. You need somehing to absorb the sound.....how about a temporary wall between the garage door and the work space. Insulation and baffels are the key.
Good luck and be carfull of what you use.
Mace
 
Just hanging blankets a few inches off the wall will help a lot. Even better if they're not stretched flat and drape with some "pleats", so to speak.

If he lived in the barrio instead of the ghetto it'd be much easier. :) Here, not only are the Latino people a bit interested but I have done some small things like forge a couple digging spuds out of humongus rebar supplied by/for a neighbor and sharpened a few mower blades and welded a shovel. They won't call the police because every house has a couple illegal aliens and the residents are afraid Immigration will show up right behind the cops.

Heck, when I lent a neighbor my pancake compressor to run his nailgun on a re-roof I even got some of the best danged Mexican food this NorteAmericano has ever had. :)
 
Hang cheap (used carpet is free from carpet installers that rip out commercial carpeting.) carpet on the walls about an inch or two from the walls.Just use 16D nails,driven in about an inch, and slide the carpet out to the heads.At the door put it on a double wire like a stage curtain (use shower curtain hangers).You can even put it on the ceiling. Like Mace pointed out,put up a plywood backing behind the grinder to keep the sparks off the carpet.This will attenuate a lot of noise.Get a good fan,it will also insulate the shop.
 
there is always good , better and best.
Not the budget solution but 3/4" MDF works best for media rooms(and any sound dampening). if you wanted to take it one step further you would frame a second wall with the studs offset from the first wall and insulate with R20 before you put up the 3/4" MDF.
Neighbors wouldn't even know you where there. :D

I'm just building my media room right now in case you didn't guess ;)
 
I considered 1/2" MDF for my new shop's interior walls,but am still thinking gypsum. The walls of my new shop are going to be 6" thick.The studs will be 2X4,offset,so there is no direct connection between the inside and outside wall,except the header and footer.I'll install 6" insulation in the air space,woven in and out of the studs.An AC unit will be a must most of the year.I even designed a baffle for the air exhaust,but will see if it is necessary first.Hope to start construction this fall.Let us know how well the attenuation is on your room.
 
I haven't put up the MDF yet, the walls are framed and ready for wire. In a freinds room the absorption (attenuation) is great and with the offset studs it scatters and weakens the sound so you only hear what you create with your sound system. No bouncing signal amplitude to distort things. :p

here is mine so far, still has some bracing up to support thr suspended slab above. you step down into the sunken room.
7298on.jpg
 
Stacy, I had seen exactly that in a tv program where they were building a media room.As I remember they had a special sound absorbing insulation. I recommend insulating interior walls in any house , it just makes things quieter.
 
Just find out what music the neighbors like and turn up the music. :D :D :D

That should save you a bundle of money and a buncha work.

Unless you are very, very close, the equipment you listed shouldn't make that much noise.

The only thing my neihgbors hear are the anvil and the LG. Course their house is shut up and the air is on.
 
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