Quiet routers.

[Jeff Strickler]

Wondering if anybody has any thoughts on a *quiet* router. I've got small kids in the house and as a result my wife is very sensitive to anything that might say, disturb their nap time (which is of course about the only time I can get out of the house and into the shop -- after they've got to sleep at night, for example).

My observations are that routers seem to be one of the loudest pieces of equipment around. Everything else I have is fairly quiet or I've been able to add mufflers or find ways to work quietly.

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

[Dewey Torres]

What kind of router do you have??? That would help for starters but the slow start with variable speed control ones are generally quieter. I am not sure any are quiet enough for kids naps but the higher quality tools are usually quieter than the cheaper ones.

[scott spencer]

The planer is the loudest in my shop, by a fairly wide margin. Some routers are pretty loud but others aren't. I've owned an old Craftsman 9 amp, Freud FT2000E, Freud FT1700, Milwaukee 5615, MW5625, Bosch 1617, PC690, and a Hitachi M12VC (http://www.epinions.com/review/Hitachi_Koki_U_S_A_Ltd_M12VC_2_1_4HP_Fix_Base_Rout er/content_464489320068)....the Hitachi is the quietest of them all. It's not the most powerful and certainly isn't the best made of the bunch, but it's very capable of most tasks, is light, well balanced, smooth and quiet. The Bosch has the nicest handles IMHO. :)

You might try some white noise near the kids room to mask the shop sounds.

[Charles Robertson]

Bosch Colt and Fein. Both are very quiet. White noise in the bed room sounds like a great idea.
Good luck.

[Tim Sgrazzutti]

"quiet router" is a pretty good oxymoron -- as far as electric ones go.

Depending on what you're using one for, router and moulding planes may do the job just as well. Soon the kids may want to be in the shop with you, and hand tools help make that possible. My 6 and 8 year old boys insist on being with me whenever I'm in the shop, and that means the power tools stay off. Makes for a great way to enjoy my hobby and my kids together.

[Jeff Duncan]

Well if you have the budget I believe that air powered routers are the quietest, (at least from what I've been told as I don't own one). Not cheap though, not to mention that you'll need a decent sized compressor, which will probably do a good job of keeping the kids up itself.
good luck,
JeffD

[Eric Roberge]

"quiet router" is a pretty good oxymoron -- as far as electric ones go.


Is there an alternative to an electric router out there?:confused:

I don't follow...

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Wondering if anybody has any thoughts on a *quiet* router.

They sell them in the same isle as the silent hammers.

If you are that sound sensitive maybe you might think about going galoot. It's slower but lots quieter.

[Chris Konikowski]

If you tip toe around the house during nap time, you are just setting yourself up. If you go about your business like normal, kids get used to the background noise and sleep through it. My girl can sleep through quite a bit of noise...just a suggestion...

[Rob Hermann]

Yes, god advice there! From the time mine was a baby I did everything normal weather he was sleeping or not. My shop is directly under his bed room and I run everything, DC, router, Table saw, with the stereo on all the time and he sleeps though it all. Heck, its hard to wake him! Let them fall asleep listening to the tools running. You'll appreciate it for years to come.

[Brian Kent]

I don't like router noise either. I can't sleep while I'm woodworking.:rolleyes:

Here are the steps I took. I had a cheap, noisy router mounted to an old table that amplified the noise.

1) I use hand tools when possible. Much more fun for my tastes anyhow.

2) I bought a router according to some tool test that included noise levels. Soft Start, Variable Speed, Porter Cable 890 series.

3) I made a very sturdy router table so that the table would absorb and dampen vibration.

4) I enclosed the router in the table. I used mdf for the surrounding box, cut air inlet baffle slots that faced down, and insulated the inside of the box for sound using the soft, crumbly sheets from Home Depot that I can't remember the name of.

Now the sound of the router is smooth. I can control the cutting noise somewhat by adjusting the speed of cut, the depth of the cut per pass, and by using smooth, higher quality router bits. I also chose my dust collector in part for a tool test that showed it was on the low end of noise levels.

When all else fails, I go back to the first step and use hand tools, at least until I wake up from my nap.

[Peter Pedisich]

Jeff,

From my experience, putting my DW618 in an enclosed router table made an enormous difference.

As far as quiet routers, the PC 892 and Festool OF1400 are quiet (all relative)

-Pete

[Bruce Page]

Is there an alternative to an electric router out there?:confused:

I don't follow...

Here’s a few alternatives from the web.

[Karl Brogger]

If you tip toe around the house during nap time, you are just setting yourself up. If you go about your business like normal, kids get used to the background noise and sleep through it. My girl can sleep through quite a bit of noise...just a suggestion...

When I was a wee tot my folks used to go out of their way to make noise just for that very reason. I'm afraid it may have gone too far though, I can sleep through just about anything.

[Art Mulder]

1) ditto what the other folks have said about not tiptoeing around the house during kids naps.
(but accept that they will sometimes wake up regardless. I used to have a neighbour who thought 1pm - naptime - on a Sunday was a splendid time to mow his lawn...)

2) insulate the shop not the tool. All electric routers scream!

[pat warner]

Some useless information.

1) Makita 1100's are the quietest routers.

2) Many, if not most, routers can be spoken over at rpm = or < ~14,000

3) It's the cutting that's the noisy part. It matters not what router you have. Under power, they're all very noisy independent of cutter, job, material, power & RPM.

4) Power woodworking is noisy business. Noise insulate (verb) your environment for best results, not the individual tool.

Routers (http://www.patwarner.com)

[Robert Chapman]

It's hard to be quiet when you are turning 20,000 rpm.

[glenn bradley]

Is there an alternative to an electric router out there?:confused:

I don't follow...

OK, we all know the Neanders paid you to ask that one ;-)

P.s. Nice Stanley Bruce.

[Bruce Page]

OK, we all know the Neanders paid you to ask that one ;-)

P.s. Nice Stanley Bruce.

I wish it was mine...

[Jim Heffner]

If noise is the main thing you are worried about....why not try more insulation/ sound proofing in the work area? It may be the best answer to the noise dilemna, probably outlast the routers too!

[Peter Quinn]

Quiet router? No. I am in the same boat except my TS, shaper and router table are in a basement shop and live right below my sons crib. I try to get the noisy things done while he is not sleeping and do the quiet things like glue ups or sanding during naps or at night. Of course some times if a glue up goes badly between the dead blow and my swearing it can get louder than the router.:eek: Perhaps insulation is in both our futures?

[ken gibbs]

By yourself some good noise attenuating ear phones. That way you can listen to some good sounds and you don't realize you are making a lot of noise in the shop. And you can't hear your wife when she yells at you to stop that noise.

[Keith Outten]

Routers aren't noisey until the bit contacts the wood. At that point they are all the same as far as noise goes. If you ever cut plywood with a router you will instantly understand what I mean :)
.

[Michael Prisbylla]

Quick agreement with the Makita 1100. I have the fixed/plunge kit and it's fairly quiet and a good router.

[Prashun Patel]

Dude, I FEEL your pain. I've been trying to work queitly for a long time after kiddie bedtime!
Even a 'quiet' router is going to be very loud.

I gave up. About the loudest I'll go after bedtime is the tablesaw.

[Jeff Dege]

Just yesterday I installed a Linksys Wireless-G Broadband Router, and it doesn't make any noise at all :D

[fRED mCnEILL]

You mentioned "getting out of the house and into the shop"

Why not insulate the shop/

Fred Mc.

[Jim Becker]

"Quiet" and "Router" is hard to use in the same sentence. I will say that my Festool routers are noticeably less noisy than my Dewalt and PC routers, but it's only incremental. Nature of the beast and of "universal" motors.

[Don Dorn]

I agree - my Dewalt is quieter than my Porter Cable, but the DeWalt is still very noisy so it's all realative. I really don't use routers any more than I have to because it - and when I do, I wear ear muffs. Obviously not a big planer fan either so my ear muffs see quite a bit of use in my shop.

[Simon Dupay]

Find an old PC 537 smoothest and quietest router ever.