Sound absorbtion ""IN THE SHOP"

[Jim Lankford]

I've seen alot of threads concerning sound reduction above the shop. My concern is sound reduction in the shop. My propsed shop has three stand alone concrete walls and one block wall shared with the house. (no house access) The shop has its own shingle roof. What would be the most cost effective way to reduce noise INSIDE the shop? I'm worried about the concrete walls echoing the machine noise in the shop!

[Bill Houghton]

But if you don't want to sell off your power tools and buy hand tools instead, I would look at "sound barrier board," which is basically homasote (imagine hardboard before they press it flat), covered by sheetrock. You'll wind up with a wall surface 1" thick, which will mean extra work when you mount shelves and suchlike on the walls, but it should be plenty quiet.

[Jason Beam]

Stopping sound reflections (echos) would require sound absorbing material on the surface (not hidden behind any hard surface like drywall). That means you'd need soft squishy walls. This may not be very practical in a shop.

Think of a recording studio with all those foam egg-carton looking things on the walls. Or even more effective, the big foam wedges that jut out.

That said, if something's loud, something's loud. Nothing you do to the surroundings is going to stop most of the noise you hear from going directly to your ears.

You want less noise for yourself while working in the shop? Earphones/plugs and/or hand tools. That's really it.

[Eric Gustafson]

Lowes sells Sound Board in 4x8 sheets for about ~$10 each. It is like celotex with a rougher texture.

[David Winer]

...if something's loud, something's loud. Nothing you do to the surroundings is going to stop most of the noise you hear from going directly to your ears.

You want less noise for yourself while working in the shop? Earphones/plugs and/or hand tools. That's really it.

I suppose this is true if you are only concerned with "most" of the noise. But there are significant components of reflected noise that can be attenuated by sound absorbing surfaces in the shop. Floor, walls, ceiling, even large flat tools contribute to the din.

[David Hostetler]

Get a good pair of earmuffs...

I use these...
https://www.sportsmans-depot.com/products/SILENCIO-WINCHESTER-SXT-MUFFS-NRR26.html

Got them at Walmart a couple of years ago on a hunting season closeout for something like $5.00. Well worth the $$...

[phil harold]

couple inches of sawdust on the floor will reduce reflected sound...

the trick would be to absorb the sound
sound board under sheet rock will reduce noise transmission from room to room which should not be a problem with a block wall


hanging sound absorbing curtains will help
http://www.audimutesoundproofing.com/egg-crate-soundproofing-soundproof-curtains-inexpensive-sound-proofing.aspx
or
http://www.soundservice.co.uk/Steelsorption.htm

google: sound absorbing material for walls

[Adam Wissman]

the product "dynamat" has been in the car audio scene for quite some time. i used it in my vehicle for sound dampening. i ran 162.4 DB for quite some time. i dynamated my whole truck and sound outside was about 70 DB with bass tones inside at about 155 DB. they have some products for home use and it will stop all echoes and vibrations. put a small amount on a tablesaw blade and it will not have its "ringing" sound, instead it will be a dead thud. all of this comes quite pricey, but ebay has a knock off product for a lot cheaper, a lot more cheaper;).

[Eddie Ng]

put a small amount on a tablesaw blade and it will not have its "ringing" sound, instead it will be a dead thud.

Aren't you worried that this will cause an imbalance in the blade?

[Adam Wissman]

im sry eddie i should have pointed it out, take the dynamat off when you put it on a table saw. it would probaly do some bad things if you left it on

[Joe Zerafa]

Anyone ever tried spraying on some bitumen based under body sound deadener inside the cabinets of their equipment?

Stuffs about $5 for a spraycan been meaning to try it.


Thanks
Joe

[Peter Lewon]

One of the major problems with sound in a shop are the large expanses of reflective surfaces that keep bouncing the sound from surface to surface. Only 2 things will help with the sound that's already in a room:
1. Diffusion: Breaking up sound waves by not letting them hit large, flat surfaces like unadorned ceilings, walls and floors. Most shops already have some of this in the form of cabinets, shelves and all that stuff that you have hung on the walls. The idea is to dissipate the energy of the sound wave and disperse it in different directions.
2. Absorption: Taking the energy out of a sound wave by gradually absorbing (Slowing) the enrgy into a soft/porous surface. Foam and mineral/rock wool work well. For shop use though, the foam would need to be covered with an acoustically transparent fabric that would prevent sawdust from filling the holes.

Check out "Acoustics 101" at www.auralex.com (http://www.auralex.com) for a better understanding of how this all works. Their products are good, and sometimes you can get them cheaply on ebay.

While dampening a tool with some spray on goop may help minimally, most of the offensive/loud noises going directly to our ear are not cabinet resonances, but the direct noise of the cutter impacting wood. Sound is like water, and will leak out of the smallest hole. Homosote, Soundboard or Sheetblock will not do anything to control the sound already in the room when they are covered by the same reflective, hard surfaced sheet rock that created the problem in the first place. Same for Dynamat. These are materials designed to keep sound out of, or in a room.