Planer Noise

[Anthony Watson]

I have a Delta TP300 benchtop planer that I have enjoyed using the last few years. It works well, but because of the cleanup mess I recently bought a JDS dust collector and a dust port replacement for the planer.

The planer has always been loud, but tolerable with headphones. The dust collector makes noise on it's own also, but nothing bad. However, I used the planer with the dust collector connected yesterday, and Oh My God that combination is LOUD. Even with headphones on, the resonant roar is deafening. Not having to clean up piles of shavings is great, but I don't know that I could endure that sound for more than a few minutes at a time. It certainly can't be good for my ears, and the neighbors won't be very happy listening to that either.

I'm guessing it's the airflow running through the planer as the knives spin, as neither machine is anywhere near that loud on it's own.

So, the big question, is there anything I can do to reduce the noise?

Alternatively, are there quieter planers on the market (with a reasonable budget) that are designed with dust collection in mind? The port I got for my planer ejects straight out the back, which means the hose will get in the way for planing wide boards. I only managed yesterday because I was planing thin strips.

Suggestions?

Thanks,

Anthony

[Jim Becker]

What you are experiencing is very normal. The "combination" is louder for a variety of reasons in my experience, too. My big Euro J/P has the exact same characteristics. The air rushing through the wide and narrow hoods really amplifies the normally quiet dust collection system I have in my shop.

[Larry Fox]

Yep - sounds about right. I have a Delta 2-speed lunchbox and a cyclone and the combo is insanely loud. I use a set of ear protectors made by Smith & Wesson and they do a nice job. thye are bulky but they do the trick. As to controlling the noise, I am not sure you are ever going to get there as they are both noisy operations.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Anthony, you might try reducing the airflow by partialy closing the blast gate for the planer. You should be able to reduce the noise, and have dust collection......Rod.

[Lee Schierer]

You may have created the sound through the air flow over the knives, sort of like the old fashioned sirens. Add a Y to the system and crack open the Y so that it lets in more air until the noise reaches a tolerable level. Hopefully that level will carry the shavings out of your planer and into the pipe. Place this Y close to the planer so that once the chips get past the Y they will have full velocity air flow.

[Tom Veatch]

...
So, the big question, is there anything I can do to reduce the noise?
...

As others have said, the noise increase with a dust collector operating is fairly normal. I've never been on a carrier deck during flight ops, but I can't imagine that would be any louder than my Jet JPM-13CS with the cyclone running.

There is a note in my owner's manual that states "Note: Adjusting the chip deflector too close to the cutterhead while planing will cause a higher than normal noise level especially when using a dust collector." Maybe there's a similar adjustment in your planer that would take a couple of decibels off the noise level.

[Peter Quinn]

Call me crazy but both my planers seem to be quieter with a garbage can preseperator in line. Easier to empty than the DC bags too.

[Rick Fisher]

You can buy different grades of hearing protection. The normal units reduce about 20db? I have seen a pair which reduced 32db, and meant to buy it for the same reason as stated above.

Another option is to use foam ear plugs with large hearing protection over top.

[Pete Bradley]

It could be that the extreme noise is caused by resonance in your system, where the frequency of the planer noise matches up with the frequency at which some other part of the system wants to vibrate. You might try longer or shorter pipes, or putting a separator in the planer line as someone else suggested.

Pete