Makita 2012NB / A quieter planer for townhouse workshop

[kent borcherding]

If you are in an area where there is a store that sells musical instruments talk to the people in the store ,about folks that record band music.
These folks know how to make area quiet almost sound proof. Several friends of mine who are woodworkers went this route , worked well.
A good store will give you advice and help - a really good store will let you try materials and set up before paying for it.
Never hurts to try and barter a deal for the materials you need to lower sound of sawing and running the planer.

[Elliot Karlsson]

A follow up to this thread: I ended up purchasing the Makita and have been playing around with it for the last week. I've run poplar and southern yellow pine through it so far, and honestly, it's not nearly as loud as I was expecting. My shop vac is much louder. I ran it by itself last night for a bit and have had no complaints from the neighbors today. Really happy with it, and it's not terribly heavy so I've been able to move it around the garage as needed.

I'll try to run a db meter on it soon.

Thanks for the update, Aaron. I'm in the same boat as you. Ever get to making any dB readings? Still happy with the planer?

[Matthew Hills]

I'll try to run a db meter on it soon.

Glad to hear this seems to be working out for you.

If you get a chance to record the noise, it might be useful to have a friend record the effect outside -- what are the neighbors actually hearing when you run lumber through?

PS--some vacuums are quieter than others, too :-)


Matt