When the noise is an issue, which is the spindle to use ?
The quietest there is.




Konstantin.

Can you pay $3,000 to $5,000 for a columbo spindle?

Alot of the ShopBot people like those...

-Jeff

Yeah I was very vague.
The key is budget and 2HP max.

P.S.
Would changing the bearings on my router will help to lower the noise? Its a new palm router Bosch Colt 1HP.

It's not likely to make any difference on the noise level unless there is a bad bearing to begin with. In my experience with the larger Bosch routers they are fairly quiet when compared to others on the market. Most of the noise is from the brushes and air flow through the motor. Those are things that you really can't change.

One of the woodworking rags I believe rated the makita 2.25hp as the quietest with the Bosch coming in second

and for what it is worth this is my first post :-)

I have a wood cnc with a 7hp 21,000 rpm spindle and it is absolutely silent my PC at home makes more noise. It's all about how much you are willing to pay$$. But if you want a 2hp spindle ~$2K min.

Expensive.
I guess there is a solution, make a housing out of mdf or whatever. Must help isolate the noise to some degree.



Konstantin.

My bosh (think it's an EVS?) 2 or 2-1/4 is for sure quieter then my monster Portercable 3-1/4 hp router..

there is a noticiable difference although if noise is an issue (thinking you might be playing with your machine in an appartment or something..hehe) then I'm not sure you will geta s quiet as you may want.

I like quiet tools to always consider that when buying. Major downside of a router mill.

b/

How about an enclosure? You guys are way ahead of me, as I'm just finishing my gantry frame but I saw a nicely built, large office printer enclosure today at a surplus warehouse. It was basically a hinged box lined with that "egg crate" foam.

-Ken

Great question, I've been pondering (working up to doing something about) noise in my shop. It's not just the router of course. I find it best to deal with the root cause when possible so have done some homework and concluded that the one improvement (reduction in noise) that I can make with little effort is upgrading bearings. In the case of a router, I already use a variable speed control (highly recommended as even small changes in speed change the frequency and other characteristics of the noise).

Cartridge bearings are graded for precision and you can be sure that any consumer (and most prosumer) tool you buy has the cheapest (lowest grade) bearings that the manufacturer can get away with.

Higher precision reduces noise. The holy grail are ceramic balls, sometimes even available with titanium races. The ceramic balls are much lighter, harder, rounder and more precise than steel balls. Virtually all high precision machines use ceramic bearings.

Not quite ready to spend the money, but I'll let you know the results when I do.

Woody