HELP WITH SHOP COMPLETION???

[Imacman]

Hi All… As some are aware, I’m getting lose to completing my backyard workshop, it’s 12X21, with a 6” concrete poured floor, because my shop will have not only woodworking tools, but some metal working tools as well, ...a BF20Lv Milling Machine, as well as an aluminum / steel build 30 X 50 CNC router… noise is a factor, therefore I am making the building as ‘Sound Proof” as I can… I am using resillwent channel on the walls and ceilings, to cut down on vibration…. also… all the “Contact Points” where the drywall meets the R Channel are having foam inserts sandwiched between… that and some good ole’ ‘Cross My fingers and hope for the best. So here’s my question, I will be building several work benches around the walls of the shop….also the Milling machine comes with a metal stand…. now what I’m wondering is…. should the benches…. in particular the CNC router, and the Stand for the milling machine…simply rest on the floor, or be bolted on….also… would I be better off cutting heavy foam mats ( in either the resting or bolting scenario ) and sandwiching them between the Benches / stands and the concrete floor? keep in mind that sound is of course vibration…and I don’t really know much about how vibration travels through floor. Any help / suggestions or advise, is greatly appreciated… I want the shop to be as soundproof as possible… but I don’t want to waste time and or money incorporating something that’s not going to help with sound.

Cheers

Paul

Imacman

[aaronmk]

From my experience, the sound deadening efforts should be applied in 3 areas. In order of priority they are:
1. minimizing air leaks to the outside. I'm assuming you are worried about noise to your neighbors so that's why this is important. Sound waves travel through air so any way that the waves can penetrate through should be sealed if possible. Seal up any large voids such as loose fitting doors and open rafter/vented ceilings. If your not worried about neighbors then do the opposite to let the sound waves escape as freely as possible.
2. Place sound deadening materials and objects around your shop. Any hard surface will reflect sound while soft pourous surfaces absorb sound. My shop also doubled as a practice space for a rock band so keeping sound levels down was a must for my neighbors sanity as well as for the musicians ears. I Hung old comforters and towels all over the walls. At first it was about 75% but by the end 100% of the walls were covered and that made a huge difference. For the floor and ceiling I placed/stapled used carpet padding that I got for free from the dumpster of a carpet store. I also hung towels and blankets over machines I didn't use often to minimize reflections off those surfaces. More is better!
3. Isolate your machines from transferring vibrations to other surfaces. Avoid having your machines touching any walls. Put rubber, etc between your workbench and any machines on it otherwise your workbench will act like a soundboard on an acoustic guitar and amplify any vibrations. I would also bolt your machines to the concrete to minimize chatter between the two and possibly make the machine more ridgid. Rubber between the machine and concrete might also be good to dampen vibrations in the machine and stand. For the same reason, its great that you put foam between the studs and the interior walls of your shop to minimize transfer of sound.

Hope this helps and good luck on your shop! Post some pics when you're done.

[Imacman]

Ok sounds good.. thanks.. I do have a small amount of experience with soft surfaces... I have a small recording studio in my home ( 12 X 24 )... I didn't really try to 'Sound Proof" the studio.. but I did need to stop echos for the purpose of Mixing songs, so what i did was I went to home depot and bought peel & stick carpet tiles and covered all of the walls. I bought Black and tan tiles.... so I could put a black stripe near the top...( purely for looks...lol ) it came out looking great IMHO..and worked like a charm for mixing songs.

So it seems I shopuld put the foam rubber between the machines 7 benches.. and between the benches & concrete floor, and bolt everything together.. Perfect... I was a fraid, that bolting would for some reason make things worse....

Thanks.

Much appreciated

Imacman

paul

[ViperTX]

Paul,

How much has the 12X21 shop cost so far?

Nice looking recording studio.

Thanks,
Paul

[arizonavideo]

Mass is your friend.

If you go from 1/2" to 5/8 drywall it will keep in more sound and I would think the door is a hollow one so doing the carper trick to it will reduce the sound leakage too.

My shop is just built like any other room with R-8 in the walls and all wood frame. When I run the router cutting AL it is quite loud inside but when I'm outside almost all the sound is coming from the two doors that don't fit that tight.

[Imacman]

That's a great idea... I heard doors were bad for losing sound, and I still have a lot of carpet tiles from the studio, I'll cover the back of the door with a small over lap. I'v purchased just about everything I need to compete the shop... so cost wise for just the shop, I'm around $12,000.... but if I include the tools & accessoies I've bought so far I'm closer to $20K... I've made a few mistakes... my shop cost could have been around $6000 now. Oh well.


Imacman