I need some info here from people who have experience with planers.
I'm trying to reduce the dB level in my shop, and the two planers I have seem to crank out a lot of noise. They are mid-range benchtop planers, with straight blades (3 or 4 of them I think).
I've heard that the spiral cutters are quieter. Any thoughts on this?
Planers?
Moderators: Head Monkey, kelvin, bigKam, skidesmond, chrismp
yep. spiral cutters are much quieter.
have seen demonstrations of spiral cutters with people able to talk to each other while the planer is running. Even a good quality 3 blade planer is quieter than a cheap 2 blade planer. Make sure though your spiral head is a "true" spiral head. Some manufacturers make what they call a spiral head but it is really just multiple offset blades but they still cut the wood straight on. A true spiral head cutter will shear the wood, which is their real benefit. I think the byrd shellix brand spiral heads are meant to be good. I think you can even upgrade certain planers to a spiral cutter head.
Mine is a 3 blade non helical cutter planer and isn't nearly as loud as the cheap 2 blade "buzzer" i bought originally. Cost difference was $400 to $1400 between the two.
Iggy has a spiral head 15" powermatic planer last I read. Think they are pretty good.
have seen demonstrations of spiral cutters with people able to talk to each other while the planer is running. Even a good quality 3 blade planer is quieter than a cheap 2 blade planer. Make sure though your spiral head is a "true" spiral head. Some manufacturers make what they call a spiral head but it is really just multiple offset blades but they still cut the wood straight on. A true spiral head cutter will shear the wood, which is their real benefit. I think the byrd shellix brand spiral heads are meant to be good. I think you can even upgrade certain planers to a spiral cutter head.
Mine is a 3 blade non helical cutter planer and isn't nearly as loud as the cheap 2 blade "buzzer" i bought originally. Cost difference was $400 to $1400 between the two.
Iggy has a spiral head 15" powermatic planer last I read. Think they are pretty good.
Don't wait up, I'm off to kill Summer....
The 3 blade DeWalt is the loudest planer I've heard. My 2 blade ryobi is quite a bit quieter. I tried the Steel City (Rigid) with claimed spiral cutter and it was horrible. It wasn't a true spiral head cutter. It just had the multiple offset blades that would leave nasty marks in the wood. It was half as loud as the DeWalt though. The first time I heard it running I didn't think I was taking a cut. After talking with a few local woodshops (M & M Tooling, Woodcraft) I don't think the spiral cutters are the way to go for super clean cuts. Everyone I talked with recommended a good, sharp, straight blade for the cleanest cuts. They just won't last as long.
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skidesmond
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Thanks, guys! This is good info. I'm going to see if I can do some tests to figure out the lowest noise planer. Right now that's one of the loudest things in my ski lab. It would be nice to drop the noise down to about 70-75 dB, but no louder than 85 dB.
Last night I measured the noise level in the room with the dust collection system going -- it measured 75 dB, and one can have a nice conversation while the collector is running. I always wear ear protection, though.
With the vacuum table blower going, the noise goes up to about 80-85 dB, and this is about the threshold where long exposure can lead to hearing loss. I did not turn on the router, but I figured the total noise level will increase.
I'm working on lowering the noise from the vacuum table blower, but this is very tricky because cheap vacuum pumps/blowers with significant pull and ones that can still move a significant amount of air are super loud!! One would have to drop a lot of $$ to get a tight tolerance industrial-size pump (vane pump or something similar) with low noise.
Anyway, I did not test the two planers I have, but will do so soon, but I suspect it's well above 85 dB. I certainly wear ear protection when using my planer.
I agree that the spiral cutter may not give the best surface finish, but the finish is more than sufficient for making skis. I'm more concerned about noise at this point.
Last night I measured the noise level in the room with the dust collection system going -- it measured 75 dB, and one can have a nice conversation while the collector is running. I always wear ear protection, though.
With the vacuum table blower going, the noise goes up to about 80-85 dB, and this is about the threshold where long exposure can lead to hearing loss. I did not turn on the router, but I figured the total noise level will increase.
I'm working on lowering the noise from the vacuum table blower, but this is very tricky because cheap vacuum pumps/blowers with significant pull and ones that can still move a significant amount of air are super loud!! One would have to drop a lot of $$ to get a tight tolerance industrial-size pump (vane pump or something similar) with low noise.
Anyway, I did not test the two planers I have, but will do so soon, but I suspect it's well above 85 dB. I certainly wear ear protection when using my planer.
I agree that the spiral cutter may not give the best surface finish, but the finish is more than sufficient for making skis. I'm more concerned about noise at this point.
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MadRussian
- Posts: 712
- Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2010 12:32 pm
- Location: USA
you can wear earplugs and earmuffs at the same time that helps substantially. Earplugs not all created equal some of them better than another as far noise reduction.
you can try to use soundproofing insulation board around equipment you got. for example you can build small box from that board around motor or barrier wall to separate the area from rest of your shop.
you can try to use soundproofing insulation board around equipment you got. for example you can build small box from that board around motor or barrier wall to separate the area from rest of your shop.
Hey Kam,
Yep, Byrd makes a cutter head for about any planer you can buy. Here's a link the the biggest distributor that I know of:
http://www.holbren.com/spiral-cutterhead-planer/
best regards,
G-man
Yep, Byrd makes a cutter head for about any planer you can buy. Here's a link the the biggest distributor that I know of:
http://www.holbren.com/spiral-cutterhead-planer/
best regards,
G-man
Thanks, G-man! This is good to know.
I took some more measurements with the noise meter located at the center of the room. The square footage of my ski lab is similar to a 3-car garage. The sensor was located at the center of the room. Here are the results:
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Ambient noise (at 6 pm): ~50 dB
Router: 71 dB
Dust collector: 74 dB
CNC vacuum table blower: 84 dB
Planer (Ridgid R4330): 88 dB
Dust collector + vacuum table: 84 dB
Planer + dust collector: 88 dB
------------------------------------------------------------------
The last two results are not surprising.
Moving the sensor around the room and closer to the source of the noise I found peak values near 95 dB, especially for the planer and the vacuum table blower. These are the two annoying tools I have in my shop. It use to be the dust collector.
Over the summer I did some work on the dust collector to cut down on the noise. I manage to drop it by about 15 dB, and now it's much quieter and I don't have to use ear protection, but I do anyways.
So now my focus is on the planer and the vacuum table blower. I have a friend in town who has a large wood shop specializing in cabinets and such. I'll take some measurements over there and report back. I'm sure he has a couple spiral-cutter planers and few fancy large CNC machines with vacuum systems. It would be interesting to see how they deal with noise over there.
Thanks for the input everyone!!!
I took some more measurements with the noise meter located at the center of the room. The square footage of my ski lab is similar to a 3-car garage. The sensor was located at the center of the room. Here are the results:
----------------------------------------------------------------
Ambient noise (at 6 pm): ~50 dB
Router: 71 dB
Dust collector: 74 dB
CNC vacuum table blower: 84 dB
Planer (Ridgid R4330): 88 dB
Dust collector + vacuum table: 84 dB
Planer + dust collector: 88 dB
------------------------------------------------------------------
The last two results are not surprising.
Moving the sensor around the room and closer to the source of the noise I found peak values near 95 dB, especially for the planer and the vacuum table blower. These are the two annoying tools I have in my shop. It use to be the dust collector.
Over the summer I did some work on the dust collector to cut down on the noise. I manage to drop it by about 15 dB, and now it's much quieter and I don't have to use ear protection, but I do anyways.
So now my focus is on the planer and the vacuum table blower. I have a friend in town who has a large wood shop specializing in cabinets and such. I'll take some measurements over there and report back. I'm sure he has a couple spiral-cutter planers and few fancy large CNC machines with vacuum systems. It would be interesting to see how they deal with noise over there.
Thanks for the input everyone!!!