Anti Vibration Mats (sound dampening)

I am wanting to place an anti vibration mat under my 500x500 X-Carve to reduce vibration and sound levels.

Has anyone else done this? If so what product did you use? When I look on Amazon there are lots of options including thin neoprene, thick rubber, composite materials

Any advice will be appreciated.

interesting thought. I dont have any suggestions but would like to know the outcome of this as well.

The main issue I see with your plan is most of the noise produced by my SO2 is the bit cutting the material. I have a quiet spindle that makes very little noise. The stepper motors don’t make any noise to speak of, either. The only way I could make my machine quieter is to totally enclose it, but it’s in my shop anyway, so I just let 'er rip!

@BillArnold - You are absolutely correct, the majority of the noise is generated by the bit cutting the material. Unfortunately for me, the workbench I have my X-Carve sitting on is acting like an amplifier. I need to decouple the X-Carve from the workbench. I understand that this will not make the machine “quiet”, as you say only an enclosure will do that. But if I can stop the bench from acting like a giant resonator the noise my machine generates will be substantially reduced.

I am also hoping that by placing the machine on a dense rubber like mat I can reduce some of the vibration that is causing every nut, bolt and connector on the machine from trying to spontaneously disassemble,

Thank goodness for the nylon lock nuts that came with the X-Carve upgrade (plus the additional ones I purchased) without them I am pretty sure my machine would simply fall apart midway though most cuts.

Why not try a foam insulation panel from the box store. That should do it.

Sorry, but I had to chuckle at the vision of that statement!

Many people build their CNC on a cabinet to storage, etc., and I understand why. I had chosen a location in my shop where I could build a shelf attached to a solid wall. It’s still open under the table, so no chamber to resonate. You’ve given me a bit of food for thought as to how much I might enclose my bench eventually!

What about something like this?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004EF8LYO/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_3?pf_rd_p=1944687762&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B004EF4SPA&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=01EKX1TRVB2154DS17ND

Yes, I saw that one. I was hoping for something less expensive.

This one is the same just smaller but it still about $50

http://www.amazon.com/Rubber-Cal-Rubber-Anti-Vibration-Mat-Vibration/dp/B004EF6GBY/ref=pd_bxgy_60_text_y

Could get 2 of these.

http://www.amazon.com/Technoflex-TF018-24X54-APIOM-All-Purpose-Mat/dp/B00HR7R778/ref=pd_sim_469_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=10HF9X60P233W3DWVS2H

I just found this. It may work

That’s a good price!

Why not just use isolation feet under the edges of the waste board and maybe a couple under the center strut if you have the 1000. Lots of choices on Amazon.

@AllenMassey - yeah, that mat is going to be hard to beat for price, but it may not be as isolating as you think if it is hard rubber. Another possible solution might be to try using strips of foam insulation under the rails that form the waste board frame. Since you don’t really need to isolate the full bed, just the points of contact. Just keep in mind that the materials that allow it to be isolated from the bench, may also allow it to more than you want when it is doing rapids. Looking forward to hearing how your experiments go. :slight_smile:

I know your looking for inexpensive and this is NOT that but Dynamat, used for car audio installations is amazing stuff. You might find a car audio installer in your area that has some small pieces they would part with :wink: Amazon also carries some of it.

I went with feet on the bottom of mine and it really helps with the resonance issues and aids in keeping it level. The feet I used look something like this:

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There are cheaper alternatives to Dynamat also, things you can find at Home Depot. You could look at Protecto Wrap BT25XL which comes in a roll of self adhesive “tape” and is a butyl/asphalt blend. You could also look at Frost King Foam/Foil Duct Insulation which is, as the name implies, foam on a foil backer, and is also self adhesive. Both are under $20/roll and should be close to enough, if not more than enough, to cover your work area.

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Haha! Gave me a giggle! Well “said”.

Instead of rubber mats etc. you can try adding mass to your workbench. E.g. Bolt a few concrete slabs to the underside of your workbench. :smile:

I wound up putting a few carriage bolts through the table into the wall studs and also put the machine on a .5 inch thick rubber mat. Between the two it is much quieter and along with some liberal application of loctite all the nuts and bolts are staying tight.

Try a piece of Homasote with a rubber floor mat on top to hide the ugly Homasote and facilitate easier cleanup.

What about something like dynamat under you spoilboard. It wound add mass an dampening.