Hello,
Ive been considering purchasing the x carve but was wondering about how loud the machine is.
I plan on putting it in my spare bedroom but wanted to know if you think it will be to loud to have in the house. I live alone and can shut to door to kill the noise. But how loud would it be if i was standing next to it vs sitting on the couch 30 ft away with the door closed?
Find someone with a DWP611, (maybe home depot or Lowes) turn it on and listen to it.
Its really not that bad.
I wear earplugs for the drone not the volume. (when I’m in the shop)
Also consider that you’ll have dust and particulate issues in the house. You should have proper particulate management (HEPA). Vibration is also an issue if you share a wall or floor with neighbors. It’s not just noise.
will there still be dust issues even if i purchase the dust control system??
I live on my own so i’m not worried about bothering anyone. I just want to be able to let it run and close the door and not feel like i’m sitting next to a vacuum
I hope somebody else can give you that advice. I don’t run in a house, so I’m not sure what to expect, although I can say don’t underestimate the health effects of dust and airborne particles.
The dewalt by itself is not that bad on setting 1. Add a shop vac and it’s at that annoying stage. I wouldn’t want it in my house. There are options available for “quiet” vacuumes for dust control but they are $200-$300. Inventables has one in their store.
If you’re willing to spend the money, you could always go with a quieter spindle than the dewalt, too.
I have an 800w water cooled Chinese spindle. You can barely hear it run.
yes. Dust control is not 100%. Unless you plan on making an enclosure for it which isn’t terribly complicated. the noise of the machine, the router and the vacuum/dust controller will be loud. depending on how the walls are shared, you can add some insulation like egg crate foam and lead noise panels
how much is something like that?
do you have a link for it ?
is the dewalt normally ran on speed setting 1 when carving?
Will it ever need to be higher than 1?
You can find them on eBay for a couple hundred bucks. Look for one it’s the VFD included. Mine came it’s my other machine. I got it at smw3d.com
I rarely take my dewalt off of setting 1. It’s 16000 rpm that’s even faster than I like sometimes. 18000 is as fast as I’ve ever ran anything.
Don’t forget that a router cutting through wood will generate a lot more noise. That said, 30ft from a closed door…you should be able to watch tv with no problem.
I think it depends on the flooring as well as the door gap being it is an internal room and not a sealed door like a garage. I can’t imagine having hardwood or tile with a .5 -1" gap being able to do much without having the tv blaring.
Great point. One would definitely want to do something to reduce the noise.
I have my X-Carve setup in the den of our Brooklyn apartment and it hasn’t caused any issues. We have our TV and couch in the same room. While you can’t watch TV when the machine is running, there haven’t been any dust issues.
If you are upstairs in our living room — right above the machine — you can barely hear it. I’ve also spoken to the neighbors and they don’t seem to hear it or have any issues. We also don’t seem to have any air quality issues.
I’ve done a few things to make this work:
First of all, I bought a cheap decibel meter to be able to quantify the noise. I measure the sound level right next to the machine, and also in the hallway outside the apartment.
Invested in a decent 1HP dust collector with cyclone separator. You can get these from Amazon or Harbor Freight. It’s definitely more expensive than a Shop-Vac, but it’s quieter and at a lower frequency. When it’s on, you can be in the same room without hearing protection and still have a conversation.
Purchased heavy curtains to place on the doors to the room. Originally I had these to help conserve heat in the winter, but the decibel meter showed that having the curtains closed significantly reduced the noise. You can really hear the difference, too.
Got rubber pads to place between the frame of the X-Carve and the table that it is on. This has reduced the noise generated from vibrating the table. Right now I’m just using some cheap furniture moving pads, but I plan to upgrade to a full isolation pad. That should further reduce the noise and also provide a more rigid base for the machine.
Recently upgraded to the Hitachi M12VC, which can run at a lower RPM than the DeWalt 611. This has made cuts even quieter.
Even with all that, though, I still don’t run the machine past 7 or 8 PM. It wouldn’t be an issue for us in our apartment, but I’m on good terms with my neighbors and landlord and don’t want to rock the boat too much. Ideally I’d have a completely isolated enclosure for the machine, but for now this works.
TL;DR: noise and dust shouldn’t be an issue for you, and it should be totally manageable if you put a bit of effort into the initial setup.
+1. My shop vac is louder than the xcarve. I haven’t tried metal or acrylic which may resonate louder than wood though.
