Reducing noise while working with chisel
starideda
| Posted in General Discussion on
Hello
I have a small apartment so I do my woodworking on the balcony. I do have a small workbench which serves me well and sodar I managed to keep my tools and material compact. Of course, the noise is a big element for me so I do everything with hand tools only.
Planing is not a big deal as far as my plane irons are sharp. I do all of bigger saw work at once, so this is also not a problem. However, morticing and dovetailing is something that generates a fair amount of noice for like hours. I do have a rubber hammer which I use with sharp chisels, but I am interesting in reducing the noise even more. Any tipps for a beginner like me? Thanks.
Replies
Get some good ear defenders. (Sorry, couldnae resist). :-)
If you hammer a chisel, its going to make noise that'll disturb the close neighbours. You could soundproof where you work but that would be very costly.
An alternative is to make noise for far less time. For example, you can make N mortises with a Festool Domino & dust extractor in a very small amount of time compared to chopping them out with a mortise chisel and hammer. (Yes, experience tells me so).
A Domino and a dust extractor make noise. But .....
I'm currently making a small walnut table that has 40 dominos (80 mortise holes) in its various apron & rail to leg joints. I reckon each one takes about 3 seconds. Call it 5 seconds per hole with the time to power up then run down the machine after each set of holes are made. 5 X 80 = 400 seconds (less than 7 minutes) of noise, spread over a day during which I typically do batches of 8 - 10 holes at any one time (50 seconds of noise per session).
From a neighbour's point of view, that amount of noise is trivial compared to "for hours" hammering out mortises with a chisel.
Of course, Festool Dominos and dust extractors are expensive. On the other hand, as well as less noise, you get to make very tight and accurate M&T joints, with a lot more time to do things rather more interesting than chopping out rectangular holes for hours. For the table, I'm doing beads and roundings, as well as stringing and banding, with some small areas of veneering, all with hand tools. (Doing so with a router isn't a lot faster, really).
Of course, it takes far less skill to operate a Domino than it does a mortise chisel and a tenon saw. For some, that and the high cost rules out such a solution.
But you can sell tools like a Domino for perhaps as much as you paid for it 10 years before. .... A sort of inexpensive Domino renting method. :-)
Lataxe
Thank you, but using anything else then a battery circular saw and screwdriver is for me not an option. Currently, I can not work with machines, they are loud, they generate a lot more mess and take up more space. Although I can do things more precise and faster using machines, I would stick to hand tools only. Maybe in future, when I have more space available, I will use them.
Get a brace and set of good auger bits. Waste the majority of the material then pair to a line. I live in a 900sf 60 unit prewar in Brooklyn with my partner and 3 year old daughter. Something like a workmate bench and some sandbags can help a lot as well so your aren’t banging things around.
Learn to get really sharp and strop often.
Also, files, rasps, and a file card. Dustbuster can’t hurt.
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+1 with @chuckvandyck for the brace to remove waste and reduce the pounding. Get a good coping / fret saw to remove the bulk of the dovetail waste. You'll be surprised at just how close you can get to the baseline. Sometimes pounding can be reduced to paring.
I would lose the rubber hammer and get a heavy mallet, the energy lost to the rubber means more strikes. I like round metal heads. The mallet will be a bit louder but will get you there faster. I don't think your neighbors will notice the diff in sound, but will probably prefer the shorter sessions.
NEVER ask a neighbor if they mind the noise. If it bothers them they'll mention it. If they don't say anything it means you're being considerate enough.
For your situation I think the brace and bit approach is the best route. You should look for a depth gage for the bits so you can repeatably set the depth of the bit in the mortise. They are available in vintage tool sites or on Ebay. So are good vintage braces and bit sets. I suggest getting a brace with an 8 or 10 inch sweep. Most used bits can be resurrected if the snail is still good. Also, I would get some auger bit files and learn how to sharpen your own bits.
Finally, it is worth it to look for a lignum vitae mallet. They are pricey but worth the search as the density adds a lot of punch and also helps deaden the sound. I found mine used as well. If you prefer a hammer mallet, a wood stuffed bronze mallet might also work.
I agree working on sandbags will also help deaden the sound. With all the above, your neighbors might forget you're even there. Good luck!
I will offer a slightly different idea. For mortises, you could purchase a table top mortiser and just make them that way. I have one, it's pretty quiet. For dovetails, I'd say use a coping saw to remove the bulk of the was so that way you might be able to get by with hand pressure and thin cuts to remove the little was. Also, possibly you could put the bench on a foam or rubber pad so less vibration is transferred to other units. A blog post I read is called The Apartment Woodworking - it's been going on for ages and he now lives in a home. If you can find the blog post, he likely has all kinds of ideas based on the early days of working in an actual apartment.
Drill and pare your mortises.
For dovetails -- cope out the waste and pare to the line.
Neither operation will require a mallet, or perhaps only a few, rare light taps.
An added benefit is that you'll learn what sharp is.
I have five mallets, three that I made (carver's turned mallet, two carpenter's mallets with elm burl heads), a rubber mallet (for knocking things together or apart) and a rawhide mallet. The rawhide mallet gets all the use (except for the rubber mallet.) It is quiet, doesn't bother the chisel handles, or aggravate my aging elbow. It would not be appropriate for timber framing, but works well for furniture joinery. I'm not sure if it would be quieter than what you are using, but it would be more pleasant, if only because there is no appreciable bounce back. Oops, I forgot that I liked my first one so much that I got another to keep in my carpentry tool kit.
Trust me, you will thank me in years to come. Rent a small secluded space nearby. Make all the noise you want and don’t be a dick to your neighbours.
Thank you, great ideas, I basically reduced the bulk of noise by removing material using other tools (saws and drills). So, everything that remains is light tapping with a mallet or chiseling with hand only, and that is fine.