noise dampening for tooling

V

vilePossum

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Jan 14, 2015
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well... i guess the problems of hobby leatherworking... as i got my first tooling irons last week a new problem has arisen... the noise.
i do all my working at a desk in the designated "husband room" in our department, which wasn't much of a problem until i started tooling. my wife is going nuts over the noise. i tried using cork under the leather, but this affects the sharpness of the shape. i don't have a proper workbench yet and don't know when i will be able to use the basement, so is there any way for lessening the noise? will the granite slabs which can be seen in many videos and pictures help with that? or do they just provide a nice smooth and hard underground?
 
The stone is necessary for detialed crisp tooling in your leather. The thicker the stone the better, more mass is good. You will find that the stone takes away some of the "hollow' ringing as far as the noise goes too.. Under the stone put a rubber "poundo" board. That too takes awy some noise and also allows your stone to last longer. Less chance of it cracking.
 
yes you need the stone for crisp marks but you can get a piece of rubber or cork to put under the marble
 
It's probably not as good as a poundo, but I use a piece of berber carpet under my stone. Dampens the noise fairly well.

Btw, I agree that more mass is better. My granite stone is 1.5" thick and I got it from a local counter top retailer at a reasonable price. I will likely replace it if I can get the local monument maker to sell me a scrap, or error headstone. I believe 3" would be more than enough. For now I have to lug the stone I have from under the bed as I don't have a dedicated stamping area.

Horse mat, neoprene, even a towel will dampen the noise a bit. Other than that, maybe try a dead blow mallet. The orange ones are softer than the mauls I've sampled. They will certainly wear faster, but are cheap enough to replace when necessary. I have an old wooden mallet, as well as a poly mallet (yellow head mallet made for leather stamping), but I dislike them, especially the cheap wooden mallet.
 
i'll check for a stone... and once i got more budget at hand i might check into a raw hide or similar mallet.
thank you all for your feedback, as always you have been a great help.
 
Good advice above. Thick granite block (3+ inches) setting on a poundo board all of which is sitting on a rock solid bench. All of these factors come into play. It's hard to over stress the importance of a really solid bench. No vibration transfer. Then I use the poly mauls of various weights so the strike force can be uniform for any depth I want to achieve.

Paul
 
well, i am working on a work bench, but that would also mean making the basement habitable ;) still... worth a shot, might be able to get a really solid one from a former workplace used at a good price.
 
vilePossum said:
well, i am working on a work bench, but that would also mean making the basement habitable ;) still... worth a shot, might be able to get a really solid one from a former workplace used at a good price.
Click to expand...
I feel your pain man, room is at a premium. I have some awesome wall length benches in my old shop (8 foot+ and super solid), but no place to put them. My old shop was bigger than my current house, had tons of electricity, lighting, roll away doors, music system... Hell, it even had a refrigerator. Miss it. :(
 
12" x 12" quartz slab

http://www.tandyleather.com/en-usd/search/searchresults/32228-00.aspx

quartz-slab-32228-00.jpg-250x


12' x 12' poundo pad

http://www.tandyleather.com/en-usd/search/searchresults/3461-01.aspx

poundo-board-3461-01.jpg-250x
 
If you prefer to go inexpensive go to your local monuments (grave stone) maker and see if they have any broken or mislabeled stones. Some will actually have a pile out back and will give one away, others will charge a simple price.

That and the rubber matting will take the loudness right out of your stamping. :D
 
Thank you all, the rubber mat won't be a problem, and I wrote a local stone mason / grave stone maker. Let's see how things turn out.
 
druid189 said:
12" x 12" quartz slab

http://www.tandyleather.com/en-usd/search/searchresults/32228-00.aspx

quartz-slab-32228-00.jpg-250x


12' x 12' poundo pad

http://www.tandyleather.com/en-usd/search/searchresults/3461-01.aspx

poundo-board-3461-01.jpg-250x
Click to expand...
I think both of those are overpriced. They don't list how thick the granite is, but anyone should be able to score a bigger slab for less with a little effort.

Anyone know what a "poundo" is made from? The roll I saw at Tandy just looked like dense rubber. I might be willing to buy a roll of the material and ship out pieces if someone can tell me what it is. It's like garolite or natural g10 (ghost jade) for knife makers. Buy it as industrial material instead of knife scale material and save a bunch of money.
 
I just remembered and noticed, there a several shots of my granite block on the poundo board in the tracker sheath thread jdk1 put up. It is 12"X24"X2" inches thick. Three inches would be a better thickness, but this one serves well. Be sure to get a highly polished surface if possible. It does make a difference. I have five 2X4 supports across the span of my bench under the formica top that run all the way to the floor to insure a rock solid no bounce base.

Paul
 
Omega Leather Works said:
I think both of those are overpriced. They don't list how thick the granite is, but anyone should be able to score a bigger slab for less with a little effort.

Anyone know what a "poundo" is made from? The roll I saw at Tandy just looked like dense rubber. I might be willing to buy a roll of the material and ship out pieces if someone can tell me what it is. It's like garolite or natural g10 (ghost jade) for knife makers. Buy it as industrial material instead of knife scale material and save a bunch of money.
Click to expand...

I'm sure they are [overpriced], I just wanted him to have links to see them.

Most vibration dampening rubber sheets are made from Urethane...a form of closed cell rubber foam sheeting:

http://www.amazon.com/Isolate-Sorbo...0768&sr=8-26&keywords=vibration+absorbing+pad

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Another option might be a Jeweler's Bench Block...$19.50 and free shipping.:

http://www.amazon.com/ToolUSA-Steel...2-catcorr&keywords=Steel+&+Rubber+Bench+Block

41RTQTMGA8L.jpg



Others are more expensive....6" X 4" X 1/2"....$27 without the rubber pad:

http://www.amazon.com/BRACELET-BENC...=1428190196&sr=8-1&keywords=large+bench+block

61KVOuP3gGL._SL1500_.jpg


and the flat rubber pad is an additional $20...

http://www.amazon.com/Flat-Rubber-B...1428190421&sr=8-5&keywords=rubber+bench+block

412FS7mKo-L._SL1000_.jpg
 
I use a rubber ergo mat under mine. Theyre cheap and they work well for noise . Just dont get one too thick or your stone will wobble
JB
 
That jewelers bench block looks mighty handy! Did some study in metalsmithing in college. Looking into getting back to it someday soon. Non ferrous metals have a certain allure. :D
 
I paid $20 for 2 pieces of granite from a headstone maker. Both were 12x12x2. I put a piece of the non slide utensil holder mats underneath. It works great. My shop is under our bedroom for now.
 
Hobby Lobby sells jewelers blocks, although they aren't very big. I figure they'd be a better anvil for setting snaps, rivets and grommets than the tiny round anvils, but I hadn't considered them for anything else due to size. Might be worth some additional thought.
 
I've got this snap setter set up, its been so much nicer than those little anvils your talking about, well worth the price of admission, http://www.tandyleather.com/en-usd/search/searchresults/8105-00.aspx

The big red press is not worth the price in my world, I'm not the only one, if you want a press there are much better ones out there for the same money. The machining is shoddy at best, and that is the key to good snap setting. The older models are much better and if you can get one go for it. Just avoid the new ones till they get their act together.
 
still looking into getting a slab of granite from a stone mason. most seem to have the week off due to eastern.
thanks for the input on the snap setters leatherman... been thinking about getting one of those instead of the small anvil.
 
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