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How LOUD is too loud?


Glenn

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Get a DB meter, $20, or get the app for your i-phopne. Once you have a DB meter and a distance you can then tell which noises are loud and protect yourself.

Sounds dB SPL
Rocket Launching 180
Jet Engine 140
Thunderclap, Air Raid Siren 1 Meter 130
Jet takeoff (200 ft) 120
Rock Concert, Discotheque 110
Firecrackers, Subway Train 100
Heavy Truck (15 Meter), City Traffic 90
Alarm Clock (1 Meter), Hair Dryer 80
Noisy Restaurant, Business Office 70
Air Conditioning Unit, Conversational Speech 60
Light Traffic (50 Meter), Average Home 50, Rain 50
Living Room, Quiet Office 40
Library, Soft Whisper (5 Meter) 30
Broadcasting Studio, Rustling Leaves 20
Hearing Threshold 0


As a reference, here are the SPLs for two persons talking (not shouting) at various differences (level at the receiver's ear).
0,25m--70-76dB
0,5m-- 65-71dB
1m-- 58-64dB
1,5m-- 55-61dB
2m-- 52-58dB
3m-- 50-56dB

90-95 DB Level at which sustained exposure may result in hearing loss
Power mower at 3' 107dB
Snowmobile, Motorcycle 100dB
Power saw at 3' 110dB

Threshold of pain
above 115 DB, fast-acting hearing damage in short action is possible
Sandblasting, Loud Rock Concert 115 DB
150 dBA Hammer stroke in a smithy at 5 m (30 feet) distance (maximum level)

Continuous dB Permissible Exposure Time
85 dB 8 hours
88 dB 4 hours
91 dB 2 hours
94 dB 1 hour
97 dB 30 minutes
100 dB 15 minutes
103 dB 7.5 minutes
106 dB 3.75 min (< 4min)
109 dB 1.875 min (< 2min)
112 dB .9375 min (~1 min)
115 dB .46875 min (~30 sec)

And you wonder why we suggest ear muffs, plugs, and protection for your hearing?

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I had a neighbor who would pick on my for wearing ear muffs while pushing the lawn mower around. I got sick of the headaches, and did something about it. Sure made that chore more pleasant.

I always wear some type of hearing protection at the anvil. This is supposed to be fun for me, and feeling sick from the noise is no fun.

Phil

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not that I have tried checking in my shop but.......

Up here the city made a noise bylaw for motorcycles.
"
90-95 DB Level at which sustained exposure may result in hearing loss
Power mower at 3' 107dB
Snowmobile, Motorcycle 100dB
Power saw at 3' 110dB
"
The law up here is 90 dB for idle, 95dB for travel. Cars with the loud mufflers, or no mufflers are ok though.

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My tinnitus has gotten worse over the last 5 years since I moved down here. The first increase was from a loud nightclub, and i had forgotten my earplugs. Took 3 days for it to subside. A few business trips at the Knob Creek machine gun shoot didn't help when unexpected firing would occur. Now the shop I work in has 36 Deco screw machines that have spindles that run upwards of 14,000+ That constant high pitch whine has impacted my hearing even with plugs in all day every day.

When I worked at Jelly Belly we got yearly hearing tests. My hearing was always better than most people's all my life, and I tried to take real good care of it. I had guys I worked with that were almost deaf, and couldn't hear whistling air cylinders, parts knocking in the machines, etc.. One good rule of thumb is that if you are 2 feet from someone, and you have to raise your voice, you need protection. Many ordinary places I go to in Las Vegas meet this requirement. For years now I always have a pair of 33 NRR foamies in my pocket, just in case. The problem is that you also conduct sound through the skull, and jaw bone, so plugs, and muffs don't block everything. A motorcycle helmet would be a good addition, but not real practical.

I used to be a little vain about wearing them, but wish I had done it more often , and earlier now, Also growing up we thought as long as the ringing went away it was OK, we didn't know it is an accumulative problem. The only hope now s that the gene research gets a boost to cure this affliction. Turns out chickens can regenerate the cells in their ears, and my provide a cure,or at least some relief. .

My worst ones are pipe dropped on a concrete floor, popping air lines, and wood boards hitting together, all high pitches.

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After doing this all my life from 16 years old to now (46) I had my hearing tested recently, to my suprise my hearing loss was 2% in one ear and 0% in the other, Considering that when I was an apprentice we were told not to wear muffs around the hammer as it would not allow you to hear instructions. Working on steam locos (safety valves) riveting, air arc gouging etc, how my hearing is not worse I have no answer, Of course when the dragon asks me to do the dishes, my hearing is just woefull.

Phil

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I never understood people making fun of others taking needed precautions in the workplace. When I worked in a factory on the assembly line they would provide free earplugs to everyone but the guys on the line would make fun of you if you wore them---and most of the old timers had very bad hearing indeed. I noticed that I had a lot more energy left *after* work if I wore them and as I didn't pay any attention to being made fun of I wore them constantly!

In the winter time the earmuff type are nice to keep your ears warm---keep them in the house so they will be nice and warm to start!

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I always wear earmuffs while working!! I can't stand the noise!! I find it helps me concentrate too, but the downside is that I can never hear when someone comes into the workshop so I get surprised by people popping in and scaring the living daylights out of me!!!

I used to work in nightclubs doing decor and lighting work, and I always used to wear earplugs- people used to laugh at me, while they sat or danced next to a 100db speaker. When I first started doing that kind of work I worked one night without earplugs and had tinnitus the next day, I am sure it damaged my hearing permanently. I never ever forgot my earplugs after that, and made sure I carried a spare pair. Just not worth it.

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Good job, Colleen! One of the things I did when setting up my shop was to insulate the ceiling and then I covered it with drop ceiling accoustical tiles. Since it wasn't a drop ceiling I just used roofing nails, with the big heads and nailed them up with some adhesive under them. It has done wonders in reducing the noise, plus no echoeing. Even with a Nazel 1B and a hydraulic press the neighbors haven't heard me working and I asked them to be sure.

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Colleen there is another thread on this site on how to reduce noise. Soft surfaces as I recall won out. One such soft surface was to hang carpeting from the ceiling vertically at different levels and directions. It sort of eats the sound waves and stays up and out of the way. Canvas or cloth will work also, but to a lesser extent.

You want to absorb, break up, or stop any direct or reflected sound waves. If you have a sound source such as an anvil, modify the source so it does not produce the sound in the first place, or produces less.

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Colleen; my 20x30' shop extension is made from utility poles and the walls are hail damaged steel roofing from a friend's roof and the roof is overruns from the schools being re-roofed after the hailstorm that destroyed every roof in the local town. Only thing I paid for were the purlins, the recycled trusses and the screws---and a sheet of fiberglass to make skylights from. I'm closing off the open end with a roll up door that is recycled too.

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Thanks Glenn, I think it's also because I've just moved in recently there, and haven't yet had time to accumulate so much stuff that it stops that empty room echo!! I think once I put up shelving/racking along the longest wall, it will settle the noise. Hmmm, then I need to acquire more tools, more stuff to absorb the sound... (that's my excuse anyway!!) I already have "chained up" my anvil.

Thomas, your shop sounds great! Free stuff is the best!! I'm on the scrounge for some fibreglass too, to let some light in!!

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Well except for the winds (and security issues) I probably could do all right with just a roof and no walls---we are still under 4" of precipitation for the entire year out here.

After getting all the roofing *free*, a friend of mine knew the fellow in charge of cleaning the site up after the schools got re-roofed so I got all the leftovers, mis painted, etc in great shape---my shop is done in 4 different shades of blue---anyway I paid for the fiberglass as the old section of the shop has 2 skylights and with the big doors open I don't need any light most days and can even walk through the shop by moonlight when the moon is 1/2 full or better.

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  • 5 months later...

One option for the eco-friendly people for sound proofing is cardboard egg boxes....yes seriously. Fill them with something soft but dense - expanding foam maybe or cloth of some sort, then stick to the walls with the dimpled side facing inwards. The filling will absorb the sound and the dimpled shape will reflect it in multiple directions which increases the reduction in power....very similar to the radar reducing methods used on aircraft.

If you have the cash buy some of this stuff. http://www.acoustic-foam.co.uk/

Chris

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If you have the cash buy some of this stuff. http://www.acoustic-foam.co.uk/

Did you notice that they have bass traps? who'd have thought you could use that stuff for fishing? :D :D :lol: NOT CHEAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A mate of mine used to hang strips of carpeting that he got when hotels refurbished from his purlins in his workshop. He used to go to hotels that had been build 4to5 years before and ask about when they were going to refurbish. he would then diarise and go dumpster-diving during the refurb. He would lightly spraypaint it with grey acrylic roof paint as he reconed that regularly looking at paisley would make him sick!! It certainly quitened the place down !

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