Noise from an Anyang 88 or similar hammer

[Daniel.85]

My wife and I are looking at a new house, its in a rural area outside the city in a subdivision of 1 acre lots with an open 1 acre lot to one side that may or may not ever have something built on it. I plan on having a 20x30 shop built in the back, insulated and shingle roof, no windows, with the small and large door both facing my house.

 

Ive never seen an Anyang 88 in person(yet), so I'm not sure how loud it really is. With the closest house being about 100 yards away, inside an insulated building, doors can be closed, at least when I plan on using the hammer, since I'm using induction and maybe mount the hammer on a rubber stall mat to reduce vibration? Would it still be easy to hear?

 

I don't do a lot of heavy forging, I would be working out there during weekdays and I will have a hydraulic press to do some things.

 

I would also be very proactive about involving the neighbor and showing them what I'm doing.

 

 

 

Maybe I should have posted this in "Problem Solving" I couldn't decide which one....

[kubiack]

My shop is 20x30 and it became full pretty quickly. I really want to expand it but its going to be cost prohibitive to do so now. If it were me and I was going to live there long I would spend the 10 thousand an 88 is going to cost you and build a bigger shop.

 

I would also suggest at least one window or door on the opposite side of the overhead door. It sure is nice to get some cross ventilation going when it gets hot, or when welding, or spot heating with a torch.

 

As far as the noise goes I will let someone with more power hammer experience answer.

[eric sprado]

Any power hammer smacking steel is going to be heard 100 yards away!! Will cause neighbor problems at some point. Sorry-just the hard truth. Would a Fly press suit your needs?? They are quiet.

[HWooldridge]

I had a 20x20 shop behind my mother's house in an older residential neighborhood for many years and ran 25lb and 100lb mechanical hammers there.  Nobody ever complained and most thought all I was doing was running a welding or fab shop.  The best advice I can give is to inform the neighbors and be respectful of the time of day.  It's fine to work in the evenings but don't hammer for an hour straight starting at 10 pm.  Normal courtesy should prevail - do unto others as you would have them do unto you, etc.

[pike3e]

I have a 55lb striker hammer that is very similar to the anyang. I forge in my garage with the garage door open and have a friend who lives 500 yards through the wood and he can hear it from his house. I have neighbors that are close like yours will be but I am friendly and have invited them into the garage shop to see what I am doing and I have not had one compaint in the two years of having the hammer. Also another consideration, the self contained hammers always make  noise when they are on, not just when you are hammering. The ones that use a separate air compressor are completely quiet while idle, except for the noise of the compressor filling.  

[Javan C.R. Dempsey]

I've used an 88lb Striker (very similar to the Anyang)  many many hours.  Yeah, they're loud, and they shake the foundation pretty hard.  We used to have it in a shop 20-30 ft away from a brick house, and it would rattle all the windows in that house when hammering. Stall mat may help with the ground vibrations, but there'll still be a big smack running through the air each time it hits.

 

If you have close neighbors, you're gonna have to make friends or work out an arrangement.  Soundproofing your shop may help to some degree, along with a stall mat, it may be enough.  My neighbors like shooting automatic weapons, our agreement is, I don't complain about the gunfire that goes on all day long every Sunday, and they don't complain about the power hammer running at 2am.  ;)

 

 

That being said, an Ironkiss and a compressor that's in a separate sound insulated shack outside your shop, is much quieter for your neighbors and you, I run one often, that another forum member has, and the 75lb Ironkiss hits on par with the 88lb Striker/Anyang.  Honestly, I prefer the Ironkiss hands down of any hammers I've used, I'd sell my 75lb old-style Bull in a second to get one.

[Daniel.85]

Thanks for the input, I'm still leaning towards the 88lber. I'm not running a large production shop and I am always doing what I can to keep the neighbors happy, with their kids and dog I don't think me using the hammer intermittently during a few weekdays will be any issue.

 

James at anyang has always been an awesome help with any questions, Ive just been nervous about new neighbors.

 

I wear earplugs anytime I'm forging anyway, so the noise from the idling hammer isn't an issue for me and if the idling causes problems with neighbors then I would be just as screwed using a table saw. The house has a 3 car garage and the guy in there now has some pretty noisy woodworking tools, so my stuff will be farther away even.

[nonjic]

Ive found the 2 piece hammers (separate anvil) to be much quieter than a one piece machine. The noise is more of a thud than a 'crack' when they strike a blow (which is much less offensive) Lots of concrete under it.

 

You can fit an exhaust silencer to a C-41 hammer. Block off the port behind the flywheel with some sponge or somthing, make a steel side cover with a 2" hole in it, and weld a 90deg elbow, short stack, and a truck exhaust to it. This will remove 99% of the idling noise.

 

I think angle grinder noise etc will be as much of a problem as a well set up, heavy hammer.

[ironstein]

I have an anyang 88, i just relocated my shop because my neighbors complained about noise!  Now i am in a 5 unit building where the other four units are used for storage, and i have a three year lease with the noisemaking etc written into the lease.  I am in an industrial area so the law is on my side.  My anyang is not that noisy at idle, but you do hear it, and as for noise while hammering, my neighbors shared the same slab of concrete with my unit, so the vibration through the slab was what was bothering them.  My other neighbors at different locations throughout the industrial park claim they can barely hear it while im hammering.  I keep the doors closed when working with the hammer, if you are 100 yards away from your neighbors, have some soundproofing on the walls of the shop, and have the hammer isolated from the rest of the slab, ill bet you'd be ok. 

  By the way, James is great to deal with before and after the purchase, his customer support is unsurpassed.  As for the 88, i love it!  I just put new belts on and it is like a brand new hammer!  When i moved i re-installed the hammer with 4 inches of wood base, seems to quiet the "crack" that John mentioned.  Great hammer, great guy to deal with.  

[ironstein]

An angle grinder can be heard just as easily as the hammer, like John said.

[Daniel.85]

Thanks Ironstein, I know Ive talked to you about your hammer before. When you added the wood base did you modify the foot pedal at all?

[ironstein]

Yep,

  i used part of the old one and fabricated a beefier treadle.  It definitely made her come alive!  Well that and the new belts!  Just fair warning, if you get one, you're gonna be strung out, i find myself dreaming of big steam hammers and upsetters, and huge presses and....well you get the idea!  The late great Grant Sarver used to talk about guys buying $50,000 work trucks but balk at spending $10,000 on a hammer that will make you money.  Since i set up shop near my home town of Park City, Utah i have been getting quite a bit of work from other metal shops and machine shops simply because they heard through the grapevine that i have a powerhammer.  I'll get forging jobs that would take me two days over the anvil, and with the powerhammer i can bust it out in a few hours!  Money well spent.

[ironstein]

Daniel,

  Here are some pictures of my treadle.  I used solid round stock where the treadle goes into the rocker fittings, welded some 1/4" flat bar on the treadle face so there is more surface area, and my foot doesn't slip off.  I widened everything so it will clear the wood base.  

[ironstein]

well, that didn't work! Maybe this will.

[ironstein]

I'm over it, Daniel, i'll just send you some pictures.  Amazing that the attachments on this site have been a pain in the rear for at least five years, some sites make it so easy, and some make it not worth the time to post pics.