Fundamentally you would have to let air out of any soundproof box, so venting and heat management would be part of the design. You obviously can’t put a sealed box around the whole thing, you have to let the filtered air out.
Some people have made sound diffusing systems for the Glowforge, they tend to be for the unit and not the filter. Let’s see.
Here’s a muffler idea from @jbmanning5 :
I’ve never been too heavily concerned with the noise of the Glowforge, inside or outside. It’s about like a vacuum inside and I’m on 6 acres, so exterior noise isn’t much of an issue. However, an upcoming adventure may necessitate my paying attention to how much noise I’m making.
I picked up a 4” muffler/duct silencer to see what would happen.
VIVOSUN 4 Inch Noise Reducer Silencer for Inline Duct Fan https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CTM0H1S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_GfGBBbX611CQJ
It’s not without some p…
And I like insulated duct:
Yes and no.
The noise benefit is because you also go into the UI and tell it you have a filter (you don’t). That tells the Glowforge that you don’t need to run the internal exhaust fan, which is where most of your noise comes from. Your external fan pulls the air out and they tend to be much quieter.
So yes, the noise will probably be majorly reduced if you turn that setting on and use your external fan to pull out the fumes, but if you forget to turn that fan off, it’s still noisy like a h…
Then there was this table from @takitus :
I wanted to continue to cut down on the noise output from the glowforge. The major issue I had was the vent holes on the bottom of the unit reflect sound right off of the table top and out the air gap between the unit and the table.
I initially tried putting up some semi sound reflective walls to see if it would help. It did help a little, but was more trouble than it was worth, and I didnt want to restrict air flow. The next step was to make an inset an-echoic like chamber for the glowforge to…
And this beast of a project by @callumcculloch :
I wanted to build a full enclosure box to run the Glowforge as quietly as possible.
Features include:
-20 dB noise reduction compared to Glowforge as shipped, 90 dB -> 70 dB
-48" Passthrough infeed and outfeed table
-ability to remove ends of enclosure box for cuts >48"
-ability to see print without opening box
-storage for Glowforge shipping box under enclosure box
-air inlet comprised of baffle box project (see earlier post)
-air outlet comprised of insulated drier vent in isolated com…
Lots of ideas here.
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