Sound Proofing

[Clodfobble]

So Perry, do you have photos of some blacksmithing projects you've done? I'd be interested to see.

[glatt]

I was just researching the noise ordinances around here, because there's a pile driver across the street from my office building and it's really really loud. Not sure what the rules are like where you are, but they are so detailed here, they are almost unenforceable. You have to have a certified person using certified equipment, standing at a legally defined location measuring the sound levels in a very specific way. And a lot of activities are exempt from noise regulations. For example, pile drivers.

What I'm trying to say is that you may piss off the neighbors, but getting into legal trouble is probably a lot harder than you might imagine.

[Perry Winkle]

Originally Posted by glatt

What I'm trying to say is that you may piss off the neighbors, but getting into legal trouble is probably a lot harder than you might imagine.

Yeah, this is Montana. The city code is really easy to read.

Apparently they don't even have to measure the noise: "It shall be unlawful for any person to make or cause to be made any excessive or unusually loud noise or any noise measured or unmeasured which either annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace or safety of any person within the limits of the city."

Very broad.

[Perry Winkle]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

So Perry, do you have photos of some blacksmithing projects you've done? I'd be interested to see.

I haven't done any yet. This is a brand new hobby. I'll be posting plenty of pictures as I go. I plan to blog the learning experience, too.

I'm going to buy the minimal set of tools and then learn by building out my toolset by hand. The first pictures I post will be of chisels and tongs and other such stuff. It'll probably be a few months before I start posting blades or ornamental stuff.

[glatt]

This is a really cool hobby. I'd be interested to see pictures too, once you get going.

[Flint]

Air-tight is sound-tight. If air can escape, sound can escape. So, every sound-proofing solution will include tubes and tubes of caulk applied to every seam.

Sheetrock walls on 2x4 frames are perfect sound-transmitting membranes. Sound frequencies applied to one side will be vibrated off the other side much in the same way as a speaker cone.

The construction of a sound-proof wall that I think would work best is to frame the wall on a 2x12, with supporting studs staggered from one side to the other, so no direct sound bridge passes from one membrane to the other.

The other way to prevent sound from being transmitted by the wall itself is to lower the resonant frequency of the wall to below the audible human hearing range. You can purchase expensive sheets of lead-impregnated vinyl for this purpose.

[gvidas]

Originally Posted by Perry Winkle

Yeah, this is Montana. The city code is really easy to read.

Apparently they don't even have to measure the noise: "It shall be unlawful for any person to make or cause to be made any excessive or unusually loud noise or any noise measured or unmeasured which either annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace or safety of any person within the limits of the city."

Originally Posted by Perry Winkle

I'm going to buy the minimal set of tools and then learn by building out my toolset by hand.

Speaking from the recent experience of building a very specialized studio, I would recommend continuing to do all the research you can about soundproofing, but not worry about it until everything else is already set up, or you know for a fact that you have at least one neighbor who is motivated enough to complain and is not deaf, indifferent, or inclined to think that the sound of an anvil hammering is 'quaint.'

It might be simpler to just bake a few apple pies and pay the occasional fine. Or hang some heavy blankets over all your interior walls.