Quieting a steel table...

[67Charger440]

I have a workbench made from a 8'x2' piece of 3/8"steel plate with a 3" tall 90° bend at the back. This thing will deafen you if you smack it with a hammer. Taking a note from the car guys using hush-mat and the like, if I bolt a 20 lb. lead bar or two to the bottom, will the added mass/soft metal/dissimilar natural frequency serve to cut the noise? It is a great work table/welding table/anvil/vice mount, but the noise has to be dealt with. Before I moved shops, I had the deck mounted on a wooden table that had carpet between the wood and steel deck. It was reasonable, but direct hits were still stout. Now, it is free-standing on its own 3x3x0.25 steel tube legs. Any suggestions welcome!

 

[Musicinabottle]

I'd use wood. If you attached wood to the bottom, something soft like white wood or something expensive like cedar. That's do it I bet!

 

[bullnerd]

Replace the top with a 1" slab.

 

[Musicinabottle]

And ear plugs!

 

[yhprum]

You could try dynamatt or the home depot version. It would dampen the ringing.

 

[bushmechanic]

All you've got to do is add mass to the sheet. Doesn't matter how you do it; just make sure it's attached tightly enough that it attenuates the resonant frequency as you like.

You can even hang weights, or use threaded rod to create adjustable units.

Either way, just get something under there that won't melt if you try to weld on the table, grind, or anything of the like. Wood isn't a good option, as it would take quite a bit of it to accomplish the same effect.

It's best to go small and dense. You're original idea is acceptable. The only addition I would suggest is making damned sure it's a tight, flush fit with the work surface. If you can use an adhesive to promote that fit and won't interfere with any of your projects, use that as well as the mechanical fasteners.

1: Add mass. Doesn't matter how.

2: Done.

 

[rayra]

coat the exposed underside with roll-on bedliner. After degreasing it.

 

[rsanter]

You could try dynamatt or the home depot version. It would dampen the ringing.

This is what I was going to say

Bob

 

[bushmechanic]

This is what I was going to say

Bob

I'd have said it too, but he mentioned welding. Not a good application for that stuff.

 

[mike93lx]

I'd have said it too, but he mentioned welding. Not a good application for that stuff.

unless he is welding a lot of stuff TO the table, it will be completely fine on the underside

 

[ilovevocs]

Turn up your radio. If that doesn't fix it ....


Your shop needs a better radio bud.

 

[mike93lx]

Can you access the insides of the legs? Maybe filling them with sand or concrete would help

 

[bushmechanic]

Can you access the insides of the legs? Maybe filling them with sand or concrete would help

That's what I did with my television stand. Picked it up when Circuit City went out of business; it's the one they used to display all their big televisions without having to mount them on a wall.

I wanted to put a speaker on the removable shelf, but it was resonating notably. So, I dampened the bottom of the shelf, but at reference level the entire thing was ringing.

So... I filled the tubes with sand. It's not ideal, but I really like the look of that stand in here, and the sand did indeed make a pretty big difference. I'm the only one that notices the occasional ring, and it doesn't bother me enough anymore to do anything about it.

 

[67Charger440]

OK. HD version of the dynamat will be the first and easiest. After that I'll go for the bolt on weight. I don't need it silent, I just need to NOT be afraid to drop anything on it for fear of 3 hours of ear ringing...

 

[Airforce]

Morning,

what i used for my workbench was a big piece of Alubutyl. I don´t really know the english word for it but it is used to deaden sound in cars when doing a proper stereosystem. Might aswell get the cheaper version which would be a piece of bitumen-mat.
Just stick it underneath and behold the silence.

Cheers Airforce

 

[Fixin'Stuff]

Before going nuts with Dynamat, try just applying one piece of it at the rear-center of the table. You may find that is enough to dampen the ringing and it keeps it away from the front edge, where you are most likely to be grinding, welding, etc. More is better, but just a little can do a pretty decent job.

 

[Firebrick43]

Buy an anvil and learn hammer control so your not hitting your table

 

[73RR]

As mentioned, why not just buy another plate?

I do not know how much time and money you can spend on some of the suggestions but a 1" plate should only cost about $20/sf.