The baffle parts

The shopping list is short for this one:

• One 2 meter long section of 110mm sewer pipe (6′ 6³/₄″ of 4²¹/₆₄” pipe if you are vigilant on the conversion. Let’s say about 6′ of 4” pipe. And a metric tape measure..)
• Egg carton foam panels, 30 cm wide. The number of panels needed is decided by their length. In my case, the panels are 40x60cm, so two panels per baffle.
• Adapter from 110 to 63mm (2,5”) hose (optional, you can be creative on that one)
• A length of 63mm hose (2,5”). You need two pieces, and the length will be determined by the setup; how long from the CamVac to the baffle.
• Hose clamps
• Assorted OSB and miscellaneous gash for some fancy wrapping paper

For my Scandinavian readers with access to Biltema: The part numbers for the foam panels are 31-605 (one pack needed) and the pipe is 88-051 (2m) or 88-050 (1 meter, you need two of those). At the time I wrote this article, the cost of the parts is about NOK 400,-.

You also need some way to mount the pipes, which can be done in all sorts of ways. I chose to make a simple box which I can screw on the wall above the CamVac. My plan all along was to put up a dust collector duct system and have the DC unit in one corner, as far away from the workbench as possible. The noise baffle will be placed above the DC, which I will place on the floor. To empty the drum, I need to disconnect all the hoses in order to lift the lid and motor assembly off of the dust bin. I was going to order the wall mounted unit originally, but decided that a smaller unit was more suitable for my needs. I also plan to make a simple chip separator for the planer/thicknesser, as that machine produces chips like nobody’s business!. My 55 liter CamVac drum fills up fast if I run the planer/thicknesser, but it has ample capacity for the other tools.

Making the baffle

I cut the sewer pipe into two lengths of one meter (about 3’3”). This is best done with a hand saw! I originally tried to cut off the bell end on the band saw. Big mistake! It spun the pipe out of my hands, and it took about two seconds before the pipe stopped spinning on the floor! I de-clenched my buttocks, checked for skid marks, picked up the pipe and mounted it in the vise on my work bench. Felt like a whhhipp’d dog, really (have you heard the Dream Whip commercials for radio from back in the days?).

After cutting the pipe in a controlled manner, I cut down the foam panels to 30cm width. Steel rulers and a sharp knife (my Pfeil marking knife, to be honest with ya) made this job easy.

I then stuffed the panels inside the pipe. The big steel ruler was a great aid – by thrusting it down between the panel and the pipe wall, moving around the perimeter, I got the panels stuffed neatly into the pipe.

I worked from both ends, and trimmed off the excess foam. I used some spray adhesive to secure the panels to each end, but this is really not necessary – they do stay put without glue. But you know – overbuild because of reasons…

I then cut holes for the pipes with a hole saw. I did not have the correct dimension, so I needed some jig saw action as well.

I screwed some offcuts on each side of the holes so that I could fasten a panel to the front and back. Here I’ve poked three screws through the OSB panel and pressed the wood into them. I predrilled the holes to avoid splitting the wood pieces.

And I’ll say this: having multiple cordless drills is extremely handy! One for predrilling, one for screwing screws. I used screws long enough to poke through the plastic pipes so that they’ll stay put.

With the panels mounted, the noise baffle is ready for action. This is the exhaust side, where I plan to mount a shutoff valve of sorts – when I am running just one motor, air is drawn through the other motor in reverse. This does reduce the performance a little bit. I have absolutely no idea if it is bad for the motors to be rund in reverse like that (highly doubt that), but the drop in pressure (suction) is enough to warrant this. An easy job anyway, should I find it necessary.

With the baffle unit semi-completed, it was time for a test. Next page please!