Garage noise

Does anyone on the forum have trouble disturbing neighbors with riveting noise out of their garage? I don't want to get started and have an uprising on my hands.

Any strategies other than simple insulation would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Larry Sampson

Nope. I did some testing when I first started. My compressor cannot be heard outside of my garage when the doors are down. My neighbor across the street could barely hear me riveting with the doors open. If Im making a lot of noise after 9:00pm or so I will close the doors just in case. With the doors closed it is all but silent on the sidewalk.

Invite them over for a Bar b Q ( invite us too) and have a building party.

I'm not sure there is much you can do about this other than try to keep your garage door down as much as possible. In the summer this can be a challenge. You can also squeeze as many rivets as possible which is a quiet operation. I tend to do this anyway for most thinks since the results tend to be better overall for my riveting skill level. However, there are areas such as the wing skins were the rivet gun has to be used and there are a lot of rivets to set. Your air compressor noise is also a problem. I have two difference compressors. One is a "quiet" oil less Husky one from Home Depot which seems pretty loud and a craftsman pro one that seems quieter. In general the oil less types are louder than the oil type in my experience.

The direct approach works best, IMO.

I had "The conversation" with my neighbors when I began the project. I told them up front what I was doing and that I'd do everything possible to make sure it wasn't a problem (noise, smell, mess, whatever) for them. BUT, if something I was doing bothered them, come directly to me and I'd take care of it.

This was in a neighborhood with 20' between houses.

My major concern was noise, so I always closed the garage door when riveting or using the C-frame tool.

I never had a single complaint, either from my neighbors to the side or the ones across the street.

I don't start riveting until after 10am on the weekends ... All my neighbors are pretty cool, especially when I can fix something easily with my "special tools" at their place. Amazing what a well placed rivet can do!

Quiet Tools

Kyle Boatright said:

My major concern was noise, so I always closed the garage door when riveting or using the C-frame tool.

Click to expand...

You have a few choices of tools that will greatly reduce the amount of noise during your build.

1. Use an electric drill, not an air drill. Air drills require a compressor and consume a large volume of air. Compressors are notoriously very loud.

2. The DRDT-2 is a silent dimpling tool. The standard impact C-frame tool is very loud when used.

3. Squeezing a rivet is a silent operation. So when you have a choice on how to set a rivet, choose squeezing.

So if you are preparing your parts using "quiet" tools, you will not have any issues disturbing your neighbors any time of day or night. Shoot rivets with your garage door shut at night and open during the day. Riveting is no more annoying than someone mowing their lawn down the street.

I'd suggest that this thread is of interest to more folks than just those of us here in the Midwest. Maybe a moderator could move it to either RV General Discussion/News or RV Building Tips/Techniques ?

Never had any complaints about riveting noise. But, when I was cutting my canopy with a die grinder one night, that dentist's drill sound had one neighbor understandably peaved. Lesson learned. All my neighbors seemed interested in the project and one of them helped buck rivets for the fuselage. John

Riveting is the smallest amount of time.

Seems to me that only about 2 percent of the time is riveting, most of your time will be studying the plans, instructions, drilling holes, deburring holes and edges .... After months of preparation on the wings, my son and riveted the wing skins in a couple of hours. Just lay-off the riveting after midnight.

Only comment I heard from a neighbor was that it sounded like I was torturing a cat. Replaced the old used Taylor air drill with a nice Sioux and problem solved.

I think putting on a painters suit/respirator and spraying in the driveway may have bothered my neighbors more when I was in LA than riveting noise.