Beginning and The End (Alabama LR3)

I guess it is better late than never to make a quick build log regarding my LR3. My V1E journey began with an MPCNC. Build Here. I used it for a month or so, then decided to switch to a LR3 mainly for its form factor.
I first built my LR3 on a standard 4x8 sheet of plywood, with the intention of it doubling as a workbench when the lowrider wasn’t being used.


It worked very well and I made several projects on it, however I quickly discovered I had no need for such a large machine, and it took up way to much space. Another big issue I had was
noise. I generally am cutting hardwoods like white oak, walnut, maple, etc. and while the lowrider was bearable when cutting things like mdf, it was much too loud when working with
hardwoods. I live in a small apartment with an attached garage, and while I have been much louder with other woodworking tools and have not gotten any complaints, I wanted to be
able to use my LR3 without having to worry every time about the constant sound.

This led me to the next phase of my LR3: An enclosure. I have only seen a couple of LR3s enclosure builds on this forum so far. Most of my research/inspiration came from looking diy enclosures from other cnc machines (shapeoko, onefinity, etc.). The absolute number 1 goal of the enclosure was too keep the noise down. Dust management was a nice bonus, but sound deadening/isolation was key.




The enclosure mainly consists of particle board, 2x2/2x4s, and 1/4 plywood. It is essentially your standard framing, with particle board on the inside and the plywood on the outside. I probably could have stuffed some rockwool/insulation material in between the studs in the walls, however I wasn’t sure what the best material would be and how effective it is in regards to cutting down sound. I wanted to make sure I had plenty of room to access my work area, so the entire front face and top half hinge in the middle, so that I can reach all the way to the back pretty easy. Right now my LR3 is just sitting on two more pieces of plywood, as right as I started building my enclosure I discovered that the LR4 was on its way, and I somewhat lost motivation to perfect my LR3 since I know I will be building a LR4 the second it comes out.

In terms of sound isolation, this enclosure does great. I have only done several test cuts with it, however, when fully closed, my 20x20 box fan on speed 3 is louder than the cutting. When I step on the other side of the garage wall, it sounds about like the A/C running in a house. Overall I am very pleased in that regard. On a side note, the dewalt vacuum pictured is the “stealthsonic” vacuum, and it is 100x quieter than any other shop vac I have used, highly recommend.

There are two big things left, and I wanted to get some more opinions regarding them. Firstly, is there some type of foam/rubber insulating material that I could rest the plywood the LR3 is on on top of such that the vibration/resonance wouldn’t carry through into the rest of the enclosure? this was very much apparent on my 4x8ft build, and I think heavily contributed to the overall noise. Secondly, I haven’t decided on a good way to route power/vacuum hose into the enclosure without just cutting out a hole and letting all the sound out, so any recommendations are welcome!

I want to thank Ryan and all of V1E for such an amazing machine, and I can’t wait to put a LR4 in this thing!

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Those audio isolation issues are difficult.

I have seen people make a longer path for the air to take when sound proofing something. By not having a single hole and instead making a little maze, the sound should be reduced.

But isolating the base is going to be tough too. You need something strong enough to hold up a lot of weight. I am sure there is some clever rule of thumb, like making a concrete base that is twice as heavy and using rubber mats or something. But I don’t know what that is. Any kind of foam is probably going to get smashed. Maybe the HD purple foam would work. But even that might get smashed.

Thank you for sharing your build!
I’ll follow your enclosure with interest.

Thanks for the tip on a quiet vacuum.

You’ll love the upgrade, but the LR3 is an awesome machine.