i have the x carve. i have an idea for an enclosure, and want others opinions if this is a huge hazard or not.
i figure that the biggest risks of running a cnc are noise and potential fires.if i create an enclosure around the entire cnc and then pull a vacuum in that enclosure, will it reduce fire risk and noise?
what am i missing? am i stupid?
There are problems with this.
The first, is that most spindles and routers require air cooling. They will over heat in a vacuum.
The second is that the enclosure would be fairly big. Let’s say it’s 4 foot by 4 foot by 1 foot for the sake of easy math. That works out to 48 square feet, or nearly 7,000 square inches. The pressure at sea level is just under 15 pounds per square inch so your enclosure has 50 tons of air pressure trying to squash it flat.
You would do better to simply to go for a rigid foam enclosure.
I have a Fox Alien 4040ex that I have enclosed and have dust control piped in.I use a Makita trim router and have never had a heating problem. I have been using this set up for 2 years and some carves were8 hours long. I used 3/4” OSB on for the sides and bottom and 1/2” poly form for the top and front. I used a spring attached to the top to run my router cord and dust control through. Then the cord out the bottom with the CNC cords. The dust control is out the side. I then lined the sides with foam to help control the noise. Sound was projected at 130 decibels before and 40 decibels after. .
Vacuum is extremely hazardous – the atmospheric pressure (over 14 PSI) will violently crush a typical DIY enclosure (plywood/acrylic), causing a dangerous implosion with flying debris. It won’t reliably prevent fires either, as maintaining a perfect vacuum is near-impossible (any leak reintroduces oxygen), and the vacuum pump itself poses a spark/overheating risk near flammable dust. For noise, standard soundproofing (mass-loaded vinyl, acoustic foam inside a rigid, sealed box) is far safer and effective. For fire, prioritize dust collection at the source, non-flammable materials, and a dedicated CNC fire suppression system – not a vacuum. Your safety concern is valid, but this method creates bigger risks.
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