Where do you turn - house, shop, ???

[Ken Frohnert]

I have a small shop 12x20 with a older lathe that I mess around with from time to time. With winter coming here in PA the free standing workshop gets a bit chilly.
I am thinking about finding a mini-lathe - like the basic Rockler and setting it up inside the house in our finished basement. The carpet is old and I am getting ready to put down some
ceramic tile so I thought working on learning turning over the winter in the warm house might be nice vs working in the cold shop. I thought if I did small projects pens, ornaments bottle stoppers
it may not get to out of hand. What do you think?

Where do you guys turn?
Do any of you turn in the house?
What can I do to make it work or should I just tuff it out the the shop?

[Russell Neyman]

In almost every case I know, woodturners work in a shop, garage, or basement. It's just too messy to try indoors.

If I can be so bold as to expand your question-- what the community like where you turn? Always wondered how many turners lived in metropolitan areas versus rural. My hunch is this isn't a craft done in big cities, but I could be surprised.

[Ken Frohnert]

Russ,

I am a country mouse in Central PA.

[Brad Barnhart]

Good afternoon, Mr. Ken! I started out in an 8' x 10' room in our basement 15 years ago. I was driving truck OTR at that time, & was gone ALOT, so there was no need for an abundance of space. Time went on, tools were bought, I was forced to retire from trucking due to health conditions, & finally got to the point I could no longer handle the stairs to the shop. So, we made the executive decision to start looking for a small, but affordable shop. Our neighbors had a retired beauty shop that'd been sitting empty for some years, & they offered it to us. My work space is about 260 sq Ft. I've got two lathes, 3 scroll saws, a table saw, band saw, sanders, router table, RAS, jointer & planer, drill press, & numerous hand, electric, & air tools all organized in this space. And wood storage in the back room, with the compressor. And a 4' x 4' project table in the middle of it all. The building is central heated, & has a window a/c. We've been there two years this month. I don't have much for dust control except a dust mask, & windows. My big tools, including one of my lathes, are on casters. I spend 10 - 12 hours a day in my shop, sometimes just to enjoy the peace & quiet. When I had my shop in our basement, I didn't have much for dust control, either. An open window, & a dust mask. If you're considering moving to your basement, three major things I would take into consideration for the room you plan to call your room. Ventilation, lighting, & access to electricity. One more critical consideration Would be the ability to keep dust from the rest of the house. My apologies for the ramble. Just my .02. Enjoy the day, Sir!

[Don Bunce]

I don't see any reason you couldn't use a mini lathe inside. A dust collection system would be a good idea.

Maybe something like this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4oKfxD-Dzk

[Paul Williams]

My band saw is in the garage and my lathe is in a room in the finished basement. You won't see piles of chips around my lathe although I am not a neatness freak. I do have to sweep up every time I stop turning and on a large project several times while turning. Before leaving the area I also run a shop vac over the horizontal surfaces including the floor. I have a home made dust collector for the fine dust. I run it while turning and leave it on for a while after I quit. My lathe is a Delta Midi so nothing over 12 inches. I have thought about building a shop in one of the garages. It would have to be heated and probably air conditioned.

[Dale Bonertz]

I don't know what you have for available electricity or what the overall construction is on your shop. I use one of these in my 10' x 30' shop and it is pretty cheap. ProFusion Heat Industrial Fan-Forced Heater — 5,600 Watts, 19,000 BTU, 240 Volt, Model# PH936 (http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200395481_200395481). Now my shop is insulated but I think if you turned this on when working in your shop it would keep you comfortable. Mine has done a great job for 3 years. May be better to keep peace in the house than turning in the finished basement.

[Thom Sturgill]

When I started turning I lived in a rental and my daughter lived across the street with her in-laws. They let me use half of the garage for woodworking and my mini was set up there. The house I rented did not have a garage, but a carport. However a covered patio had been enclosed and had separate A/C via a window unit. When I bought my jet 1642 it was set up there.

Five years ago we bought a house that had an 800sf shop building with a 12' high roof. My wife describes the place as a shop with detached house.

[Barry McFadden]

I have an unfinished basement so I finished 1/3 of it for my "shop". It has paneling and a cushion floor and plenty of electrical outlets and light fixtures. I have my lathe,
12" Radial arm saw, 16" scroll saw, 12" band saw , 13" planer , bench top drill press and various power tools in it as well. I use a shop vac for dust control. When I'm sanding on the lathe I close the door to the rest of the basement and I really don't have a problem with dust in the rest of the house.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Ken, my shop is located in my basement and to top that off - it is carpeted! Where I live (south shore of Lake Superior, upper peninsula of Michigan) we have long winters and that is putting it mildly. My basement shop allows me to turn no matter what the weather and I don't have to pay a separate electric bill or snowplow just to get to my shop! People freak when they find out the shop is carpeted. Well, the advantage is that I can stand a lot longer on a carpeted surface than I can on concrete - plus I do not worry about the weather! I have a couple of vacuums that I use to keep the shop clean and prefer having my shop remain easy access rather than snowshoeing to the other side of the yard... and for what? Do what is convenient for you!!

[daryl moses]

My shop is just 20 steps from my back door. It's too small [ 20X20] but I plan on adding on this Spring. Built it myself out of lumber that I harvested on my own land. It's not heated per say but I do use a portable propane heater from time to time. I do most of my woodworking during the warmer months. Dust collection is no problem, I just blow everything out into the "holler" behind the shop.

[Mark Greenbaum]

If you're already turning out in an out building that has power, get a mini-split heating & cooling unit installed for the cost of a good mini lathe. Warm in the winter, and cool in the summer. I would have followed that route for my engraving shop, but my new house has a dedicated hobby room with heat and air. Sadly my wood turning and saws are in the garage unheated, but should be tolerable, I hope.

[Marvin Hasenak]

At home my shop is in my garage, at our place in Ruidoso, New Mexico the other shop is a 8x16 portable shed. If the weather is nice in Ruidoso, I move to the deck, which is 12x12. I also do metal lathe work, so if I want, I can take the Taig inside and work at the kitchen table, no messy sanding dust just awful sharp pieces of brass or aluminum. You definitely learn to clean up VERY good after an inside session.

[Jon Nuckles]

I rent space in an "artists building" for my shop now, but when I first started woodworking I used the carpeted finished basement of my home. Not ideal, but it worked ok at the time.

[Len Mullin]

I have two workshops set up, one is in the basement of our house and the other is a separate building. It is 16'x24' with ten foot ceiling, the one in the house is in a room that is unfinished. There is no door on the entrance of the room, but there is a doorway. Still, there isn't much clean-up required outside the room due to my woodworking. I do have a dust collector in the room, and it stays on when any work is being done.
Len

[david privett]

I have a 40 x 60 barn and I have sectioned off a 20 x 40 wood shop with 10 ft. ceilings just last month put in a 2 ton mini split . Told the wife I needed it so I would not have to use a kerosene torpedo heater and dust in the finishes, hea it worked no complaining from her.

[terry mccammon]

I am in a basement shop, half of the total basement area at 24x12. There is no door between the shop and the rest of the area, so I hung one of those plastic strip door's that you see in factories as a result there is no dust in the rest of the house. I live in a very urban suburb and most folks with anything long the lines of a shop are either using part of a garage or their basement. I decided that I did not want to insulate and heat a garage since I had a basement that was heated at no extra expense. The biggest challenge is tracking shavings on my shoes and pant cuffs to the rest of the house.

[Justin Stephen]

In almost every case I know, woodturners work in a shop, garage, or basement. It's just too messy to try indoors.

If I can be so bold as to expand your question-- what the community like where you turn? Always wondered how many turners lived in metropolitan areas versus rural. My hunch is this isn't a craft done in big cities, but I could be surprised.

Add me to your list of exceptions on both counts.

I turn in a first floor bedroom in a rowhouse in downtown DC. And I do mean downtown. I am about 9 blocks from the White House and 3 blocks from Dupont Circle. Like many rowhouses in DC, the first floor is somewhat separated to allow for it being rented out as an apartment if the homeowners choose to. I instead took it over as my mancave when I married the owner and moved in from the suburbs. In the subs I turned on one side of a huge garage. My workshop is only about 11 1/2' x 16' or so so all of my tools except my mustard monster are on casters and I move them to the center of the room and connect then to an overhead power reel to use them and then push them back to the wall when done. The floors are an old parquet hardwood that needed to be replaced anyway. I also added lots of shop lighting and a 220 line and extra dedicated 110V/20A on its own circuit for the dust collector and compressor (which are both in a closet with the doors removed). I never run the lathe without the dust collector hood near the headstock running and I obviously run my DC for all my other tools diligently and I also sweep up shavings a lot more often than I used to, but it works.

I do not turn green wood (or large green wood anyway) here since I have no way to harvest/trim in my almost non-existent "back yard" without annoying the neighbors but most of the work that I do starts from kiln-dried anyway so no big deal. This is temporary, fortunately. We'll be moving out to the suburbs sometime next year. However, now that I have had some time in a climate controlled shop, I am never going back to an unheated/ACed garage again.

[Reed Gray]

I have a detached 24 by 36 pole barn with insulated sides and roof. I could use at least 4 times that area. All of my flat work tools, except the table saw are on wheels. Since winter here is wet and mild, a plug in radiator type heater keeps it comfortable.

robo hippy

[Jeff Walters]

I have a small 10 x 20 shop in my basement. Totally enclosed and with both dust collection and filtration so I don't have dust all over the house.
Jeff

[Ken Frohnert]

I appreciate all the responses - I have a room with a door on it. If I can find a decent mini-lathe I may set it up with a shop vac and try it. If it works out okay great. If not I got mini lathe to us outside in the summer time.

[Clay Fails]

Ken, is there a simple way to make your shop comfortable enough for winter work? When I first started my shop was in my garage and I had a gas fired unit heater installed. It worked fine. I am also in PA, and appreciate what you are up against.

[John K Jordan]

However, now that I have had some time in a climate controlled shop, I am never going back to an unheated/ACed garage again.

I strongly agree. My first shop two shops were small unconditioned buildings; used a kerosene heater in the winter. Then it was years in an unheated garage - again the kerosene heater plus a propane heater, fans in the summer. Any winter work in these required advanced planning. Forget spontaneity; forget grabbing a few relaxing minutes.

I finally built a shop I can use year around, any time, on a whim. SO, SO much better!! This one is 24'x62', 2x6 insulated walls, heat and air conditioning and WiFi. Also good DC plumbed, for compressed air. (woodturning, metal working, welding, maintenance, storage, office, etc.). Retired, shop of my dreams, life is good.

If I had to go back to an unconditioned shop I would probably take up TV watching or needlepoint or something instead.

JKJ

[Geoff Whaling]

Ken,

I don't have the problems you guys have heating shops. I live in the dry tropics of Far North Queensland, so we the opposite problem - cooling in summer.

All turners should seriously consider the impact environmental conditions may have upon their safety. Hot conditions here can quickly escalate from a turner suffering from dehydration, through to heat stress or heat stroke. For you guys very cold workshops can contribute to impaired judgement, hypothermia etc.

Oh & I'm a bushy living in a major regional city, and do not have a dedicated work space - more like a shared work space, which means I have to clean up after each session.

[William C Rogers]

I turn in my shop, 30' X 50' pole barn. I just built the house and shop. The biggest step I have for the house is 4", as my last house was a tri-level. This is the first shop that I have had that was decently heated, in floor radiant and a bathroom. I am in a rural area, so I can exhaust the DC outside. before my last shop I really didn't have much more than hand tools and a radial arm saw and was in a shed, usually running an extension cord for electric, no heat.

Also +1 on what John said. My feelings exactly.

[Jeffrey J Smith]

All this talk of shops is causing me to go into nervous twitching. I'd give my eye teeth to have a 8x10 shop to do anything in. We sold our home about 4 months ago and bought a new place on a lovely island way up in the upper left-hand corner of the Northwest. Very rural and bucolic. The house is perfect - or can easily be made so with a little more storage, but it has no shop or even a garage. I knew that going in, and a two-car garage was sited with the original plans for the home, but never built. I get to design it however I want. A good share of the equity in our old home is dedicated to building the shop. So every stationery tool I own is in storage until I get a little floor space of my own. It has been there for nearly 8 months now...and it looks like it will be there for at least another 3 or 4 months more.

Building on an island is not for the faint of heart. Started with the geo-engineer required to figure out slope stability and what needs to be done for a foundation to survive the apocalypse - and, of course the state has just mandated a peer-review process for the geo-engineering...then the architect can finally finish the plans so the contractor can get the permits. All this so the contractor can throw up the shell that I will be finishing myself. Four months seems optimistic.

I'm tempted to get a mini-lathe and set it up in the crawlspace and call it a day.