Any Neanders use a spare bedroom for a shop?

[John Padgett]

Hello. I finally got moved last week. Sold our house and rented a mobile home until we find another house. I miss my shop terribly. Does anyone use a spare bedroom or the back porch or whatever for their shop? Please give me some suggestions and hopefully some pics before I go crazy and take my wife with me!

I thank you and she will thank you.

John.

[Jim Becker]

"Anywhere", more or less can be a shop. You have an advantage with Neander techniques in that you can often work with minimal dust and do those few operations that require making dust in an alternate location if necessary. There is at least one fellow who has posted in the turning forum in the past who uses a small closet for his "shop", so it's not out of the question that you could use a small bedroom in your temporary space for the same. Adjust your project list, too, and make things that fit the scale of your operational space.

[Doug Shepard]

I cant find the thread but it seems like there was someone a year or more ago that posted about a bedroom "shop". I'm pretty sure it was from someone outside the US (maybe Japan or Israel ??).

[Mike Cutler]

Doug/Jim

It seems that I also recall someone using a closet/bedroom in a NY City apartment for lathe turning and a basic shop.

John
I see no reason at all that a spare room can't be a shop. If you plan to do any finishing in there though, you'd have to think the process through from a ventilation aspect.

I say go for it. I'm thinking about setting up a portion of my basement for a 'neander workshop this winter myself.

[Joe Cunningham]

When I first started my 'shop' was my back porch with a workmate.

[Pedro Reyes]

Hi,

I use a spare bedroom, altho my lathe (only power tool as of yet) is not there. Also this room can't sleep anyone, it is mostly taken by a desk with my computer and the workbench, a plane till and some shelves, wood is upright against a wall. Not a pretty set up but you do what you can.

Like someone said, anything can do when you are a neander. Before I bought this house I lived in an apartment, my workbench was in the entry way, I only bought surfaced wood and only when I needed it.

Best of luck,

/p

[Kevin Pelletier]

Hello. I finally got moved last week. Sold our house and rented a mobile home until we find another house. I miss my shop terribly. Does anyone use a spare bedroom or the back porch or whatever for their shop? Please give me some suggestions and hopefully some pics before I go crazy and take my wife with me!

I thank you and she will thank you.

John.


I was using the spare room for my rc plane/ ww room until my wife wook me for work one morning 2 yrs ago saying cmon daddy get up,I looked up at her and she was holding an ept test yup baby coming. Now wwing is in our bedroom hehe wife isnt to happy about it but odly enough she stops complaining when im finished with something for her....lol

[Michael Faurot]

For hand tool type work, I can definitely see a small bedroom making a decent shop. If you can't fit a full sized bench in there, you might want to make something like the closet workbench documented in the appendix of Aldren A. Watson's Hand Tools Their Ways and Workings (http://www.amazon.com/Hand-Tools-Their-Ways-Workings/dp/0393322769/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1223249595&sr=1-1).

When my wife and I travel to vist her parents, I typically pack up a few hand tool essentials and then keep myself occupied by setting up a small shop in the utility room. This works pretty well and also keeps me out of trouble. :)

[Charles Davis]

This is supposed to be my formal dining room... does that count??? :D

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn228/woodzealot/bench.jpg

[Steve Hamlin]

Spare bedroom? That's just decadent :D
My bench is 4' from the foot of my bed, chisels, planes, boring and marking out tools in the chest of drawers, saws in the wardrobe, stock under the bed.
I usually finish in the morning (just FP)
I am contemplating getting an air purifier though - even just using hand tools (no shark skin or new fangled equivalents) the place is dustier than most folks' boudoirs - not really good with sensitizing exotics.
(Can't deny this unlikely to be conducive to marital bliss :p )
Steve

[Randy Klein]

This is supposed to be my formal dining room... does that count??? :D

I guess that makes it your former dining room...:D

[Charles Davis]

I guess that makes it your former dining room...:D

Yes! I think the key is to make claims to rooms before marriage (my girlfriend is actually understanding so far)... My garage is dedicated to milling/dimensioning... the kitchen to assembly (and tool sharpening)... the dining room, as seen, to hand tool work and joinery... and a bed room to finishing...

I eat at a computer desk in my living room as I have no room for a kitchen table in the kitchen... pretty soon the living room will be overtaken as well... recently had to sell my recliner to make space in there for additional tooling... yes, my friends are seriously considering an intervention (seriously). :eek:

[David DeCristoforo]

No... But i've used a spare shop for a bedroom...

[Rob Damon]

John,

When my wife and I were first married (1979), we moved into a single wide. The spare bedroom (12'x10') had wall to wall carpet. I laid down two layers of poly over the carpet, then cut and laid out 5/8" particle board with taped joints all around. Once my collection of tools increased, my fantastic wife suggested I didn't have enough room to safely work and that I should move the shop into the larger master bedroom (12'x13') and we could move our bedroom into the spare room. :)

I ultimately ended up with a table saw, RAS, Shaper, Sander, lathe, BS, DP, Jointer all with mobile castors. So yes you can make it work.

Rob

[Robert Rozaieski]

Sure. Well, not a bedroom per se but I suppose it could be if you wanted it to be. I think it beats the pants off a basement or garage (I've worked in both). You have natural light from the window(s), heating and AC and it just feels more inviting than a cold basement or garage. I highly recommend it for a hand tool only shop.

98139

Only drawback is shaving control. I sometimes track them out of the shop into other rooms of the house if I'm not careful to keep my shoes clean before leaving the shop.

If you plan to use any power at all though, I'd think twice. Sawdust in the HVAC system is a bad thing and it will migrate throughout the house to boot if you use power just from the proximity to other areas.

[Zahid Naqvi]

What's a spare bedroom:confused:
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If you are neander you can use any space, since you don't create noise and dust, as long as you have a work bench and can keep your tools in a confined space (tool chest, cabinet etc.)