WW in Myrtle Beach SC condo

[David Ragan]

Hi all,

We now have a condo in Myrtle Beach, SC-about 6 hours from here in ATL

Am looking at the reality of eventually living/retiring in that condo, and will need a shop-a place to do woodworking.

The actual retirement is years down the road-but it's on the horizon; confining myself to carving and small boxes may be in my future.

Anyone here done this before?

How does one find a place to rent that will let you generate lots of noise, dust, and such?

Probably a size two car garage would be enough.

The FWW lists no WW clubs anywhere near there.

Thanks

[Jim Koepke]

You might find an enclosed garage or other building for rent at a reasonable rate.

jtk

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

I have never seen a place where the bulk of the people are golfers with no other passions. My in laws have been in Myrtle Beach for about 16 years. No wood worker's clubs, no wood turning clubs, For the population, even hardware stores are scarce. (excluding box stores) There are sprawling industrial parks and storage units. Not sure what opportunities there may be. Many retired guys look into a shop sharing arrangement like "maker's space" They have the bulk of the machinery and you pay a monthly fee, sort of like a health club. I did not see any reference to anything like that in the area. (that could be a business opportunity. ) My wife sort of likes the area and the "over 50" community where her parent's live. I would be so bored, no gardens, no berry patch, no real woods (I don't do swamps). Having your big picture window giving a view of another big picture window 15 ft away, is not my idea of a view. I am too much a country boy to live in a cookie cutter development with a home owner's association up my arse for non-conformance every other day. They seriously harassed some guy because of the concrete mushroom in the front flower bed. They idea of a craft corner in the community center is for scrap booking and knitting. To me the place is just a warehouse for senior citizens who do not need nurses yet. Some of the outlying areas offer homes with room to breathe and do things. But compared to here in PA, the summer humidity in Myrtle Beach is brutal. Our temps here run about 10 degrees cooler and the humidity about 15% less. And winter there is just cold and damp, sprinkled with a few nice days. I just got back from there last week. Down there, it was cool and damp every day, even when the sun was out it was only in the mid 50's. I suppose we just hit a cool spell. (There was 16 inches of snow in PA the day we left. ) I lived in South Florida for a few years, in Northern Virginia for 20 years and in central Pennsylvania for most of my life and I have spent a substantial amount of time in Southern Delaware and recently, in Myrtle Beach. I liked the climate in Northern VA (falls church) the best of any, but still a little hot in summer and too many slushy slop storms in winter.

[John C Cox]

My friend, it sounds like you will be making the change to hand tool woodworking. Go ahead and get yourself copies of Lie Nielsen and Lee Valley catalogs.

This place is tough for woodworkers. I am about an hour inland from MB..
The closest woodworking store is the Woodcraft in Charlotte.. There's a hardwood place down by Charleston... And that's about it...

The place you may find woodworking going on is with sailboat clubs... There is a LOT of upkeep related to them... And there are plenty of boat people out that way.. You may he able to work out a deal with a boat guy to use some shop space..

There aren't any organize woodworking clubs or maker spaces that I know of... Most storage units have no electricity and aren't set up/licensed for people working in them...

If you really do want to keep woodworking with power tools - consider a duplex with an attached garage off the beach or a small house instead of a condo...

[Rick Moyer]

I like Myrtle Beach, but probably not year-round. Weather isn't sufficiently better than here in the winter. My woodworking hobby is 4 months a year as golf is the passion that consumes the other 8 months. I can't recall seeing any woodworking related places there either. I suspect if you have a condo as opposed to a house, you may find it difficult to rent some space that's convenient.
edit: I see John posted while I was typing. Similar content

[David Ragan]

Hand WW has great appeal.

Lots of great ideas here.

thanks guys.

[Jim Becker]

Hand-tools, portable tools, etc., offer good possibilities for this kind of situation. A small lathe could also be manageable and enjoyable, too. Same for a scroll saw for things like marquetry, etc.

[Jay Mullins]

David, there is a woodturning club in Wilmington, NC. Not really that far away.

Jay Mullins

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi, when I lived in a apartment I used the second bedroom as a wood working shop.

It was all hand tools, except for the lathe.

With dust extractors such as the Festool available today, I don't see that you would have any issues at all.

Of course you could also join a club, which would supply you with machinery, a shop and companionship..............Rod.

[David Ragan]

They have decorated the entire condo (of course)...and there is no area that has a workbench in it.

I just don't see me having my Festool vacuum, as efficient as it is....inside whilst generating all that. Too much trouble.

So, maybe a jobsite table saw and benchtop BS stored in the shed, and lots of hand tools.

(Gee...another shop, a microshop....)