# Apartment Dwelling Woodworkers



## BustedClock (Jun 30, 2011)

So, a couple of years ago, my wife and I moved to Denver, CO. We moved out of a townhouse with a single car garage in which we never parked the car except when I was working on it. I wasn't much into woodworking at that time, although toward the end I was reading lots of stuff about it on the toobz.

In Denver, we moved into a two bedroom apartment, and rented a covered parking space. The only place for woodworking is somewhere in the house. Here's my current "workshop."










Although she agreed I could do this (for mental health reasons) she's not best please. Indeed, neither am I.

I would like to use the second bedroom as a workshop since we only get out of town guests at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Unfortunately, I'd have to learn enough woodworking to make Murphy beds out of the two twin mattresses in there. Don't think that's going to happen soon.

So, what's an urban dweller to do? Did any of you folks have the same sort of issues? How (short of moving) did you solve them?

Enquiring minds want to know.


----------



## BustedClock (Jun 30, 2011)

I should say, it is my mental health about which my loving wife is concerned. ;-)


----------



## Core2 (Jan 2, 2014)

http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/Denver The Club Workshop metions woodworking.
This could be a good option for you. Some places you even bring your own tools in. But the bad thing is anyone can use them. I have never participated in these but a friend of mine made me check one out once. seems like a good thing. Might be what you're looking for.


----------



## NormG (Mar 5, 2010)

It is a start, good reason to make the Murphy bed


----------



## msmith1199 (Oct 24, 2012)

Depending on how tight money is, you can always rent a shop someplace.


----------



## knockknock (Jun 13, 2012)

I work in my living room using hand tools and a cordless drill. While making a project, I keep my workmate and tools in a corner, and pull the workmate out when actually working on it. That works for small projects, but currently I am building my tool chest/cart and occasionally it has taken over most of the room. If my ex was still around, I probably wouldn't be allowed to do this. If you can utilize the spare bedroom, that sounds like the best option to me (remote locations aren't convenient).


----------



## MalcolmLaurel (Dec 15, 2013)

I used to use the extra bedroom in a small apartment as a workshop. Sawdust and metal chips don't go well with carpeted floors…


----------



## knockknock (Jun 13, 2012)

Interesting point about the carpeting. I have low pile carpet (looks like flat weave) in a color pattern that hides almost anything. I scoop up the big stuff with a plastic dustpan and then vacuum up the rest with my Dyson DC18 (I don't have metal chips?). So I would say it depends on the carpet.


----------



## Ted78 (Dec 3, 2012)

Been in your shoes before, minus the wife, she'd left long before that point. Do look into hackerspace, sometimes called makerspace in your area. There isn't one where I live, but the one in the quad cities where my brother lives is amazing. You might want to consider a small band saw (they are versatile, don't take up a ton of space and are quieter than a vacuum cleaner. Take over the bedroom and tackle that murphy bed project.

I am not personally very familiar with anything but European style hand tools, but it seems to me that the Asian tradition of woodworking where one is less reliant on big heavy benches and big vises might be more suited to working in a smaller space.

Can you just prop the twin mattresses against a wall while you are working and put them back when you are done? or are there box springs and bed frames as well?

Good luck.


----------



## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

I don't think I could work that way, I'd have to rent a shop somewhere.


----------



## helluvawreck (Jul 21, 2010)

I went to both the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech back in the 1970's. To be honest I studied very hard and didn't have a lot of time for woodworking. However, I did have a nice set of woodworking hand tools and what time I did spend in woodworking was done on the small porch and balcony of the small apartments that my wife and I lived in.

helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com


----------



## Loren (May 30, 2008)

You're in luck in Denver, there's a community wood shop there.

http://www.clubworkshop.com/

You might want to consider focusing on carving or chip carving
or something like that.


----------



## BustedClock (Jun 30, 2011)

I did look into the community workshop-Club Workshop-but it's $100 per month. Also, when the semester starts I won't have time to go there.

The woodshop at school is quite nice, but we are only supposed to be working on school projects. I think everybody gets away with doing little things, now and again, but it's one of those don't abuse it situations.

Now that the holidays are over, my loving wife may consider letting me prop the beds up for a while. They do have box-springs and frames, but those shouldn't be a problem. I can always strap everything together before propping them.

I'm not sure I'm up to making Murphy beds yet. So far, I've only worked on mortise and tenon joinery, and I'm still far from mastering those. BTW, except for drills and a router, I only have hand tools.

As for cleanup, you might have noticed a flannel sheet on the floor in the picture. That works pretty well, especially since I only create dust when I saw something. The rest of the time is shavings and chips, and those clean up fairly well.


----------



## BustedClock (Jun 30, 2011)

One thing I've thought of is to create a small workbench, like the size of one of those roll-around butcher block thingys rich folks have in their kitchens. I think I could make one nice enough to pass for an interesting piece of furniture when not in use.

I was thinking of using… is it Shipwright's?-V8 wedged leg vice, and a small face vice. I'm hoping something like that would hold me for a while. Once I get the SketchUp done, I'll post it here for you all to comment on, and perhaps provide suggestions.

Glad to know this isn't an uncommon situation.

Thanks!


----------



## richardwootton (Jan 17, 2013)

Check out Mosquito's bench in the work bench smack down thread. I am currently working on building a smaller bench to use inside about 5' long by 16" wide, which will hopefully look like a piece of furniture when not in use instead of just a really cluttered work bench which is how my current bench typically looks.


----------



## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

someone once shared how he did his woodworking in hotel rooms, as he was on the road all the time. He carried his supplies in a suitcase! 
another member shared his story of having the attic as his workspace
and then there is Dilo Marcio Fernandino who works in a closet. His wife set rules: no sawdust anywhere and no power tool noise


----------



## BentheViking (May 19, 2011)

get a friend and stack all the furniture in the room against the walls as tight as possible leaving the biggest space you can in the middle of the room. Maybe do it in a way SWMBO approves of so that when you are going to have to have guests you won't have to do a furniture shuffle.


----------



## HarveyDunn (Aug 29, 2013)

I guess the problem with the Murphy beds is that you need the space to learn enough to be able to make them…but you don't have the space because the existing beds are occupying it!

There are numerous places online that will sell you a Murphy bed/wall bed. I bought one from "The Bedder Way" and am very happy with it.

As for the carpet: there is a clear plastic product that homebuilders/realtor use to cover up carpet for showings. Mostly they use it to create a walkway, but I don't know why you couldn't also use it to cover the whole room.


----------



## Richforever (Mar 19, 2008)

I put sheets of plastic on the living room carpet. It makes cleanup much easier. A daily "to do" list makes the progress more visible, and the disruption of the space seems more temporary. FYI, one project took up the whole living room and lasted two years. Now it's done, and the living room is not the worse for wear.

Another radical idea: have your wife help with the woodworking. Once she's hooked, all your problems are solved! (Although your list of projects might be infinitely long!)


----------



## DrDirt (Feb 26, 2008)

Hey Today show host Deborah Norville does it in a New York Apartment - - so it is doable!!


----------



## BustedClock (Jun 30, 2011)

Whoa!

Deborah Norville didn't need the perfume! If I worked at a store, and she came in wearing ratty jeans, a dusty sweater, and no makeup, I'd still cut anything she wanted, and probably thrown in a couple of extra 2X4. Of course, the downside is I'd probably cut my thumb off by not looking where I should be.


----------



## Izzy68 (Aug 18, 2012)

"_I'm not sure I'm up to making Murphy beds yet. So far, I've only worked on mortise and tenon joinery, and I'm still far from mastering those. BTW, except for drills and a router, I only have hand tools._"

You don't need to have mastered very advanced techniques, at all. And you have all of the tools you need to build a Murphy Bed. You can do it, and you'll be happy you did! I got the Create-A-Bed hardware kit and the hardest part was cutting down the plywood sheeting (which I had to do downstairs in the carport and then carry up). Everything else is just screwing, gluing, and some nailing. I haven't put a finish on it yet, but maybe someday when I'm motivated to disassemble/finish/wait/re-assemble… Maybe not.

I live in a 2 br apartment in Los Angeles and have a "shop" in my bedroom. It was the only place to put it, really. If I had it to do all over again, I'd probably not buy all of the machinery that I did and focus on hand tool techniques and miniatures instead. With hand tools, you have a lot more freedom to build what you want without the massive amount of time and work it can take to control dust, clean up, etc. For a long time I held off doing most things and only worked sporadically with the tools I could take out onto my porch/balcony every once in a while.

However, that got old and I wasn't getting anything done, so I built a Murphy bed, put a bench in my room along with my 14" bandsaw, scroll saw on stand, sharpening station, 2 drill presses, router table, and a few other pieces of machinery. Everything is pushed to the perimeter, along with lumber storage along one wall and above the headers around the room. The table saw and lathes (except the small one) are outside (I'm in LA). Every once in a while-not more than once or twice a year-I have to pull tarps over everything out back to keep rain off of the equipment. But it's been dry 99.9% of the time. If it wasn't I'd just enclose the balcony with poly sheeting.

Oh, and I "re-purposed" my bathroom/shower to be more lumber storage. I'm a bit of a wood collector, but I suppose I'm not in the minority here. No, it's not ideal, but I have another shower in the apartment that i can share. So mine was redundant, anyway!

The only machine I didn't set up (after two years of keeping it in various locations in pieces) is the 6" rabbeting jointer. I have a planer, but I rarely use it. Hand planes have become my new best friends.

My 5 year old daughter lives with me every other week and she has the master bedroom on the other side of the apartment (with her own HEPA air cleaner, for other reasons, but it doesn't hurt anyway). She does watch TV in the living room in front of my bedroom, but… since I've become obsessed about keeping our apartment free from any dust as a result of my woodworking I generate most of my messes outside, and what I do inside is both limited and done with 4" ducting to the bandsaw or router table (above and underneath), directing airflow out the patio doors with fans and a cross breeze, Shop-Vac for the drill presses, and HEPA air cleaner to run when I think I've gotten everything clean but know that I can't see any fine dust still in the air. Maintaining negative pressure in the room using this combination of techniques keeps the rest of the apartment free from dust/debris I generate. And I change my clothes before walking out of the room after working so I don't track stuff in with me.

All of the tools/sharp things are out of my daughter's reach and the machinery safety's are kept in a separate box when I'm not working on anything, so nothing can even be turned on if I'm not there.

When I'm finished for the night I just push everything out to the perimeter, pull down my bed, load the dog onto his pillow over my head (he's too old to get up by himself, anymore), and get some sleep. In the morning, I raise the bed and… Voila!, instant "shop" space. The biggest thing I've built is the bed itself, with a table base for my daughter's kindergarten class coming in second. For the most part it's small turnings/scroll saw work/small projects. The next big thing will be a bookcase door so my daughter can have a "secret entrance" to her room.

It can be done. Even with the stupid amount of stuff I have. With less, or with only hand tools, you can have a great, double-duty space.

Izzy


----------



## Rmckee47 (Dec 21, 2012)

I have shop space, but wanted access to expertise and a larger jointer. During the past year I took a one week course at a woodworking school, two night classes at a high school and a tech school in nearby towns, and am presently in a Saturday morning open shop at a non-profit woodwork and craft school. Finding each of these opportunities took a bit of digging. Classes of interest aren't offered consistently at most of them, but each has been valuable.


----------



## BustedClock (Jun 30, 2011)

I think the first thing I have to do is convince SWMBO that I actually can build-and complete-a project. I didn't have enough time to finish the coffee table I built last semester, and the shop was closed for the winter break. I don't have much to do to finish it, so that's a start. If I can make a good start in the Japanese Woodworking class I'm taking this semester, maybe some of the resistance will fade away. Maybe


----------



## Sigung (Nov 20, 2013)

You can frequently buy older Shopsmiths on Craigslist for very little. This is a very capable workstation for someone in your situation that takes up no more room than a bicycle. If you put a 3/4" piece of plywood down as a floor for it, you will not damage the apartment, and will have a place for the trash to fall. Add a good shop vacuum, and you will have very little dust to deal with. Make SURE you get one with retractable WHEELS. Barring that, it looks like you know enough to have a very nice jointer plane. If you look at Paul Sellers list of essential tools ( all hand tools ) here:

http://paulsellers.com/2011/12/my-essential-tools/

you will see that you can build just about anything without power tools. I do use power tools when I have to, but find that when I build using just hand tools it is a much more satisfying experience. One suggestion. One of the most difficult things to get done quickly with hand tools is dimensioning the lumber. Here is a list of Western USA woodworking guilds and clubs:

http://www.woodwest.com/woodorg.html

If you join one of these, you can usually get several hundred hours of shop time per year with your membership, and thereby gain access to some tools that might not be practical for home use.


----------

