Working in a tight space

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BackyardSmokin

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Lathrop, CA
My wife has taken over the garage in prep for a yard sale and organizing Christmas items. During this time, she also wishes for me to make some pens and pizza cutters. Unfortunately, with space in garage limited I am stuck with the area that I am storing the lathe when not in use (4ft L x 18in deep). Any issues with working in a confined space like this?


I have thought about asking her to move things or if we can cover her stuff while I work, but I don't want to make a pregnant woman mad.
 

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Should not be any issues as long as you can stand it. I would vacuum regularly and cover your wife's decorations. Also, being pregnant and with you working with exotic woods and/or acrylics as well as finishing materials I would recommend to her to stay out of the area while you are working and until you have had a chance to clean up properly.

But tread lightly my friend as there is no greater wrath than an angry pregnant woman! Good luck and hope it works out for you!
 
Your dust doesn't have anywhere to go and will be trapped in that corner. You will be breathing a lot of it. Do you have some type of dust collection?
 
BackyardSmokin said:
My wife has taken over the garage in prep for a yard sale and organizing Christmas items. During this time, she also wishes for me to make some pens and pizza cutters. Unfortunately, with space in garage limited I am stuck with the area that I am storing the lathe when not in use (4ft L x 18in deep). Any issues with working in a confined space like this?


I have thought about asking her to move things or if we can cover her stuff while I work, but I don't want to make a pregnant woman mad.
Click to expand...


There is no such thing as not getting a woman mad, pregnant or not ...
 
I work in a space similar to that all the time. It might not be ideal but it's the only way that I can make it work. It will take some getting used to though
 
How about taking the lathe out back of the garage. Keep the dust away from her things.......work in a nice corner and enjoy the view and freedom of the outdoors.
Cover or move the lathe in at night.

No body needs to get mad. The mess can be either picked up or blown into the grass to decompose. Everyone should be happy and you get to turn with all the room you need.

Now putting things together might be a problem. But with every problem there is an answer. Just need to put on your thinking cap.

Good luck.
 
About 40 years ago, I had a shop that was an apartment 6x6 storage unit. I had a table saw, bandsaw, 4 foot workbench, a grinder, a 220 volt welder, an acetylene/oxygen cutting torch and a 12x36 lathe. Enough supplies to fill every empty nook or cranny that was left over.

About 3 or 4 times a week I would go the storage unit and work on whatever project I had going. I could clear enough stuff out of my way on the driveway to get something done. With good planning, it would only take a few minutes to get to what I needed and get stuff done. I worked in the drive, inside the unit, or wherever I could. When I quit for the day, I packed stuff back inside so that I had minimum to take out.
 
Thanks everyone.

My dust collection is just the shop vac after each session. My driveway is at a pretty good slope so I do not feel comfortable rolling it out there (though I do have wheel locks). I may see if a neighbor can help me roll it over to the side of the house when needed.
 
I would say .... put a drop cloth around that area and an overhead light under that cabinet ... possibly even drape a drop cloth around the area behind where you'll be standing to limit where chips can fly. Keep your shop vac close at hand and use a dust mask with your eye protection... If you could run your shop vac at the same time, perhaps you could knock together something similar to a Big Gulp dust collector nozzle mouth for your shop vac hose and mount it near your blank on the lathe...
 
My space is similar. Only issue is with keeping it clean - which is an excuse for not even trying. Of course, that also triggers an estrogenic reaction (and pregnancy is NOT a factor).
 
That size space should work fine. Just be sure to cover your wife's ornaments so the don't get dusty. I live in an apartment and turn in my bathroom. It's about 4 feet long. Then I have about 2 feet from the edge of the counter to the wall. It's not ideal, but I make it work.
 
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