Been a while.... looking for words of wisdom.

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MatthewZS

Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2010
Messages
482
Location
Georgetown Texas
So a few months ago I had to put most of my shop into storage and am currently living in an apartment. I'm preparing to move into a bit bigger place, but likely still won't have the room for an actual shop an it MAY even still be an apartment... can't say for sure yet.

Trouble is I'm getting antsy not doin SOMETHING with my lathe. So my question: Anyone have any words of advice on setting up a small shop focused on woodturning?

If you had only a closet what would you do?

How can I turn stuff on a lathe and not have it fling stuff everywhere?

Is there any such thing as a silent lathe / Shopvac?

I realize some of these questions are impractically unanswerable, but you get the idea what I'm looking for:)

i.e. - If YOU had only the space of a closet, next door/wall/floor neighbors and your computer desk 10 feet away would you even attempt it? If so how?

Thanks!
 
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I saw someone on here has a roll around cart that is very well set up. It would roll into a closet for storage and you could roll it outside and use an extension cord to turn.

Phil
 
Does the house that you live in have a basement that the landlord would let you turn pens in? The other ideas about a rolling shop were good ones too if you can put them out on a deck or outside. If I were a landlord I would not be crazy about someone having a wood shop anywhere in in apartment.
 
A friend of mine built a large hoop above his lathe and then hung a heavy plastic shower curtain on it. pulled the curtain around the lathe and kept most of the shavings within a 10 foot circle.
 
That Dewalt tool caddy thing looks awesome. I'm a bit concerned about how sturdy it is and whether it's long enough. I can easily enough answer those with a trip to home depot.

I DO have a deck now.... not sure about when I move. right now it's a 2nd story with a slatted surface so dust and schmutz would be more a problem for the people downstairs than for me.

As for building the hoop with a plastic shield, I've thought about that.... just can't decide if it REALLY sounds like a good idea or not... for me. It is intriguing however.
 
May be a near by storage park or industrial pard, or similar witch a small place to rent on the cheap. Or share with another wood worker who would respect your stuff.
 
If you are only turning really small stuff (pens, lace bobbins, thimbles etc...) you might get away with setting up a small benchtop setup based on a metal lathe, or a hobby/craft style lathe like a Taig or Sherline. A Jewler's lathe might aso work. They tend to be a bit quieter than our wood lathes, but they might not have the guts to tackle bigger projects. (Light cuts!!!) A small shop vac with a HEPA filter could work too. I have used one of those to clean up after building model airplanes in an apartment. It worked well for me. When I was in college (in the '80s) I built a couple of quarter scale aircraft in an apartment, as well as machining a bunch of parts with benchtop and homebrewed equipment. I just made sure that I did the noisiest operations during the day when everybody else was making noise, or on the weekends when everybody else was partying.

In my apartment, the bathroom was centrally located behind the kitchen, so I set up the equipment on a piece of homosote and a rubber mat on the vanity. I weighted it with a sandbag to quiet things down a bit and the tile floor made cleanup easy. I wouldn't go into furniture and architectural turnings, but pens, and a few other miniature items might be possible. Acrylic is much less dusty than wood, but it can really stink, depending upon the brand.

Good Luck,
Dave
 
Matthew; A dust hood and shop vac will pick up most of the shavings and sanding dust.

I have a dust hood like this and it picks up most all the swarf.
 
Georgetown may have a U-Store-It type facility with 24/7 access and electric.
I used on in Florida for some months while renovating a condo.

Randy, that's an awesome dusthood. I need to build one for my lathe.
 
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