Do you work out of your own shop or do you turn in more of a community space?

[Jon Vates]

General question as I'm a newbie on the site.

Wondering if all you on here just work out of your own space (basement/garage/outbuilding on your property) or if you turn in more of a community shop as you don't have your own home work space?

Why I'm asking:

Long story short - my Brother in law Jon has been a turner off and on for years. He has a few disabilities but has a true love for the art.
Jon had a shop in his Mom's garage as he lived with her but my wife and I recently had to closeup that shop as Jon lost his Mom last year and we sold the house.

Now we're in the process of paring down the wood and a good bit of gear.

He is now living with my wife and I and we're looking down the road to see if it's worth trying to put together a small shop for him (which will take some time - possibly year or two )
or if we should try to find some kind of community shop. I know years ago (15?) he was a member of the Pittsburgh, PA chapter of AAW. I believe it's called Turners Anonymous.

Just trying to decide if it's worth storing any equipment (which could be a few years of it sitting idle) or if it should just be sold for now and try to find a community shop to give him an opportunity to re-engage his craft and passion.
Then later just acquire different equipment if we can indeed get him some workspace.

I figured posting on here may help kick around some ideas my wife and I haven't thought of to sort out the best path forward to get my brother-in-law back on a lathe.

thanks,
Mark and Jon in Pgh

 

[Mike Selser]

You might want to contact https://www.turnersanonymous.org/ and see if any of the members have any suggestions. Also check out maker spaces in your area.

 

[Jim Reynolds]

Perhaps another crafts person would allow you to rent some space in their shop, since you already have the tools and equipment and are just looking for space.

 

[Dave Landers]

I have always worked in my own space.
Early on, it was the back of the garage, with stuff shoved against a wall so a car would still go in. (Easier if you upgrade one car to a roadster.) Eventually, the car got evicted.
Next place it was split between a small basement room (lathe and bandsaw) with other stuff in the garage (table saw etc - again shoved against a wall).
Next time we moved, I had a full unfinished basement.
And now I have a dedicated workshop (stand-alone building) adjacent to the garage.

If you can find him some space anywhere that'd be great. Start with whatever you can find and/or make happen - it will evolve if it needs to...

 

[Rushton Paul]

The challenge will be finding a community workspace. I do all my woodworking in a community woodworking shop. I live in a retirement community, and a dozen of us have collaborated to set up a woodworking shop in shared space that the community agreed to make available to us. Over the past five years, it has worked well, provided fellow users follow the golden rules of being considerate, caring for the tools, and leaving the shop in at least as good condition as when they arrived to use it, if not better. Generally, it has worked out well. Before my retirement, I was in my home basement for a workshop. It is always a bit of a change to go from dedicated space to shared space, but it is certainly workable if you have like-minded fellow users.

A lot of the equipment in our shared space has been donated by our users from their home shops as they made the transition to our retirement community. Once donated, it belongs to the community. When better equipment becomes available, we rotate out and donate the older equipment being replaced.

 

[Darryl Fective]

My shop is around the corner from my house. I've thought it might be cool to have it as a sort of community workshop, but that could probably open a can of worms. I really enjoy having people come over and turn and if I can clear out some more space, maybe I can set up more lathes and host a monthly turning day, separate from our club meetings.

 

[Tom Gall]

He is now living with my wife and I and we're looking down the road to see if it's worth trying to put together a small shop for him (which will take some time - possibly year or two )

Do you have the room on your property to place one of those pre-fabricated sheds/barns (if allowed where you live)? They are available in several styles and sizes - you might have to do a search to find a suitable size. The big box stores sell them but they may be a little small. Not the best option but may work out quicker than a year or two - and no travel! You may have to pour a slab for best results.

 

[Jon Rista]

Have you asked him what he thinks. That could be a key factor.

Personally, if I had to drive to a shop somewhere, especially if it wasn't very close by, I would turn far, far less often. My shop is currently my third car slot in my garage. Its RIGHT THERE, all the time, and when I have a little bit of time, I can just go out and turn. I don't have to pack anything up and drive anywhere, nor drive back. That immediate convenience, keeps me turning whenever I can. I think that's a hugely important factor.

There are some "makers spaces" around Colorado (although sadly most closed during the pandemic lockdowns), but the ones with woodworking equipment are close to an hour away. The BEST of them, is a ways north in another town, entirely out of the Denver metro area entirely, and is probably an hour and a half to two hours there and again back. I just can't do that, except very occasionally. So it would largely kill turning (or other woodworking) for me...and in the long run, I suspect it would have the long term effect of ending it for me...

I'd check with your brother in law, and see what he honestly thinks. If he can handle a drive, and maybe a drive of a certain length (i.e. not too long?), and he thinks he could do it regularly and keep his work going, then it might be find to put together a space in a place where he can turn. If he is honest that having his equipment somewhere else would diminish his ability to turn, then maybe finding a way to set some of his equipment up at home might be the best way to get him back to it.

 

[Jon Rista]

My shop is around the corner from my house. I've thought it might be cool to have it as a sort of community workshop, but that could probably open a can of worms. I really enjoy having people come over and turn and if I can clear out some more space, maybe I can set up more lathes and host a monthly turning day, separate from our club meetings.

Opening a community shop, I'd be concerned about liability... :\

 

[Jon Vates]

Do you have the room on your property to place one of those pre-fabricated sheds/barns (if allowed where you live)? They are available in several styles and sizes - you might have to do a search to find a suitable size. The big box stores sell them but they may be a little small. Not the best option but may work out quicker than a year or two - and no travel! You may have to pour a slab for best results.

Unfortunately not in the cards given our current location!

Opening a community shop, I'd be concerned about liability... :\

This seems to be the challenge as I dig in a bit more on research...

You might want to contact https://www.turnersanonymous.org/ and see if any of the members have any suggestions. Also check out maker spaces in your area.

Yeah, this looks like a starting point - planning on attending one of their upcoming workshops/demos and just getting acquainted and will go from there!

 

[John K Jordan]

Wondering if all you on here just work out of your own space (basement/garage/outbuilding on your property) or if you turn in more of a community shop as you don't have your own home work space?

Hello Jon!

I've never used a community space, always my own shop - small building, part of a garage, and now a fairly large building I put up here on the farm. I know someone who worked in a community space and he always carried his own tools.

Hey, I grew up south of Pittsburgh (on the Monongahela river, near Elizabeth.) Are you closer to the city?

JKJ

 

[Jon Vates]

Hello Jon!

I've never used a community space, always my own shop - small building, part of a garage, and now a fairly large building I put up here on the farm. I know someone who worked in a community space and he always carried his own tools.

Hey, I grew up south of Pittsburgh (on the Monongahela river, near Elizabeth.) Are you closer to the city?

JKJ

Lot's of People named John and Jon here

My brother in Law Jon lived with his Mom just south of the city in Mt. Lebanon.
After she passed, he moved in with us and the neighborhood we're in can't fit an outbuilding and the garage situation isn't good.

Considering just moving more North to get into some more rural area and get a few acres with shop space or a pre-existing out building.

I know my Brother in Law Jon's previous space had three or four 220v lines... so will definitely have power concerns in mind as well.
Definitely envious of those on here with nice rural space!

Appreciate all the input!

Mark & Jon

 

[Jon Rista]

Lot's of People named John and Jon here

My brother in Law Jon lived with his Mom just south of the city in Mt. Lebanon.
After she passed, he moved in with us and the neighborhood we're in can't fit an outbuilding and the garage situation isn't good.

Considering just moving more North to get into some more rural area and get a few acres with shop space or a pre-existing out building.

I know my Brother in Law Jon's previous space had three or four 220v lines... so will definitely have power concerns in mind as well.
Definitely envious of those on here with nice rural space!

Appreciate all the input!

Mark & Jon

Moving to a rural area is my ultimate goal. It would be nice to have more space, I'm rather cramped right now. An outbuilding on some land...kind of like the holy grail for woodworking!

Running power isn't too hard. I did a lot of rewiring in my garage to add various outputs. I paid a contractor to run a big fat line from a new 100amp breaker on my main panel, through my basement, to a new panel on the wall in the garage just above the basement corner. I then did the rest, adding breakers and running romex from the new panel to several new outlets. I added two 240V and several 120V. One 220 and a block of 120s I put in the ceiling to accommodate an electrical heater and additional lighting. The rest were just low along the walls most of the way around the third slot of my garage. It was two partial days of work for me to run all the romex and add all the outlets, then I did some testing on a third day to make sure everything was wired correctly (you can just get one of those three prong plug in testers that will verify proper hot, neutral and ground, allow you to test GFCI and AFCI, etc.) Once you verify everything, hook stuff up and you are good to go. The hardest part of the job for me, was drilling some small holes through 2x4s. I kept them at most 1" wide, but generally just wide enough to pass the romex to avoid affecting the structural integrity of the beams. I then ran romex over the top of the rafter beams (just in case I wanted to put some drywall ceiling up or something like that, I would be able to attach to the bottom of the beams without issues from any wiring) to the various walls, drilled holes through the top beams at the walls and rand the romex right down to the outlets.

You do have to think about the amperage. I did 20A for all 120V and 50A for the 240V. These amperages will require the right rated romex (which should all be color coded.) Once you figure that out, though, then you can put in 15A or 20A breakers for the 120V outlets, and 20A, 30A, 40A or 50A breakers for the 240V outlets, as needed. Putting a new breaker in a panel is pretty easy, so long as you know where the hot and neutral are and how to wire up ground. Once you do a couple, you quickly get the hang of it. Just make sure you do test everything, and verify hot, neutral and ground are wired properly, before you plug any actual devices in. Modern US electrical wiring is pretty strait forward.

Oh, I do have a couple of things on this new subpanel, that together can draw I think about 60 amps. Even though I ran romex to support 50A, I don't actually have anything that draws that much power. I just wanted the option. Technically speaking, you can run lines capable of, in total, drawing more amperage than your subpanel breaker in your main panel (in my case, 100A off of my 200A main panel). However it should be unlikely that you are actually drawing max amperage on every line all at the same time. I could technically turn on all my machines at once, and I'd probably trip the breaker in my main panel... You just don't do that, and it never even makes sense to either. I run EITHER a lathe, or drill press, or bandsaw, or table saw, or other tools like a grinder, at a time. Occasionally, I might have the lathe running, flip on the grinder for a short while then flip it off. But usually, I am not using all that much power at once. Usually just one machine, and some lighting, the vast majority of the time. So the amp draw is usually well below that main panel breaker. I then run breakers suited to what each outlet's draw will be in practice on the subpanel.

Just in case, you know, you move out to that semi-rural area and can set up a shop at home.

 

[Kent Reisdorph]

I'm a country boy at heart (grew up in South Dakota). I spent 30 years living in cities, most of it in Las Vegas with 5 years in Colorado Springs. I moved to Tennessee 2.5 years ago and couldn't be happier. Five acres of eastern hardwoods is hard to beat.

 

[Darryl Fective]

I had been set up in our basement, but the noise and dust was a bit too much at times. A neighbor was selling an 8 acre wooded lot with a pole barn, so we jumped on it. There are times that it would be nicer to be on our property, but there are also advantages to having it away a little bit. I say it's around the corner, but it's about 3 1/2 miles, so more than just a walk. I have wood and tools at both locations, so there are times that I'm trying to remember what is where.

Our house is sort of hidden away on a one lane sort of Jeep trail of a road, so it's nice to have an easy to find location for deliveries, meeting clients, training new turners, etc. It's sort of dumpy, but it's my happy space.

 

[robo hippy]

I am lucky to have my own space. The problem with "shared" space is the other people that use it. Biggest issue is the others not using things the way you do. I think there are 2 community centers in town that offer shop space, and it is under "instructor's approval".

robo hippy

 

[hockenbery]

or if we should try to find some kind of community shop. I know years ago (15?) he was a member of the Pittsburgh, PA chapter of AAW. I believe it's called Turners Anonymous.

I suggest you contact the local clubs to see what is available. Artist studio facilities are available for rent some places.

When we lived in Annapolis there was an inexpensive co-op membership for woodturners at MD Hall.
Several of our club members lived in apartments and did all their turning at MD Hall.
Two other arrangements - One turner kept his lathe at club members shop and did his turning there.
Another turner was co-owner of a with another member he did all his turning at the other members shop.

MD Hall co-op
They could use the lathes in the classroom when the facility was open and there was no class in session. Pretty liberal hours 7 days a week except they were closed on school holidays.
They could use a locker for storage and put a lock on it.
They could also use the bandsaw if they got permission from an instructor who verified they knew how to knew how to adjust the saw and operate it safely.

Down side of these arrangements is travel to and from. Having to leave the area clean. Limited storage at the area. Difficult to leave a work in progress on the lathe even for lunch ( when I work with green wood I don’t leave anything on the lathe)
A studio rental is more flexible with how you leave it between sessions.

 

[Jon Vates]

View attachment 75947

That's an awesome space!!!!!!!!

 

[Paul May]

I rent space as we moved into a condo a few years ago. The nice part is that it is only 4 minutes away by car. The not so nice part is it is 4 minutes away by car. I have adequate space (~800 sq ft) but rent includes AC/heat ,garbage, 24/7 access and I don't get dust in the house. I have never had a shop in a basement and never will. We are still looking for a place to move to that will provide needs for both my wife and me. That may take a while .

 

[John K Jordan]

Just for fun, I found a composite photo of my shop space (from the outside), before, during and after I built it.
I tell people I built it with my bare hands but I actually used tools.
Got some friends to put up the trusses and roof since I would probably fall off and die.
The shop was finally painted, grey.



I dug a 250' trench and put in underground power with #1 copper, good for way more than the 100 amp box I installed but I didn't want lights dimming if two 5-hp motors happened to cut on at the same time.

I also ran underground ethernet for broadband and shop wifi and installed an extra 2" conduit, empty except for a rope in case I needed to run anything else some day.

Put in heat and air, the best thing ever for year-around comfort and controlled humidity.

Life is good.

 

[Alan Weinberg]

There's a community place near me but they charge $250/month and require you take certain courses from them at additional cost before turning you loose. Might be of value to someone wondering about starting but much easier to have one’s own shop. Mine is on the side of the house—lathe covered with a weather proof cover. Wife won’t give up the garage!

 

[Jon Vates]

When we lived in Annapolis there was an inexpensive co-op membership for woodturners at MD Hall.
Several of our club members lived in apartments and did all their turning at MD Hall.
Two other arrangements - One turner kept his lathe at club members shop and did his turning there.
Another turner was co-owner of a with another member he did all his turning at the other members shop.

MD Hall co-op
They could use the lathes in the classroom when the facility was open and there was no class in session. Pretty liberal hours 7 days a week except they were closed on school holidays.
They could use a locker for storage and put a lock on it.
They could also use the bandsaw if they got permission from an instructor who verified they knew how to knew how to adjust the saw and operate it safely.

Down side of these arrangements is travel to and from. Having to leave the area clean. Limited storage at the area. Difficult to leave a work in progress on the lathe even for lunch ( when I work with green wood I don’t leave anything on the lathe)
A studio rental is more flexible with how you leave it between sessions.

Further discussions with my B.I.L. Jon and Wife are leaning toward a solution like this for the near term and then the dream will be a setup like Darryl & John's.

 

[Kent Reisdorph]

If you want to know what you can accomplish in a small space, look no further than our own @Michael Anderson.

 

[Michael Anderson]

If you want to know what you can accomplish in a small space, look no further than our own @Michael Anderson.

Ha! I'd share a photo, but it's even more cluttered now. We recently replaced our garage door, and I had to move everything, except the lathe, to the back half of the one-car garage. I've procrastinated cleaning... Just enough room for space at the lathe now. That's enough, right??

 

[John K Jordan]

Ha! I'd share a photo, but it's even more cluttered now. We recently replaced our garage door, and I had to move everything, except the lathe, to the back half of the one-car garage. I've procrastinated cleaning... Just enough room for space at the lathe now. That's enough, right??

Until I was able to build the new shop, my shop was in 1/2 of a 2-car garage in our house for over 10 years. With the 1642 lathe, mini lathe, bandsaw, shelf units, tool racks and wood storage it was so tight that when two of us were playing at the lathe and we switched places one would step outside to let the other get to the lathe. No heat and air too, which was a challenge.

My shop now is pure joy, even when horribly cluttered. Sometimes I have space at the lathe and narrow paths thru the rest of the building!

 

[Darryn Achall]

I work at a place with a large community wood shop. There are 6 lathes, and we teach classes. I turn there at times. The community space has many advantages. Learning and sharing with others, socializing with people of like mind. Access to a lot of tools I don't purchase and store. Ability to try out different tools, lathes, and methods without making any prior investment. Sharing, trading, or buying various wood, used tools etc.

During covid I bought a lathe and set up a small space at home. I found that I was free to experiment and do things my own way. I'm always conscious of my safety but in a community, you need to be conscious of others safety. I can wear a padded vest and Versaflo helmet at home and turn risky wood. Not allowed in the community space. You need to be meticulous about cleaning up and placing everything in the proper place in the community shop. In my space, I can cover a partially completed piece with a plastic bag and leave in on the lathe. Shavings on the floor if I'm too worn out to clean them up until tomorrow. In the community I would take the piece off the chuck and take it home.

If you like to socialize, follow the space rules, and have fun turning all types of traditional turned pieces, a community shop is a great place. If you like to push boundaries, take risks, or make all your own policies, your own space might work better. Of course, you can be as conservative as you choose to be in a home shop too. A community shop may already have a lathe set up for turners with disabilities and some persons with experience in that area. Could be a consideration.

 

[Jon Vates]

I work at a place with a large community wood shop. There are 6 lathes, and we teach classes. I turn there at times. The community space has many advantages. Learning and sharing with others, socializing with people of like mind. Access to a lot of tools I don't purchase and store. Ability to try out different tools, lathes, and methods without making any prior investment. Sharing, trading, or buying various wood, used tools etc.

Little update from the start of my post. All the replies here have been SUPER helpful!

What @Darryn Achall mentioned above sounds more along the lines of what we'll be looking to do. Ultimately my brother in law Jon can't turn by himself (due to some disability issues) and my wife and I have agreed a community space is the safest way for him to be able to keep doing what he enjoys. Already sold off some of the gear / wood supply. Will be posting a few other items for sale here in the near future.

In the meantime Jon will just keep working on smaller / less risky projects as he also builds civil war style long rifles.

But in the spirit of this thread.... if anyone cares to post more shop photos I won't complain - what you all have is awesome.

@John K Jordan - wow - I love the composite shot of that build! That's cool you know the Pittsburgh area!

I found a DREAM property for sale with an already existing shop on 10 Acres on the edge of Moraine state park!
Downside is it is many hundreds of thousands out of my price range :-(

LOL, c'est la vie!

Mark & Jon

 

[John K Jordan]

I found a DREAM property for sale with an already existing shop on 10 Acres on the edge of Moraine state park!
Downside is it is many hundreds of thousands out of my price range :-(

Don't give up! My Lovely Bride and I lived in a city here in TN for over 30 years but I always wanted to be surrounded by trees and fields and animals instead of cars and radios. She spent five years looking at properties all over the area, keeping notebooks with pictures and maps, would take me out to look at some in the same area.

She saw a listing for the place where we live now, took a look, and left immediately. It was all grown up, not tended to. However it had a good timberframe house, some out buildings, underground power. 27 acres, woods and fields. The guy who owned it moved out of state and didn't get a single offer in a year.

She finally took me for a look and I LOVED it! I could clean up all the overgrown stuff. In poking around, I found an old barn hidden by the overgrowth. Since the guy couldn't sell it we got it for a song. Good privacy in all directions but close to drug stores, groceries, farmer's co-op and more. Remodeled the house, restored the barn, added to the buildings (including the shop), put in a new driveway and fencing, planted an orchard, raised horses, llamas, alpacas, peacocks, guineas, and get to play in the dirt whenever I want. Life is good!

View from the deck in 2004.


And the old barn, a few years ago.

View: https://youtu.be/NZo_qWMNm_8


Keep looking, you'll find something when the time is right!!

JKJ