Woodworking / Office Combo Tips

[sneakyfast]

Hey guys....so my job situation changed and I know work from home. My house does not have room for an office so I"m trying to make it work out in my 14 x 12 woodshop.

Does anyone have a woodshop/office combo with good tips and pics?

 

[Red Leader]

Maybe a dust collector?

What kind of office are you going to have? Depending on what is in your garage, whatever you have out there may end up smelling like sawdust or other things, but I think the dust control would be a top priority.

~Dave, who is casually reminded that he does not have any dust collector...hmm...

 

[sneakyfast]

Maybe a dust collector?

What kind of office are you going to have? Depending on what is in your garage, whatever you have out there may end up smelling like sawdust or other things, but I think the dust control would be a top priority.

~Dave, who is casually reminded that he does not have any dust collector...hmm...

ha ha....dust....that was the tips I was looking for.

 

[Jack Olsen]

I've had to move my chair and computer into my garage a few times. I can't imagine doing any sanding or cutting without getting the stuff back out.

What furniture/equipment do you use for the office work?

 

[Zeke]

I've shared woodworking space with other projects that are much cleaner in nature. I cover them up with a freshly washed sheet. I keen the shop out completely after work. The next day I can take the sheet off, wash it and work on the clean stuff.

Yea, it's more work.

 

[fergus]

Maybe a cabinet to enclose your computer/keyboard/etc when not using it? Dust collection for sure...maybe an overhead dust collector too? You can build your own if you don't want to spend the coin. Also, I've seen hoods (usually made of wood) built around things like chopsaws that help grab any extra dust.

 

[sneakyfast]

so here is my set up....you can see it's tiiiiiiiny. I put my computer and monitor on the shopsmith. So I think I can pop both off when I need to work. I don't have the space for a nice dust collection so maybe one of those that hang from the ceiling. Right now I use a box fan and cabinet filter....works ok.

Any other ideas?

 

[mgilde13]

Does the office HAVE to be in the garage? It makes more sense to me to take a small corner of a bedroom, living room, etc for the office. It keeps your computer dust free and your shop available to work in.

 

[sneakyfast]

Does the office HAVE to be in the garage? It makes more sense to me to take a small corner of a bedroom, living room, etc for the office. It keeps your computer dust free and your shop available to work in.

Unfortunately I've nothing in the house to use and with 2 little kids I would go stark raving mad.

What I've found so far is that I actually like being out here. I put in a A/C/heater so I'm comfortable. I am also surrounded by tools and projects and if I take a 15 minute break I can work on something productive.

The main drawback of course is how to keep the dust out of the keyboard and laptop. maybe I'll make something with a top hinge that I can close when it's time to work. The dust collector will be a must have soon.

 

[The J]

can you use some plastic dividers to isolate your office from the cutting area? maybe take the shower curtain idea and have a metal rod and curtains that you can close when needed? it wouldn't have to be big.

 

[Duker]

If your not producing a ton of dust then a ceiling mounted dust collector would help to remove the small airborne dust. You can find a scratch and dent Jet, Powermatic etc through the shipping companies on eBay (might require a little "adjusting" with a hammer) and save yourself some cash or if you can scrounge up a squirrel cage, box/attic fan etc, plywood and some pleated filters you can make one yourself. Here is one design. http://www.kevinsbrady.net/DustCollection.html#9.

 

[sneakyfast]

If your not producing a ton of dust then a ceiling mounted dust collector would help to remove the small airborne dust. You can find a scratch and dent Jet, Powermatic etc through the shipping companies on eBay (might require a little "adjusting" with a hammer) and save yourself some cash or if you can scrounge up a squirrel cage, box/attic fan etc, plywood and some pleated filters you can make one yourself. Here is one design. http://www.kevinsbrady.net/DustCollection.html#9.

Thanks bro. where do I go to find those scratch/dent?

curtain is not a bad idea but the space is so small that I wouldn't have any room to use the table saw. Maybe a sheet draped over them would work.

 

[The J]

I found this over in the 'garage computer' thread linked on the homepage.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2198400&postcount=13

A fold out panel exposes monitor and keyboard. Very nicely done.

 

[Alchymist]

I have everything in 2 bays of a 3 bay garage, and pretty crowded. In addition I have to move the ww machine out on the pad in front of the middle bay to do any cutting/shaping/planing. We have a lot of wind here, and the dust gets picked up and blown through the garage.

The wife saves all her worn out towels and washcloths for shop rags, and the larger bath towels make great covers for the tool boxes. Little bit of a pain to move to open the box, but saves a lot of dusting.

 

[Duker]

Thanks bro. where do I go to find those scratch/dent?

You can search Jet Air Filtration or Powermatic Air Filtration and usually find one or two. They come up quite often so if your not in a rush you can usually find a decent deal. I have a Jet that I bought that had some scratches and a ding in the corner from shipping that was easy to hammer out for about $170 bucks shipped. That unit usually sells for around $360-380 from Amazon, Tools Plus etc.

The nice thing is that they come with a remote so being the efficient (i.e. lazy) person that I am I have it Velcro'd to my table saw fence as a reminder to turn it on when I am cutting something on my saw.

 

[Shoottx]

Here is one of the better site on dust collection

http://billpentz.com/woodworking/Cyclone/index.cfm