I may be moving to San Francisco soon, so I'll have to wave goodbye to my spacious workshop. How have other people found ways to keep their woodworking hobby when living in an area where real estate is prohibitively expensive?
Turning pens?
My shop used to be about 30' x 30' and is currently crammed into the basement of a small townhouse for the same reason you note in yout post. I find that the biggest hassle is not being able to use TS, router and DC after about 8:30pm because of the noise. Other that that, you get used to the room constraints and, me anyway, tend to work in a little bit more organized manner to avoid clutter and associated safety hazards. Other than those, no big deal.... Hope it helps . . .
Rented industrial condo space.
Bands often have the same problem. Hook up with some other woodworkers, and you can actually get a good thing going.
Barry
Share space with BAD
" snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:
So, do you believe that no one here has a house? Or owns real estate?
When you get a chance, do a Google on the Bay Area Woodworkers club, and see if you can plan to at least chat with one or more of them when you visit next. There are a number of really good craftspeople living and working in San Francisco (city limits) who can hook you up with the latest solutions.
If you're going to be living in one of the other areas, such as the East Bay, check out
San Francisco has access to some of the best hardwood dealers in the world, and the area has a special relationship with the woodworking communities of Sonoma and Mendocino counties. There are a lot of talented wood dogs around.
Just don't count on setting up a big shop in Pacific Heights. Bernal Heights, on the other hand....
Patriarch, here for the duration.
Where in SF are you moving to? max
Move to a big city where the real-estate owners don't see you coming before you get there.
Can you spell H-u-n-t-e-r-'-s_P-o-i-n-t ? (Or have even the trashiest locations gone 'nanas in the 30 years since I left The City?)
Leon wrote: ...
Which particular big city might that be??? Isn't that a definition? :)
Houston, still the most affordable housing in the country. A nice new 2,700 square foot home can still be had for just over $160,000. 3,500 square feet normally under $200,000. Plenty of older homes in good shape with just under 2,000 square feet for under $110,000.
Steve WE had a cabinet/Furniture shop in Hunters Point and recently moved it to the Mission. Real estate is insane in SF. Hunters Point is supposed to be the best value in the country at the moment. They are building light rail down Third st and property values have skyrocketed. max
I'll likely be in SF for a few days in January sometime.
any chance for a visit?
There are ways to have a small shop or even a portable one, although you may not have a table saw, jointer, etc. Hand tools become important. I love SF, but too much $$$ and very small spaces. Take a look at the "WorkShop Book" published by Taunton Press for good ideas.
I live in an inner suburb of Boston, which while not quite as insanely expensive as SF is still on the pricey side. My workshop is a 9x12 room in the basement of our 2-family house. Currently it's just workbench, table saw and drill press, and I may eventually add a jointer. Fitting a band saw in will be tricky, however.
Look for houses with full basements (rare in SF, is my impression), or garages where you can park in the driveway (or put all your tools on mobile bases).
I would ditch a drill press for a band saw in a minute.
The longer I own a band saw, the more it's one of the top tools I own in usage time.
Barry
snipped-for-privacy@all.costs wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
Unmunge the email address, and send me the details. We'll set something up, if we can.
Patriarch
check your email...
hrmmp. yours just bounced. I'm at bridgerb cox net.
Heh, I believe that very very rich people own houses and have real estate - at least in the areas that I'd want to live in :). Call it Chapagne taste on a beer budget. I will check out the BAWC, that sounds like a good resource. If I could get a place with a two car garage AND in a good part of town, I'd be thrilled, but I'm not counting on it. Perhaps I should just accept my fate and live in the Valley and let my girlfriend have the long commute into the city :). Thanks for your help, George
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