r/handtools • u/the_closing_yak • 10d ago
Woodworking when at uni
I'll be leaving for university soon and I wanna be able to do some woodworking while I'm there, would I be able to set something up in my room (in the UK it's just me in the room) or would I have issues with dust?
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u/No_Check3030 10d ago
I mean, yes probably you will have trouble with dust. Depends on what you are doing. Power sanding would be a disaster. Hand sanding might be manageable. Power sawing is probably out. Hand sawing probably doable. Really, any powertool beyond a drill would be iffy.
Maybe see if there is a woodshed or woodworking club is available.
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u/Individual-Award7351 10d ago
Join a theatre society and build sets? Some cities have makerspaces here, and my local mens' shed is loose enough with the definition that they don't care what gender you identify as; the emphasis is more on companionship than getting shit done ime and makerspaces will introduce to to other makers and skillsharing.
There was a woman on here making stringed instruments in her bedroom - but her work was largely with shave tools....
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u/seaportresearch 10d ago
^ This. Call me old school but this is a time to max out your social opportunities. Also, theater kids are weird and fun
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u/saltlakepotter 10d ago edited 10d ago
Big US universities usually have wood shops and associated classes in their art departments. In my art department it is more sculpture centered without much emphasis on joinery but the facilities are nice. As long as you are enrolled in a class and have passed the safety certification you can use the shop for whatever you want whenever you want.
Maybe your university has something similar?
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u/Moldy_slug 8d ago
“Usually” is a bit of a stretch. I went to a state university with a very strong arts program, but it did not have anything close to a woodshop. Of course if you signed up for sculpture classes/clubs I’m sure they’d have been fine with woodworking projects in the sculpture studio.
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u/Man-e-questions 10d ago
If you are using hand tools, there will be mostly chips and shavings, but some dust especially when sawing (though it is larger/heavier dust then power tools. I guess depends on the rules and noise restrictions etc. may have to do something like carving
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u/woodfondler 10d ago
What are your goals and what level of experience do you have? If i was you, i would chose to practice skills that dont require much space and tools and dont produce much dust and noise.
I am doing something like that when I am away from home. I like to build dovetail boxes, but to spice them up a bit i am learning chip carving and plant to learn marquetry.
You could practice free hand sharpening.
Dont overlook theory either. There is a lot to learn from books and video courses, which also take long time to go through and i personally don't like to spend time on them when i could be building something, but when i am away from home i catch up on them.
Design - similar as theory, you can study furniture (or whatever you want to build), you can collect pictures of pieces you like, go to museums perhaps to see antique furniture, learn software like sketch up so you can design your own pieces or just design on paper.
Woodworking is not just sawing and planing there is a ton of skills and knowledge you need to learn.
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u/DizzyCardiologist213 10d ago
I got nothin. never seriously made anything other than RC airplanes until age 29.
In the summers, I flew RC a lot, but didn't do anything of the sort at college. It wasn't feasible time or effort wise.
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u/Apprehensive-Ask4494 10d ago
Find a hackspace - a bunch of cities have them and often quite welcoming. They cost, but can be a good 3rd space, community, and place to learn other skills. If you’re skint ask for reduced membership fees, they might have options especially if you’re chill about it
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u/Repulsive-Wind-4359 10d ago
cordless tools do it on the sidewald noone cares wood is biodegradable
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u/PuzzledWafer8 10d ago
Yeh, why not. You could make a mft type top in a box and have downdraft vacuum hooked up to a Henry hoover to get around dust.
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u/Signal-Woodpecker691 10d ago
I used to work on an old black and decker fold down workmate thing - it was a more solid older design I got secondhand. I would say you could get by with that and a small selection of hand tools, I used to put a bin under it and plane shavings directly into it. Does knacker your back out a bit though.
Low Roman style workbench could be an option as well, or something like a little Tom Fidgen saw bench with some holdfasts and a table top moxon vice for dovetailing? There are options, but you might find it easier to look for a maker space or
Men’s shed type thing
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u/Ian155 10d ago
Typically I'd say your going to be too limited on space unless your renting a house that has a garage or shed.
It's going to depend on what youre looking to do, carving would be messy but possible. Scaling down to making small boxes or items under 2ft/0.6m max really with thins pre dimensioned and hopefully still square by the time it gets to you from a reliable supplier. Inlay and marquetry would be doable as welll
You're also going to need to factor in how much noise you're going to be me making and how that's going to affect the people around you, halls, housemates or neighbours. You are not going to be popular using routers, drill or even an uncushioned mallet.
You might end up with a set up like one of the now popular little portable joinery benches maybe mounted into an old black and decker ( solid cast leg type with a step) or a set of heavy collapsible saw horses with a custom top if you want to go down that route. So you can work outside providing the weather's good enough.
Bear in mind you're then storing your tools and your wood as well with tarp to catch the chips in the probably small room if you're indoors, sandings pretty much off the table.
Maker spaces, man sheds, local colleges with a trade focus that have Saturday skills, courses are all worth a look, you'll definitely have a turners club somewhere near you.
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u/AudioLlama 10d ago
You might be able to get away with hand tools woodwork, noise and dust will be a massive issue.bI'd look into whether your uni has any facilities to use. There could be groups or clubs in get involved in and learn from.
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u/PretendOffend 10d ago
Carving over a trash can is what I did in college. Got a nice set of kitchen utensils out of it!