Woodworking in an Apartment (It’s Actually Not Too Awful)

The Number One Thing That You Need To Know

The biggest problem with woodworking in an apartment is the noise.

Thankfully, that’s not actually a huge problem.

You see, the thing is, in an apartment building, you usually have people living above you and people living below you. If you’re on the ground floor, then the noise won’t be a problem anyway.

However, if you’re on an upper floor, you just need to think about what you’d do if you were living below someone who was doing woodworking with power tools.

The answer is that you wouldn’t mind at all.

Although the sound of a power tool is loud if you’re really close to it, it actually doesn’t carry through walls.

If you’re in an apartment, then the sound of a power tool is going to be coming from a different floor to the people who’d be affected by the sound of it.

Similarly, if you’re on the ground floor, then there’s no harm in making a bit of noise. It’s not like a drill is going to be too much of a disturbance for people on the floor above you.

What About Dust?

Dust is the other biggest problem with woodworking in an apartment.

However, there are two simple ways to get around it.

Get a Dust Extractor

A dust extractor is a type of vacuum cleaner that you can hook up to your power tools. They’re made specifically for woodworking.

This will suck up almost all of the dust that your tools generate.

Wear a Mask

If you don’t want to get a dust extractor, then you should at least get a mask. You can get one of those little paper ones that doctors wear. They’re cheap, disposable, and they do the job well enough.

What you want to avoid is getting the fine dust in your nose or mouth. It’s not really a big deal otherwise.

What Can I Make In An Apartment?

The only thing you can’t do in an apartment is to work with large pieces of wood.

You see, you need a table saw to cut large pieces of wood down to size. Using a circular saw is just too dangerous. However, if you have a table saw, then you’ll need a workshop anyway, making the whole point of this article pointless.

In case you’re wondering, a table saw is the most dangerous power tool you can use. The blade can easily catch the wood and be thrown across the room at you.

That’s why you need to use a table saw with a push stick. The push stick keeps your hand away from the blade, so you can’t accidentally catch the wood and drag it into the blade.

Anyway, the point is, you don’t have to worry about that if you’re not going to be using a table saw.

With that said, you can make a lot of things with small pieces of wood.

For example, you can make a wooden shelf, a bookcase, a small coffee table, a small bench, a wooden planter, a wooden coat rack, a wooden lamp, a wooden picture frame, a wooden desk organizer, or even a simple wooden box, just to name a few things.

You can also make decorative things like wooden signs, wooden letters, or even a wooden wall clock.

That actually gives you a lot of options, and that’s without even mentioning the fact that you can use your woodworking skills to make other things around the house.

If you’re the type of person who likes to make things yourself, then you’ll be glad to know that the things you can make with woodworking are practically endless.