Propsmithing without a garage?

[Tinman]

So im well into a suit build and under unfortunate circumstances, me and my wife are unable to find a home in our new location with a garage. Im devestated at the loss of my man cave but will have to make do.

Are there other smiths out there that work without a garage? How do you do it? A dedicated room or do you have somewhere you can go? Just looking for tips so I dont have to pack up my half-built suit for 2 years until I can finish it :/

 

[OldSkoolEffects]

I started making props/costumes in a dorm room, and still don't have what I'd call a shop (I use the front porch, a tiny area in the basement, and my computer desk. It's amazing how little space you actually need to be able to get work done. I'd say get a good, organized workspace wherever you can fit it, only pull out material/parts/tools that you need, and keep it organized.

 

[Kevin Gossett]

I just recently got this table from Ikea to keep in my office

It's a gate leg table, so both sides fold down making it completely compact and storable. It also has 6 drawers, so you can keep your supplies handy. When you're ready to work, fold up the leaves and you have yourself a 6" work bench!

 

[WindPhoenix]

I do my work on the dining table or coffee table, I pull the stuff out when I work on the costume and put all the stuff away when I'm done for the day.

 

[Tinman]

Kevin that table is actualy a really awesome idea, pull it out and extend it when I need it, slip it into a corner when I dont, excellent. Main issue is sanding my stuff. Hoping to every deity I dont end up on the second floor and can have a patio or something. Thanks for all the advice guys, Now only to convince my wife to let me hang up my lightsabers in the living room...

 

[Talaaya]

That table is magical. I must have one. ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ

I have an apartment with a balcony so I can do a little bit of messy/fume-y stuff at my place, but the key is having friends who will let you use their garage! At least that's what I've been having to do. At my place I have a small space on my computer desk and another long thin desk which is dedicated to my work. During the cold weather I had been sanding in my bathroom with a tarp down and blowing the dust into the tub as best I could. I am so glad the warm weather is finally starting to arrive.

 

[Kevin Gossett]

The great thing about the table also is that it's solid wood... Not the typical pressed particle board that Ikea uses. Sturdy!

 

[Darth Lars]

I live in a two-bedroom apartment with a bathroom, a smaller spare toilet room and a balcony. One bedroom used to be my prop room until my sister moved in. I do most of my prop work on a dedicated desk, but a lot of stuff is also done in front of the computer as I often have to check against a library of reference images. I can only have one project on the desk at one time - otherwise they are packed away in shoe boxes and in the closet.
(Wet) sanding and gluing is done in the small toilet room where it is easier to clean up a mess and there is better ventilation.
The living room and kitchen area are off limits for prop work, kept neat and tidy.

Spray painting is done on the balcony, but the weather is too cold for spray painting for many months of the year.
A few times I have used a large cardboard box turned on its side on a table on the balcony, with tealights for warmth. Two tealights inside a box can make make it warmer than room temperature inside the box even if it is below freezing on the outside. Just avoid spraying directly at the flames.
I also often warm the can in a bucket of warm water before spraying.
In less severe weather, I sometimes warm the sprayed parts with a heat gun a few times, and I move the sprayed prop parts into the spare bathroom after an hour or two when most of the fumes are gone.

Furthermore, I have moved away from polyester resins completely - I use epoxy instead. I also avoid oil-based paints and solvents. I am hyper-sensitive to strong smells and I wouldn't use those even if I had a dedicated workshop.

 

[Tinman]

These are some friggin great ideas guys, theres hope for me yet. I was really down-trodden when I thought id have to hang up my respirator and rubber apron for a long while. Thanks a lot, youve given this Tinman hope lol.

 

[coffeebot]

Furthermore, I have moved away from polyester resins completely - I use epoxy instead. I also avoid oil-based paints and solvents. I am hyper-sensitive to strong smells and I wouldn't use those even if I had a dedicated workshop.

Working from an apartment myself, I've heard a lot of people recommend this. One of the downsides though, is the curing time. I've been coating a pepakura in cool weather (below 20 celcius) and it took four days to cure. So, I'm going to add patience to the list. If you don't have a shop with spray booths and lots of space, you might have to just wait for warm weather.

 

[division 6]

I tend to do small cutting and grinding work in the bathroom since it's easy to clean.
Sewing on the kitchen table and assembly in the living room.

I do have the benefit of being in a house just no garage so large scale dremeling, painting and nasty chemical stuff like fiber glassing can be done out back.

 

[Anders]

Working from an apartment myself, I've heard a lot of people recommend this. One of the downsides though, is the curing time. I've been coating a pepakura in cool weather (below 20 celcius) and it took four days to cure. So, I'm going to add patience to the list. If you don't have a shop with spray booths and lots of space, you might have to just wait for warm weather.

Well with polyester and/or epoxy you could also make a small heated chamber (with light bulbs for examples ....) I made my first one using expanded styrene sheets, they work very well and they are really cheap.

At least for my experience, I started making props in my first apartment, i had a dedicated room (bedroom..) with some desks, etc ... I have done all the painting stuff on the balcony, but as said previously it's limited when the weather is convenient, and winter is really bad for it ...

I made the same, in my second, and third appartements, I always had balcony's, but as each move, my so called "Workshop" expanded ....

Today I'm in a house, with a "small (12 square meters)" garage and a garden, in spring/summer I do most of my stuff outside, but for all the other seasons, I work in my spare bedroom, which is also my main workplace, I have tables all around the walls and wall mounted rack shelfs (they are cheap, easy to mount, modular, etc .... and can handle lot of weight) well under each tables I also have drawer's towers

Well here's a small pic of some of my latest workspace http://pix.slic.it/pics/X578O7RcXdeeD5ybv9cl-workshop.jpg

At least my big tools are now located in the so named garage, cnc, 3d printer, drill column, circular saw etc ......... and also a paint station ( made from extruded styrene sheets too ... for the hell winter)

As I worked for a long time, and many places in appartments, I managed to deal with props making in a "bedroom", and how to deal with small spaces, I also build a suction table for the sanding work (but I still wear a mask every time and my apron, sanding can be most harmful than the resins themselves ...)

A good thing to have is an air purifier, like the alcion p100 ( 200$ / 20 square meters ) / alcion p200 ( 900$ / 35 square meters ) depending on the budget, it's to clean resin vapors unless you can open the window when working (or in the winter)

Well want to read next experiences !! need more tips too

 

[rebelliousbot]

I live in an apartment with a small balcony. I built a tool box/work station on the porch. Been working good for me so far.

 

[aetherdeus]

I've got an apartment with a small balcony - I have two tables from Ikea as the inside workspace for cutting, soldering and such. I've been doing sanding and sawing over a rubbermaid bin as a catch box and a big sheet of cardboard as a backsplash. Unfortunately, my neighbors haven't been very happy with power tools on the balcony, so I'm trying to keep that inside. A good dust/fume removal system will do wonders - squirrel cage fans are your friends! All my painting and resin stuff, I've been doing outside, weather permitting. You have to be a little more creative when you can't let sawdust and such spray everywhere, but don't worry, its very manageable.

 

[Shaugi]

Old dinner table in my bedroom. Then outside for anything a bit fume-y

 

[coffeebot]

That's awesome. Great side project.