Thread: Keeping the Peace With No Workshop.

Well gents, I need some advice! My wife has an aversion to my restoration work. "That's not in the house [stuff]!" It would seem the most active restoration activities I am allowed to do in the house is: honing, finishing & sealing scales, light hand sanding of blades. Anything more is a no-go !

It's not like I'm kicking up huge clouds of sawdust, or making enough noise to wake the dead. We have no kids, and only a Sheltie (dog) for a pet. I do everything possible to minimize any mess made, though my tools sometimes "lay around" a bit toward the edge of the rooms.

What can I do? We live in a three bed, two bath, rental with no garage, and only a storage shed (no power) that is near capacity for outside spaces. One bedroom is her work office (computer means dust is no good). The other is her craft office. That room is... a rack of shelves on each wall, plus her desk, and many totes stacked on the floor.

Have any of you gentlemen figured out ingenious ways to do restorations with angering SWMBO (or having to factor in the weather & time of day)??

Get a portable cart, roll the shop outside..

Then give her a night of the week where there are no razors ,, only her.

I did get a portable tool chest/cart thing, but that is no solution. It just helped me better organize my tools. There are 5 or 6 steps to get in or out of our house. And there is no walkway to the shed in the yard, where that cart is currently. Does this qualify as "between a rock and a hard place"?

My cart stays in the house, I roll it out on the small porch & then run an extension cord back inside.

How about a small monthly payment, for a rental storage building. Then you can really leave her alone, and she won't know what you've accumulated. [emoji6]

+1 on what Mike said

Find a single, old, rich woman in the neighborhood with a garage, who likes young men. Slip over there a few days a week & do some yard work.

She will let you turn her garage into a shop.

I guess I'm going to take a different approach and, instead of trying to come up with a physical solution, ask what her aversion to the razor work is. Hirlau's comments on spending time with her is one reason why I tend to hand polish instead of investing in a buffer as I can use the former while camped out in front of the TV with my wife. A mess is another problem that is understandable but it seems that some accommodation could be made. You mention her having two offices, one for computer work and one for crafts. Any chance of sharing that second space under the condition that you keep your tools and projects organized and confined to a workbench of your own? If you manage to negotiate this compromise I suggest you make your very next purchase a shop vac to cleanup after working plus whatever you need to keep your tools and projects organized.

I'll admit, I'm not fighting this issue as I'm in a house that is rather over-sized for just two people (long story). I have the ability to take messier work outside or to a basement but my lovely wife is much more sensitive about me sneaking off to play with a hobby when she's home. That means most of the stuff I'm currently working on tends to sit on the lower level of the end table next to my chair, which I try to keep as neat and orderly as I can. At the moment my hones have taken up near permanent residence on my breakfast room table but my wife tends to be understanding and knows that if we have company coming over I'll pack them off to a hiding place. In fact, one of my next purchases is likely to be a toolbox from Harbor Freight to house my razors, hones and whatnot when I'm not working on a project.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that relationships are about compromise and balance. If you can rationally discuss the issues you can probably figure out a compromise that works. Oh, when it comes to small projects that tend to be messy I often retreat to the porch, a small Husky folding table and a folding chair. Those are options that I'm sure you can find room for!

Really? Office and craft room?

Methinks Phranky would be saying one not both - so your office just became your office / craft room, or if that doesn't work for you, pick which side of our craft room you want...

Maybe I'm in one of those moods...give and inch and you've already lost the mile...

Phrank and I are kinda on the same wavelength here but I'm trying to be a bit more diplomatic about it. One thing I've learned in ten years of marriage is that intentionally starting a fight pretty much never gets me what I want.