How can I do any woodworking ?

Garage or attic?

Wait till spring? Here is a story for you. My dad was a GC here in California. His shop was in an area where it was zoned for small business, light industrial use. Always a magnet for dumpster divers, recycle junkies and other assorted characters. This one retired gentleman kept turning up (he lived locally) and made friends with many of the shop owners. He knew how to swing a hammer and approached my dad to teach him a thing or two. My dad took him in and taught him all kinds of basic carpentry skills. He learned so well that my dad ended up hiring him as a day laborer on an as needed basis. Plus his wife was happy he was out of the house doing something he loved, and when he was home, he could fix many things himself instead of hiring out. Everyone wins. See if you can find a local carpentry shop, cabinet maker or independent GC that will take you in and let you use their shop?

Perhaps during the winter you could just take a corner in your small basement and put up the plastic painters tarps to hold in the dust and use it for the dirty, dusty work. We had a small open area in our laundry room that we used to refinish a whole kitchen of cupboards one winter.

My husband just started another half hull model. If he wants to learn a skill he watches you tube videos and reads up on it on the internet. But he is older and has had a lot of time and innate talent too, to hone his skills. The work bench on the left is where my husband does most of his small projects in wood. He also does printing and model airplane making in this area. Here is another project; small boats for some children we know.

Start with a small toolbox or plastic shoebox and store only woodworking materials. I would fill it with my wood burning kit, my wood repair kit, and s set of small tools like a screwdriver set, hammer that fits in the box, package of nails and screws, a measuring tape, and wood glue. I would buy a couple of building kits from Home Depot and start there. Build a birdhouse, a bird feeder, a wood tool box, a shoeshine kit—typical projects for beginners. Use the wood repair kit to learn how to use wood filler, wood glue, sandpaper, and color-matching for repairs. Use the wood burning kit to learn how to make block lettering, use metal stencils, and how to hold wood to work on it. Buy a small saw, even if it doesn’t fit in the toolbox, and other tools as you need them. Using small tools makes it more likely you will finish small projects in a small space. Best wishes ☺️

I would love to see your progress on Hometalk, even if the projects don’t turn out perfectly at first. Other people will learn as you go. Just take photos as you go, and write them up as a post when you finish something, or even about how you organize the tools and supplies you gather. Best wishes.