I, like so many of you, enjoyed that Norm Abram show. Pretty sure I have not seen every episode, so perhaps where I am going with this is flawed.
After watching a bunch of the episodes (when it was current, years ago) I began to get frustrated with it. There comes a point that I no longer cared about the latest power tool or router bit, what I really wanted to see was the thought processes and design consideration on the prototype build. Just how did you arrive at those angles and what are the trade offs?
I would have loved to have watched an episode or 12 of the prototype builds and what was gone through in creating the design and the plans. What was the process of duplicating that 17th century end table?
Norm's projects were certainly inspiring, but I really got to wanting to see more than just another shot of a board passing through a table saw.
I agree completely. I watched many episodes and on one of them Norm said I calculated this angle and am drilling the hole at 9 degrees. I instantly thought, Wait, that's the part I need to know, how did you get to 9 degrees or whatever.
I enjoyed the show but I got to where I wanted the background.
And I loved the old editorial direction of Fine Woodworking. Unfortunately TV shows and magazines are shaped by the greatest number of viewers or readers. And the greatest number is interested in projects that can be completed in a weekend or two. The greatest number also wants half hour shows and 2-4 page articles.
There's nothing wrong with that direction, but sadly knowledge and understanding is being sacrificed, in my opinion.
As I recall, a very large number of the New Yankee Workshop episodes began with Norm visiting a store, museum, friend's home, etc. etc.......where he would show some piece of furniture of interest and he would then ask the owner if he could take a few measurements. On some occasions, Norm would even buy a piece that he intended to replicate. On one episode, Norm answered the question of just where he was getting some inspiration and he showed a stack of magazines, catalogs, and books he used for a direction in designing/building a piece.....including the choice of hardware. Several episodes began with Norm visiting an antique store and looking at a piece that had failed in some fashion.....a cross grain panel that had split due to incorrect glueing.....a table leg that broke in a vulnerable place but which could be successfully made by selecting a better grain pattern in the leg blank. Some of his projects were designed on the spot to satisfy a specific need in a clients home like the kitchen series.
There were a multitude of approaches on that show and I think he did a great job of explaining why he was making something in the way he had chosen to make it. I often watched episodes of the NYW with no real interest in what he was making.....but real interest in how and why he did certain procedures.....in techniques.....in his choice of materials.....etc......etc.
I too had no interest in buying a $20,000 wide belt sander.....but, I sure had an appreciation for the man and what I could learn from him. Theres been no equal since.
Over the years on the NYW there was a gradual but obvious move away from using the tools of a DIY to the tools of a professional. This marked increasing support for tools from advertisers. Unfortunately, tools-that-do-all obviate the need to work-around with less sophisticated gear.
The upshot of this was less discussion of problem solving (which is for me the heart-and-soul of woodworking) and more directed machining (just do it this way). So we see the viewers being indoctrinated into believing that they need more sophisticated machines. Viewers want (need?) plans to build anything. They cannot work anything out for themselves.
There is a rebellion-of-sorts against this thinking and woodworking - the hand tool movement gathers and takes off. Many reject all machinery at the start, learn to build without plans, learn to cut without measurements, and take control of the shaping by using their eyes and hands. Today the pendulum is swinging back to a more sensible position for some: where power and hand tools work together, and where machinery is not the deciding factor.
No. My point is I wanted to see an episode where he *created* the plan. How are the complex angles determined? When implementation provided options, why choose the one you did...
Never had an interest in the plans, I prefer to create my own. Just very curious how Norm went about creating his.
I wanted to see the process of taking the measurements and a discussion of trade offs in a design approach. It is your second paragraph that I too was most interested.
I do not mean to take anything away from Norm Abram or belittle him in any way. If that is how my post came off, I need to work on my writing skills. Norm provided a lot of inspiration for a generation of wood workers and equally important, gave some insight into the efforts involved to those viewers who would never go on to pick up a saw.
I have met Norm a couple of times and he seemed like a decent guy. I am mostly self taught but I did glean some helpful info from NYW. But to be honest, I learned more about woodworking from Roy Underhill's show. I appreciated that he taught about the properties of wood....grain orientation, expansion, joinery etc..
Roy shot every episode on the fly...no editing. So you got to see difficulties, and if you paid close attention, you even got to see some blood! It was raw woodworking but gave me a better sense of how to work wood and the spirit with which to pursue it.
NYW was not Norm Abram's only activity during the years the show ran, and I expect each episode took two or three days to film. If my memory is correct, the credits always listed an additional person involved in the woodworking. My expectation is that Norm did not have the time for in depth design study and prototype development, nor did the typical viewer want to commit to a much longer show each week.
Fine Woodworking, #99, March/April 1993, featured Norm Abram on the cover. According to the article, each show cost under $100,000.00 to produce. Each project was fabricated three times: first a prototype along with any jigs, stock preparation, etc., next a filmed version, filmed in 2 days, and finally, a third for pictures and plans for a future publication.
Filming was done in a barn workshop—not a studio -- built by Abram for the show producer. A production crew of six completed each tape, and when filming only two were in the shop with Abram – cameraman with shouldered camera and a grip to keep the camera cable from being underfoot. Was definitely a low budget, but highly successful operation.
It was an advertisement for Woodcraft Tools. I can't recall anything I retained from watching this show that has helped me build stuff. It was occasionally there but it didn't stick and hence was useless. I never saw Yankee Workshop.
Roger, I was born in Niagara Falls and grew up alternating between Clark Mills where my mother lived and Long Lake, NY, where my father worked. I am quite at home with Yankees, so long as they are not city folk or Millennials. I never watched the show because we didn't own a TV when it was first broadcast, and would not have had time for it if we did.
We must remember that Norm is not a cabinetmaker nor furniture maker. He is a house builder. Who ventured into making furniture for the New Yankee Workshop show. Most of the episodes begin with him visiting some place where some interesting piece is housed. He then measures it and attempts to make a copy of it. IE he does not to explain how the piece is designed nor how he got an angle etc. He is just making a copy of it. On the ones for the shop, there is no real design angles etc. It is mostly practical. Just my view. And I have seen most if not all of the episodes. Your mileage may differ.
Re: Norm is the (unwitting) father of hand toolers
TomD
Derek, the thing was that if you really look at it, Norm's strength was his hand tool skills. Not his ability with dovetails, but his ability to saw, chop, and cut to a line. When he whipped out a hand saw, he cut to the line. I used to do a rehash of every show, during the first year, on listserve, or something, no forums then, and had to wade through dozens of bad mistakes with wood movement, or safety. It wasn't his design skill, power tool savvy relative to cabinetmaking power tools, or wood construction that made his show. it was Norm, and norm did have some hand skills.
By the time that came along, I was pretty much worn out by TV woodworking. But again, he had real skills. He was too slick by half for most guys, but that was just chance with his looks. I remember a fascinating piece on cutting dovetails that was really cool. It involved using a hand saw upside down and dangling. That was in the pro run-in. It's TV: A guy who really knows, is regarded as not knowing, and Norm who went ahead on his personality, became an Icon. Norm does have a great way with TV.
Roughcut did not feature Woodcraft among it's sponsors. You're thinking of The American Woodshop with Scott Phillips. No wonder you didn't get much out of it. Roughcut is now sponsored by Fine Woodworking magazine and continues to feature professionals who make a living making furniture.
