Norm and His Turning.....

Re: Norm and His Turning.....

Keith Tompkins

>I'd like to see the outakes on THAT ! The skew probably ended up stuck in the ceiling. he he

Well, that episode is from 1994.

John K in Hastings, MN

>Now he uses an MDF template and a copy jig. His technique hasn't improved much. Maybe when he did the bowl turning episode he shouldn't have visited a guy who uses a router instead of a gouge!

John

Cheap shots

Jim Engel

>Some people like to feel superior by taking

a cheap shot at Uncle Norm.

He is brad nailer crazy.

He finishes with a brush.

Apparently some of the pseudo sophisticates

find his turning style crude.

But at the end of the day he has

a national television program,

gets all the free tools he wants,

travels anyplace and in general

has the world by the tail.

Not bad for a carpenter.....

Re: Norm and His Turning.....

Doug Jones, mid-west Indiana

>As a newbie to turning, I was wondering where is it written that a turner must use a certain tool to make a desired cut? As long as we are having fun doing our thing and the final result is pleasing to the turners eye, why question someones method.

Not trying to offend anyone, just trying to understand more on this hobby.

Re: Norm and His Turning.....

Bill Howatt

>You are right. Richard Raffan and others use tools in ways that nobody thought they could be used.

Norm is a target for turners because his turning skills are basic and don't come close to the skill level required to build his flat projects (in spite of the brad gun). I don't think that condones making fun of him but once somebody is "an authority" it makes them a target regardless of the occupation.

Bill

Re: Norm and His Turning.....

Wally Dickerman at Green Valley, Az.

>I watch Norm and the NYW on a regular basis, and enjoy it. Norm is the "how to" guy and I've learned a lot of tips on woodworking from him. However, when I see Norm using a tool, any tool, in ways for which it wasn't intended, I find it surprising. For instance, I've seen Norm use a skew as a scraper when he could get much better results by using it properly as a cutting tool. When thousands of woodworkers are watching and learning from Norm, I feel that perhaps he could sharpen his turning skills a little to at least use the tools as they should be used.

Wally

Watching Norm right now.

Joe Pack

>Norm got me interested in woodworking. I don't care if he uses a router for a hammer, he makes stuff that I envy (both in finished product and in time to do it). Other stained glass artists laughed at my slip-joint mechanic's pliers and Red Devil hardware store glass cutter, but they didn't laugh at the work I turned out. When the lead was applied and grouting finished, nobody knew their product was done with diamond saws and grinders worth $1500+ and mine was done with garage sale equipment.

Go Norm! Flannel is cool. And I would LOVE to have him to my house for dinner. (Bring the brad gun, Norm, we have some work to do.)

Re: Watching Norm right now.

Dick Hines

>I like to watch Norm and wish I had a work shop half as good as his. I did not see the show Wally is talking about. To busy turning my self.

What I would like to see the out takes of the shows. NO wood worker ever measures correctily every time. I father and grandfather bilt houses, cabnits, and boats and even they screwed up. I bet the out takes would be a hoot.

You rock Norm.

St. Norm is way too cool

Rodney Jenkins

>to use "regular" stuff. Heck, if he uses a screw driver as a parting tool, that's innovation, or "Yankee" ingenuity.

When I was strictly a flat-worker, one of his forays into the hallowed world of turning gave me confidence to believe I could do it. In hindsight, it wasn't exactly Raffanesque, but it got the job done, and believe it or not he didn't use one brad on the turned stuff.

I would venture to guess that Norm has been responsible for more people becoming interested in woodworking than anyone else in our time.

I'm writing him in for President.

Norm for President?

TDaniel

>Sounds like the best candidate to me. I bet he can balance the budget even. Where do I sign up?

TD

Re: Cheap shots

Mark Kauder, Phenix City, AL

>I don't disagree with the general feeling of your post, but for your information, the shop and the tools belong to the producer, not Norm.

Mark

Re: Cheap shots

Keith Tompkins

>One of our club members is good friends with Norm. He brought in photos of a day they spent together at Sturbridge Village, Mass.

He commented on the remarkable growth Norm has experienced in front of the camera as well as a woodworker.

Yes, we make fun of ol' Norm, but I think it's mostly innocent kidding around. One of the things that impresses me most about woodturners is their willingness to share their experience with others....in fact, I bet most of you would jump at the chance to help Norm with his technique.

Re: Norm and His Turning.....

Keith Tompkins

>Hi Doug, you've brought up a good point. If someone is happy with what they produce, there isn't a problem.

the problem develops when the new turner runs into a brick wall....his tecnique,(or lack of) prevents him from progressing as a turner. As a result, the turner repeats the same mistakes time after time and becomes frustrated. The pieces produced this way will require more time sanding than it took to turn. Truthfully, a piece produced in this manner is immediately obvious to any fairly skilled turner.

Sure, a skew may be used as scraper with satisfactory results, but the same tool in the hands of an expert can produce almost unbelievable results.

As I posted before, many turners approach the lathe with a sense of fear or trepidation....that fear can only be overcome with experience and proper tool usage.

I encourage you as a "newbie" to watch an accomplished turner at work. Instead of a sense of fear, you will see confidence in knowing exactly what a tool is capable of producing.

When a turner reaches this level of proficiency, there is no limit to what he can produce. Hope this helps.

I don't see how...

Mike Schwing from Maryland

>...I could help Norm with his technique but I'd be happy to try. Actually I probably could but I'm sure he could help me with my nail gun and biscuit technique. I saw that rocking chair episode and was wondering where that skew was going to wind up. Fortunately it was just to make a decorative V groove.

I dunno..

Mike Schwing from Maryland

>His accent is a little too "Kennedy-esque" for me.

Re: Norm and His Turning.....

Mark Kauder, Phenix City, AL

>I don't think that Wally was is any way making a cheap shot at Norm. I think that his post was that Norm could use a little help in his tool technique - and by doing so, expand the knowledge of the Non-turners that watch the show.

No flat woodworker would appreciate it if Norm Picked up a pneumatic brad nailer and proceeded to use it to hammer in a brad. Yeah, it would work, but isn't that the same as using a skew as a scraper.

I enjoy his show as much as the next woodworker, I do have my "Groans" over some of the things he does (wood shavings to burnish everything he turns, etc) like my favorite is when he says that he is going to show me how I can make this ..... and then uses things like a $10k belt sander to run the project through. Why can't he show me how I can do it with normally available tools, AND the high tech. Pneumatically Brad Nail one end of a "Draaaw" and then hand nail or clamp the other end?

One poster was right when he said that Norm can go anywhere - that includes Nick Cook's shop for one day to learn the proper use for a Skew.

These are not cheap shots - they are critique.

Mark

NYW meets ORW?

TDaniel

>Hey Mark, maybe its time for the New Yankee Workshop to spend a day at the Old Rebel Workshop? Tell Norm to come down anytime and we'll get this turning thing straightened out. This offer is real!

TD

Re: NYW meets ORW?

Mark Kauder, Phenix City, AL

>Then we really will mess up his audience!! ;)

They will all think that they have to have a VB36, but only three tools!!

Skew, Norm, you don'd need no darn Skew!!

Mark

Cheap Shot Reconsidered

Jim Engel

>OK, I withdraw the "cheap shot" characterization

and accept it as "relavent commentary."

But I still think you need to consider Norm's

presentations in context.

He has 25 minutes to finish a project and the

show must be reasonably interesting to the casual

channel flipper.

Most people in the beginning do not really know

the function of things like a "joiner" or a planer

or a lathe. (That was certinally true of me

when I first began watching.)

Most people, and this was where I was a few

weeks ago, do not even know the names of the

various cutting tools such as a gauge or

a skew.

I still don't really know which are the most

appropriate, but I do understand that in order

to progress I need to know, and I need to know

how to create and maintain the correct profiles

and sharpness.

To me Norm is the great introduction, makes it

possible for beginners to understand that they

can do serious woodworking to.

Yes, it is easy for those with a little

experience to be critical.

My personal major objection is the use of tools

that are way overkill for the project at hand.

Several thousand dollar band saws, industrial

Kreg jig equipment and quasi industrial sanding

machines are to me way out of place.

Perhaps this is what you have to do for

sponsorship.

On the other hand, Norm does demonstrate

simple jigs such as the sliding table and

templates for making shelf holes that are

really useful for the beginner to understand.

The guy who needs an eight inch joiner or

15 inch planer does not need norm to show

him how to us it.

Norm's show is basically for the beginner, and

all in all I think he does a good job.

Most projects the average guy can relate to and

see that if he really wants to he can do it to.

Sure, spray finishing is a big time saver, but

saving time is not really what this is all about.

There was a big to do about this in Fine Woodworking a few years ago when they put

Norm on the cover.

All sorts of people had their shorts in a knot

because, to them, Norm's work was not "fine"

enough for him to be on the cover.

I find this attitude really annoying. Norm

does not make any big claims. He just goes

on television and says "Hey, I made this, and

this is how I went about it."

Norm has done a lot to advance amateur wood

working, and I think we should be appreciative

of his contribution.

Now let me try and be part of the solution

and make a recommendation.

Those who are not aware of the Woodworking

at home DVDs should take a look at this

web site:

http://www.woodworkingathome.com/index.html

I really like these vidio presentations. They

have more time, and they use it well. Their

tools are reasonable, that is, something most

amateurs can hope to afford at some point,

and, to me at least, the lathe presentations

are really interesting and informative.

Norm is what he is and is limited by his 25

minute time frame.

Those who want something a step up should

look at the available options rather than

wishing Norm could be somehthing that is

not really possible in his format.