There’s little doubt that television is responsible for much of the woodworking boom of the last 20 years or so. I count myself, in fact, among the many whose introduction to the craft came from one or more of the woodworkers who populate Saturday morning TV. Only, my story is different from most.

It was 1986, and I was a writer at Good Morning America. My job was to produce segments of the show. Typically, we writers would pre-interview the celebrities, politicians, and other guests by telephone a day before they were to appear, then write the script for their segment.

Once in a while, a segment involved a live performance or some other piece of on-camera business, like a demonstration. Such a segment might require an extra day or two of preparation and, most likely, at least one rehearsal. It was one of those segments that got me started in woodworking.

My assignment was “that guy with the beard from This Old House,” Norm Abram. He was getting a spin-off of his own, The New Yankee Workshop (TNYW), and was making the morning show rounds to promote it. In the segment, Norm would demonstrate how to make a Shaker candle stand, which was to be TNYW’s first project.

Norm arrived in New York a day early for the rehearsal. The primary tool he would use, a band saw, was set up in a corner of the studio. Over the course of that afternoon, we worked out the demonstration step by step, with some parts of the candle stand pre-made and others to be made on camera, so that Norm could show the whole process in a six-minute segment.

Knowing next to nothing about woodworking, I had figured I might learn a few things. But as I watched Norm band-saw the candle stand’s legs, its circular top, and the blank to be turned for its column, I thought, “Now, here’s something I would like to do.” By the end of the rehearsal, after Norm had explained the sliding dovetails that attached the legs, the routed edge that gave the top its delicate appearance, and his choice of a hardwood to give the thin legs strength, I was hooked on woodworking.

Norm Abram made the cover of Fine Woodworking in March 1993 with his much-debated article Norm Abram: Carpenter Turned Furnituremaker.

Over the next few years, my two-car garage became a full-fledged wood shop. Thanks to a trusting wife who apparently never looked too closely at the credit card bills, I filled the shop with more tools than I will ever need. I’m happy out there on the weekends now, and even happier weekdays here at Fine Woodworking, where I’ve begun a second career.

As for that Abram fellow, the last I heard he was still in television.

Charlie Reina is an associate editor for Fine Woodworking.

Post your Norm story or read other stories in The Editors Mailbox: June 13, 2007 – rwbarone — I met Norm in Wyoming while I was doing volunteer work for the Sierra club. We camped in the Absoraka Wilderness to do some work on the…Read more June 12, 2007 — I heard Norm speak at a home show in Delaware when ‘Yankee’ was first being produced. Someone asked if tool manufacturers were sending samples to… Read more June 11, 2007 – Daryl — Norm is the subject of countless jokes from woodworkers. I hear oohs and ahhs from beginners on how Norm is the best; I’ve heard advanced ones… Read more June 10, 2007 – Westbrook — I couldn’t really say it any better than I did in my column for The Hollywood Reporter in February of 2006. I will say that Norm and Russell Morash… Read more June 10, 2007 – Globaldiver — I had dinner with Norm years ago when he visited Boise, Idaho to speak to the local Friends of Idaho Public Television board. He was remarkably… Read more June 8, 2007 – Rookster — Marvelous story about starting out in woodworking. I don’t have a firsthand story about Norm, but I think my in-laws may have been his last… Read more June 8, 2007 – potatohead — I’ve never met Norm as Charlie has but he has been inspirational to get me out of the house and into the workshop I’ve converted from a one-car… Read more