Those FWW video workshops of the last couple of years or so have been very high quality, both technically and in terms of the amount & detail of information given about design, joinery and tool use. But ….. how often are we to get a new one?
The last full-blown workshop video seems to have been the Pekovitch small cabinet item from December 2019. There’s been a very useful P Edwards one (to me at least) recently about hammer veneering and hide glue but it didn’t have the depth of the full-blown make-a-thing videos.
My personal ideal would be a workshop video like the Chris Gochnour Enfield cabinet series in which only hand tools were used albeit on pre-prepared parts which were possibly from jointer, planer and table saw. Nevertheless, I learnt many things about hand tool techniques from that series; and a bit of joinery.
So I would like another please. Let it be about a veneered item (part-veneered at least) with perhaps some stringing & banding included, using hand tools. Alternatively, how about a hand tool only Arts & Crafts item inclusive of things like wedged through tenons, butterfly inlaid “tenons” on a top, simple carved edges and so forth?
FWW has access to many excellent woodworkers, some of whom are good at the presentation as well. To me as a Limey, some of the presenter’s accents are also attractive … and some not. I could listen to Chris Gochnour drawl all day. Throaty-burr talkers …. not so much. Lads with Southern States accents are often a pleasure to listen to (e.g. Doug Stowe, Brian Boggs) …… .
Get on with it then! 🙂
Lataxe
Replies
Tough to do a video production during the pandemic.
Yes dude, it is very tough to make a video during this crisis. We aren't allowed to go outside and even if we are going we were told to wear a mask. Just praying to get rid of this virus and life gets back like it was before.
I hear ya! The Pekovich cabinet started in December but ran until April. We have a few things coming up that we're pretty excited about.
Early next week we will be releasing a 5-part series with David Johnson. In it he makes a stool with a woven Danish cord seat.
A few weeks after that we'll start releasing a video workshop with Chris Becksvoort. Also in the can is a Bob Van Dyke doing shaded fans. We have some other things in the works as well.
Covid has absolutely messed with our production schedule, but luckily we shoot content pretty far ahead of when we release it. That said... ya... it's hard right now, but we've got some great stuff coming out really soon.
Yes I would like to see more, too. Mike is one of my fav’s because I can relate to him (IOW he’s not perfect).
I recommend watching them twice, or maybe three times. You will see things you missed every time.
I think I’ve watched the Phil Rowe lowboy four times and learned something each time LOL!
@RobertEJr the Phil Lowe videos and Matt Wadja videos have been my video bible for sensible woodworking. I learn something new every time I watch.
Looking forward to the David Johnson videos!
I'm a Mike Pekovich believer, "part man (hand tools) / part machine " woodworker. I steal whatever he provides in techniques and style. Recently began building his video workshop "Hanging Wall Cabinet." Also highly recommend taking one of his courses at the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking. I built his tool chest at the CVSW. I'm recovering from a successful stem cell transplant (courtsey of Leukemia) and in this long recovery phase I am reading, following, and implementing, all things Pekovich as I slowly get my strength and health back. One of the best books I have read on woodworking is Mike Pekovich's https://www.amazon.com/Why-How-Woodworking-Approach-Meaningful/dp/1631869272/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Pekovich&qid=1594223863&s=books&sr=1-1. Well written with some great projects and techniques that follows his video workshops. FineWoodworking has really upped their game in the video workshops. Starting with the Pekovich Hanging Wall Cabinet the detail in techniques used, quality of explanation, useful follow along plans and articles, great camera work, plus the instructors are top notch and get their styles presented in an interesting way. The video workshops really make FineWoodworking something I continually look forward to with each new edition.
I ordered that book on June 22nd but the tracking says it shipped June 26th. When click on tracking it says we're working on your order. Wish they would work faster.
That Pekovitch small cabinet series is very good indeed for quantity, quality and breadth. As he mentions at the start, there's a great deal of doing in such a small item.
As with his book, I like his yatter about the how and why. Too many of the older videos of FWW are rather too rapid, skating over operations that need a far greater exposition. The more recent vids have seen a step change in .... well, the how and why.
Of course, I cannot be a fan of Mr Pekovitch or anyone else! This will only feed their egos, which is bad for them. Also, he may eat babies when off-camera, a practice of which I disapprove! :-)
It's easy for we Blighters to find fault, of course. "Stop using that dangerous tablesaw and its dado cutters! Get a sliding carriage and forget those great MDF jigs"! But the vids are Yank and so we Limey must make do.
Myself, I would like another Gochnour vid with hand tools only. That lad pulls out some gleamy things from his many posh tool cupboards and straight away I want one, even before seeing how he uses it artfully to make a part for summick. Also, I find his little trouser hitch-up every time he's about to he apply a tool to the task rather endearing.
Lataxe
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