I recently watched Scott Phillips American Woodworker episode of building a “Mission Table”, and there were a number of “questionable” practices.
– Post to foot and post to brace joints are simple butted t-joints held together with a large “scructural steel screw” and Gorilla glue. No tenon, not even a dowel. I’d expect a better joint in a cheap Ikea table.
– Through tenon with a tapered pin is used for the stretcher to post joints. The pin is a length of dowel cut on a slant. The hole through the stretcher for the pin appears to be drilled perpendicular to the surface of the post which makes it parallel to the surface of the post. Thus the pin is only tight at the large end.
– The braces under the top are cut so that their length is the same as the width of the top. The bottom edge of the top is tapered so there is a gap between the ends of the braces and the top. This is claimed to be a design feature. Looks like a mistake to me.
– The boards for the top are cut to length, then glued up. Makes a straight end with flush joints difficult to achieve. Maybe any bumps are delt with by sanding.
– All sanding is done after assembly. Seems to me it would be a lot easier to sand the individual parts before assembly.
Seems to me Norm followed better practices even in the first couple of seasons.
Replies
Watch it yourself: http://wbgutv.bgsu.edu/americanwoodshop/Episodes/Programs/1410.html
I've only seen a couple of his shows. That was several years ago. Geared for the beginner which has it's place. But I always thought he was kind of a dork :)
Paul
He is the guest of honor at the wood expo here every year and you are absolutely right his skill set leaves a lot to be desired. I'll give him credit though, he has no camera shyness. He is clumsy, inaccurate, and seems focused on rushing the job rather than doing something to be proud of. Seems to me that someone doing this this to show others how, IMHO should be a little more professional.
While Norm catches flack for his celebrity, I give him full marks for being a good teacher.
More than the poor construction, I was surprised to see how inept he was with tools. Every single one from the hand drill to the planer. What the heck was he thinking with that (push stick?) on the table saw? They cut away a few times just when he was probably getting into trouble. What a hack. Even if you can accept a screw for attaching the foot, why didn't he, at least, put it in the vice two feet away and attach the top bracket, too? How about that belt sander technique? Why didn't he just put a fence on the drill press? It was one completely incompetent move after another, even down to his brush technique on the shellac. No experienced brush man would pull it over the end towards the middle let alone stroke it out like that. It's obvious, this isn't a professional woodworker, he's a TV guy that is a hobbyist, pretending to be knowledgeable to those that are less knowledgeable. Is there anything different with any of the TV folks? It's a shame none of them can actually address safety and proper techniques beyond telling folks to wear glasses and read the manual. Maybe some of them should try it.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Just an aside, competence is a state of mind unrelated to profession. I constantly see exceedingly good work by hobbyists and professionals here on knots, and I cannot recall having seen bad work. In the magazine on the other hand..........
I've seen his various shows a few times over the past years. I don't think it is a matter of skills lacking but rather a matter of completing a project within a specified time to show results to sell certain types of tools. Now to a rank novice, what would that person's opinion be? I agree that what is displayed is of a "ham and egger" level.
Two very different but effective approaches to the half-hour woodworking program are represented by Norm and Roy. I've read that each episode of Woodwright's Shop are shot straight through, usually with one take and no more than three. Roy does prepare in advance with a prototype and partially completed parts to use for each step he's showing. Roy is obviously skilled and concentrates more on methods and skills than a step by step demonstration.
New Yankee Workshop takes a different approach. Norm also prepares in advance and builds a prototype. NYW attempts to show each major step for each project. Filming of the each episode stretches over several days with numerous individual shot and lots of time in between them. The process is shown for each episode as a once-a-minute slide show from a camera in the shop. http://www.newyankee.com/yankeecam.php
From the bio on Scott's website http://wbgu.org/americanwoodshop/aboutsp.html :"His approach: study the best then make furniture using correct techniques." I have no idea if he knows better but wasn't to make sure the projects are simple enough for the intended audience, or what. Popular Woodworking with their "you can do it" series does a good job of presenting projects for beginning woodworkers without teaching fundamentally bad practices.
The sponsors of American Woodshop are Gorilla Glue, Woodcraft and Delta/Porter Cable; and he does a good job of working the sponsors products into the show. Norm is also sponsored by Delta/Porter Cable but isn't overt about promoting the tools. In fact I believe the tools in Norm's shop have the labels covered or removed though it's simple for anyone knowledgable to identify the brands.
A 1999 article about Scott Phillips and the show is at http://www.woodworking.org/WC/GArchive99/3_31scotphil.html
It cannot be easy woodworking under the hot lights and camera and having to stay within a budget and schedule. When Norm Abrams called it quits, in an interview I heard him talk about the strain of packing so much into so little time - like having to build a lowboy in two half hour segments. Scott Phillips has been on the air with his show for a quarter of a century. His show was a contemporary of the New Yankee Workshop, both airing on PBS from the beginning of woodworking shows on television - when Norm was using a Delta contractor’s Table saw on the NYW. In the early days, Scott was much more hand tool oriented, and spoke often of His experiences of learning woodworking in his grandfather’s shop. He always has placed a strong emphasis on shop safety and working safely.
Whatever the faults that may be in these newer shows, I won’t criticize a man when I have not tried to do what he does or has accomplished. Classic Woodworking, NYW, American Woodshop, Woodsmith Shop - It is all good because it is about woodworking. Fine Woodworking, Wood Magazine, Woodsmith Magazine, the old American Woodworker magazine, Canadian Woodworking, Family Handyman - is all good - it is about woodworking.
I don't like adding to these zombie threads, but WOW. Thay guy and his shop are a train wreck. Painful to watch.
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