Has Sellers Gone Off the Deep End?

[David Katz]

Sellers the Class Warrier

[jgourlay]

He speaks well of Texas.  Sounds like he's discovered the truth and the right.  Come my friend, come for some ribs and texas red and you to can live in the promised land.

[hbmcc]

Ok, are those critters truly 20 feet tall? And, why aren't the horns strapped to a Caddie hood? 

I wish I could read an article with two paragraphs--or, maybe, that's a heading. The scattering of periods is a bit light. Difficult mechanics, as usual in Sellers soliloquies.  Anyway, I gather Sellers is suffering from the caste system back "home", now.

[Jim Waldron]

Between his pay site projects, his book on tools, and his YouTube inventory on procedures and such, Sellers has difficulty avoiding repeating himself, as i see it.  So he reaches farther afield to come up with new topics suitable for his intended audience of beginners.  So he ranges off into plywood workbenches and the philosophy of craft work, seasoned with laments for the loss of the past ways.  

I feel he has graduated from a crusty old curmudgeon to a bona fide certified old phart, and I find that I read his stuff very selectively these days.  On the other hand, I salute him for his contributions toward bringing more folks into the craft and his excellent guidance to those beginning on a thin budget.  He does that very well, if not perfectly.  I've found that most of his stuff is workable, with an occasional misstep or wrong-headed idea.

[Handplanesandmore]

Sellers was refreshing in his early years of blogging, touching on topics (all woodworking) not covered by others. In recent years, he has drifted. I no longer click on any of his posts unless the heading clearly suggests it is about woodworking techniques or tools. His style of pine/spruce projects is not something I do.

I am totally not interested in any woodworker's personal/family life, philosophy, political views, etc. I read woodworking forum posts or blog posts purely for the woodworking aspects. As soon as a blog owner writes about his or her past weekend vacation, or a new lapdog adopted, blah, blah, blah, I leave.

But remember that it is free, and we all have a free choice not to bother reading anything from any blogger, including Sellers. The control is always on your keyboard or phone pad.

Simon

[David Katz]

Sellers was refreshing in his early years of blogging, touching on topics (all woodworking) not covered by others. In recent years, he has drifted. I no longer click on any of his posts unless the heading clearly suggests it is about woodworking techniques or tools. His style of pine/spruce projects is not something I do.

I am totally not interested in any woodworker's personal/family life, philosophy, political views, etc. I read woodworking forum posts or blog posts purely for the woodworking aspects. As soon as a blog owner writes about his or her past weekend vacation, or a new lapdog adopted, blah, blah, blah, I leave.

But remember that it is free, and we all have a free choice not to bother reading anything from any blogger, including Sellers. The control is always on your keyboard or phone pad.

Simon

I'm actually a paying customer and have been since 2014....his "Masterclass" offerings have been worth the $15 a month it costs me. Even so, in the last few months he's drifted into puerile philosophizing. He's an uneducated man, which makes him painfully embarrassing to read. Lately it's been getting worse, and if it doesn't stop I'll be a former customer.

I've admired him for many years, and have learned much from his teaching. He's a true hand-tool enthusiast, and has impressive skills. Some of his projects are truly challenging, and he makes them look easy. Even so, the reminiscences of his boyhood apprenticeship with "George," which are clearly romanticized, his drifting into plywood projects using a band saw while wearing a space helmet, and most recently, his uninformed and childish political rants are almost too much to take.  It's too bad, really, but there it is.

[Handplanesandmore]

 which makes him painfully embarrassing to read. 

For one thing, he is no Chris Schwarz who has had a solid background in journalism and publishing for which good writing and editing skills are a must. Schwarz can write as fast and as much as he reloads the refill.

For some reason (probably partially for a business reason), Sellers thinks it necessary to keep his potential or existing followers engaged online, hence his continued writing even when he may have run out of strictly woodworking topics. He could become a victim of his own online success if he isn't being careful with the direction he is taking himself to.

Simon

[Nordic]

Yeah, he's definitely gone off the deep end.   From what I heard, he still uses hand tools!   



Honestly, he's done good for the genre.  He's entitled to a couple waferboard projects if he wants.  Maybe he'll inspire a few young'uns to curmudgeonry and Old Phartishness....

[Derek Cohen]

David, I sympathise. I have always had an ambivalent relationship with Paul. I greatly admire the passion and hand skills he brings to hand tool use, which have connected with so many around the world. I enjoy his videos and learn from him. I have linked to him in my articles. On the other hand, I find his philosophical ramblings have a religiosity that leaves me stone cold. These have an obsessional and bigoted quality that betrays unfinished personal business which he then projects onto many other areas. Examples are an over emphasis on certain tools, and that craftsmen are divided by class and financial standing. I would have thought that tools are just tools, and what counts is how they are used. And that a craftsman is determined by the end quality of his/her work, not where (s)he starts from. This saddens me as I otherwise have much respect for his early stuff.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[AHill]

It's hard to pass judgment on another unless you've been in his shoes. I found the article quite interesting. He describes a frustration in British society where - at least in his youth and younger adult life - placed an undue emphasis on class. It was refreshing to him to see that did not exist in Texas. I've noticed some of the class issues when working with the British Army as recently as the early 2000's. I noticed not a single minority in the British Army except in the mess hall, and those were of Indian descent. I heard some very derogatory terms used by high ranking British officers to describe our (US) African American soldiers. So, I can see where Paul is coming from. He has waxed very poetic lately in his blog. I don't read all of them. I read the one about his Texas years, because I used to live about an hour from where he worked.