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Cian said:
Norm kept it real, and was one of my primary inspirations to nose dive into this mess. I do miss Norm.
+1
Formerly known as John's Woodshop
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I loved Norm as well. Like others, his show prompted me to jump into this money pit. I enjoyed his demeanor and his projects. I don't think a wwing personality since has as good of a delivery as old Nahm. I really miss his show.
Him and David Marks, the woodworking TV golden age
-Marc
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Doug_H said:
Allan and Clark
Your comments are interesting to me in two respects. First that Norm encouraged you and second that you had to get into the shop to learn.
Norm's show confused and somewhat discouraged me because he made everything look so simple and straightforward. To be fair I thought I knew more than I actually did and I did not watch every show. But -- I never saw a show where he explained that you actually have to set up a table saw, etc. You know, stuff like how to make the miter gauge actually 90 deg and how to make sure the rip fence is parallel to the blade. I do not remember much from him about about making stock four-square before you use it, etc etc. You know, boring stuff like that. So I did not get the results he did until I went outside the scope of his show and actually studied how to do it.
I guess that it all worked out in the end. I'm still at it after all these years.
Doug
He did always say to read and understand the owners manual. That way he didn't have to waste time showing what everyone was supposed to take the time to learn on their own.
See ya later,
Bill
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Bill_de said:
He did always say to read and understand the owners manual. That way he didn't have to waste time showing what everyone was supposed to take the time to learn on their own.
Most manuals don't cover all you'll need to do to get the best repeatable results from the machine in question. For table saws the thing that comes to mind is making sure the blade is parallel to the miter slots. There are plenty of bandsaw tips that aren't covered in the manual. Other things such as helpful jig techniques and construction would have been useful.
Norm did have a few shows where he covered some of those types of subjects, but I always wished for more.
I do realize, however, that Norm had a wider audience than me, and he needed to appeal to the most people.
Ray
(formerly "WxMan")
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Bill,
Just to clarify: I'm interested in this subject because of the present and the future. NYW is still around and beginning woodworkers may still see the show or one like it. Some may be misled, as I once was. I don't want to change people's memories, nor do I want to step on anybody's nostalgia. As I said above I have no grudge against Norm Abrams or the NYW or the people who it helped.
For any beginning woodworkers who happen to read this discussion, I feel that I should point out that successful woodworking requires a lot that is "off camera" in most WW infotainment shows. Until one has developed fundamental competence, WW may be frustrating at times, and you may not get what you need from watching videos. While I am at it, they are "sometimes" biased toward commercially beneficial methods (usually expensive power tool methods) even though there may be better ways. It's no skin off my nose (or fingers) if you want to be a cowboy, as I once was. But there is much more satisfaction (and safety) to be had from WW than is accessible from infotainment shows.
I was a bit of a cowboy, and not only did I make unsatisfactory furniture, I injured myself. It was my own fault Norm's show did not help me realize that I had to take time to learn fundamentals in order to be safe and effective. If anything his casual cheerful approach, infotainment that left out all the boring stuff, reinforced my mistaken idea that anybody could do what he did. So why couldn't I ? I must be a klutz. Well, I am a bit of a klutz, but that was not my problem. My problem was that I needed to learn quite a few boring off-camera fundamentals. If the NYW mentioned them it must have been pretty quick, because I missed those parts.
Maybe I was naive. But NYW seemed to be selling the proposition that you can learn by doing it wrong over and over until you miraculously get it right. The Music Man theory of playing an instrument. We all know that you can't become a good basketball player by watching basketball games and shooting hoops in the back yard. The same thing applies to WW. Most of the members of this forum know that, but, like me, they learned it for themselves. I doubt that they learned it from NYW. No, as somebody said in an earlier post, I don't expect NYW to be the North Bennett Street School. But it might have mentioned that every project requires adjusted equipment, four square stock, etc. It was shown on EDUCATIONAL television.
Well, sorry if this is becoming a diatribe. As you can tell, I am passionate about craftsmanship, WW especially. Shop work is soul work, and I believe the world would be a little better if it had more craftsmen. I want beginners to be attracted to the field, and NYW did that well. But then I want them to progress.
Cheers
Doug
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Love Norm, can't stand Tommy Mac. And Mac's show is definitely NOT female friendly.
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Doug_H said:
Maybe I was naive. But NYW seemed to be selling the proposition that you can learn by doing it wrong over and over until you miraculously get it right.
It's unfortunate you felt misled by Norm. You are likely in the small minority that feel that way. I'm certain it was not his, nor his producer's intentions to mislead or to even show improper technique. Except for the guards off his table saw, I never noticed improper techniques. As has been mentioned before, Norm started every show reminding viewers to read and understand the owner's manuals of every tool. For example, every table saw I've owned shows how to square blade to the miter slots, and the fence to the miter slots. Even my job site contractor saw had that info. Norm's show was not Wood Shop 101. More like Wood Shop 102 or 201.
Still Learning,
Allan Hill
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Thanks for your post Doug H.
I got it.
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Thanks, Paul. I always appreciate your views.
Allan -- yep. I know. I enjoyed the discussion a lot.
There is no pain like the pain of an undelivered speech. I've made my points. I'm going to stop beating this particular horse, now.
Doug
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I don't have TV, I've never seen Tommy.
Can you explain that comment for those of us who have never seen him?
