Norm

[Cian]

Yes, it is amazing how well the show was produced. Norm made it clear that anyone can learn to do this. All you really had to do was have faith and provide effort.
Ag

I concur.  My dad gave me a DIY spirit, but Norm was the one who inspired me to get fully into "woodworking" and actually build a woodshop.  Norm is my wwing hero.

[Tapper]

You are too generous. 

Show us how Norm does it. Or, did you finally grow up ... half way?

Not sure what you mean with the "growing up" shot but don't really GARA. Looks like you're going solo in this one - own it.

Doug

P.S. BTW, was fortunate to meet ole Norm in person many years ago when the show was in it's hey-day. He made an appearance at the Home Depot at Perimeter Mall in Atlanta - couldn't have been nicer!

[Stwood_]

For example, he cut a blind slot on a plywood by dropping the sheet on a spinning blade, and he even pulled (not pushed) the sheet back a little as the blade was going --
Simon

I've done that many times, and still do. That's the way it was done until the router technique showed up.

I just got done putting hand slots on bee boxes, using that method.

[Handplanesandmore]

I've done that many times, and still do. That's the way it was done until the router technique showed up.

I just got done putting hand slots on bee boxes, using that method.

Many people drink and drive, and get away with it, without killing themselves or someone else. At the same time, many drunk drivers kill, and like-wise, many woodworkers suffer from serious kick-backs...when they perform unsafe cuts. It is a matter of probability, and the chances for injuries are high when unsafe techniques are followed. Norm still has 10 fingers even though he pushed a small workpiece over a dado blade with his bare hands only. Would I tell people to do the same even though Norm had done that injury-free?

Dropping a sheet on a bare spinning blade against a fence to cut a slot is an unsafe, dangerous method, no matter how one cuts it.

Simon

[Admiral]

We can all nit pick about bad technique, but take a look at what's being posted on YouTube as power tool tutorials and Norm still comes out on top. It is interesting that his Wikipedia entry notes:

Awards and recognition
The American Academy of Ophthalmology awarded Norm Abram its first ever EyeSmart Distinguished Service Award on April 23, 2009. The award was presented for "his steadfast commitment to safety and the prevention of eye injuries".[5][6] He begins his shows with a reminder about personal safety, specifically highlighting the importance of wearing safety glasses.

I don't know of any other TV woodworker who won a safety award......

Do I do things that I think aren't safe just because Norm did, well, no. But he's still tops in my book.

[Handplanesandmore]

Interestingly you brought this up as I was about to note that as I was re-watching my favorite NYW, I noted that in the earlier epidodes, he did not offer his famous safety warning message about eye glasses etc. Not only did he not wear any ear protection, he also sanded or routed all the time without wearing a mask.

So I suspect someone knowledgeable about shop safety (a production member or a viewer) gave them advice and the program included the opening safety advice in the subsequent episodes.

The NYW show remains as educational even after all these years....

Simon

[Handplanesandmore]

I don't know of any other TV woodworker who won a safety award......

Many safety awards have been given out in the woodworking industry such as https://i2.wp.com/cohenwoodworking.com/w....jpg?ssl=1, awards received by SawStop, etc.

But I think the top safety award should go to the countless and nameless shop teachers who spare no efforts in ensuring their young students to develop the basic safety knowledge and habits. Compare them to the many youtube cowboy woodworkers, and we know we are lucky that the kids are learning from a shop teacher and not from a youtuber who has had no basic safety sense or training.

NYW started in the early days and the prevailing safety standards could be different from the modern days' (Norm used a chop saw without dust collection, the thickness planer with no ear protection, and the radial arm saw without any blade guard; in his days, that might be the norm in the shop). But nowadays with the advancement of safety technology from dust collection (rated in micron) to sawstop to improved push shoes to noise-cancelling ear protection, there is no excuse not to adopt a better practice.

When I was young, I drove without a seat-belt on (there was no law on that). Now, the radar-sensors in my car make my road trips a lot safer.

Simon

[Handplanesandmore]

That's the way it was done until the router technique showed up.

The safer ways (in addition to using a router) to cut blind slots on a sheet include:

- using a jig saw against a batten clamped to the sheet
- using a circular saw against a batten clamped to the sheet (or better a plunge saw and track with the anti-kick back feature)
- using a tablesaw, but not dropping the sheet onto its blade -- position the sheet in place against the fence and raise the blade to cut through the sheet and PUSH to cut.

These methods have existed all along whether the router method became common or not.

Simon

[Admiral]

.......and the radial arm saw without any blade guard.......

Actually, I always lusted after his Delta turret type RAS, which did have a retracting blade guard.  

[Admiral]

Some might find this interesting, a listing of all the tools Norm used over 20 episodes, indexed to the episodes where it was used:


  http://www.normstools.com/index.shtml