"Popwood Shopclass on demand" review (Mostly Handtools and techniques)

[Peter Cobb]

I found this site a couple of days ago.

The series is mostly handtools/techniques and seems aimed at the newbie/beginner.

The videos include sharpening, workbenches, sawbench, finishing and the "exercises in woodworking videos". I don't own any powertools other than a jigsaw and a drill so haven't looked at the corded side of them.

I've watched three of the 20 videos. The connectivity has worked fine for me except for a period of time the site was down (they were apparently changing the streaming player).

The good: cheap access to hopefully reliable information with a really low "per film" cost (free if you take the 4 day "free weekend" and cancel before renovation time comes), and more important a "no delivery charge" (big issue for the geographically challenged).

The main disadvantage is you only get the "feature film" so any content that's included as a "data file" isn't accessible. (A bit of a bummer on the sawbench vid as you don't get the dimensions :rolleyes:) But the "on demand" bit gives you the option to decide if you would actually want to order a specific video at no/little cost.

Watching an experienced "saw sharpener" (Ron Herman) go through the process was very enlightening for me.

For those of us starting the up the Neander path, it seems a pretty good resource.

Cheers,
Peter
PD It "auto updates" every 6 months so remember to cancel if you no longer want access
Disclosure: I have no commercial or vested interest in this, just think it might be useful.

[Bob Jones]

Is the Chris Schwarz sharpening video up yet?

[Megan Fitzpatrick]

Is the Chris Schwarz sharpening video up yet?

Indeed it is. And if any SMC subscriber to the ShopClassOnDemand site wants any extras that were included with the DVD of a particular video, just send me an e-mail at the office (or a PM here) and I'll get them to you.

Cheers,
Megan

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Funnily enough, I just subscribed to this yesterday before seeing this thread. I was thinking of picking up a video, and then maybe another one to get the free shipping (it's funny how I'll spend another 20 bucks to save three, right?) and it occurred to me that it doesn't take many videos to make this a more economical version if you're not a person who watches them over and over.

I've liked it so far, my only quibble has been the extras (which Megan has so kindly addressed - although looking back, I realize a fair deal of the information is stuff I already have access to through books or magazines) and that when I go full screen, on my computer at least, I lose the play controls. So when I want to pause or rewind I have to pop back out of fullscreen. No big deal. It's also a little more difficult to find videos to watch after you've joined than it is to see what videos are on the site - you have to go through the "my shows" tab on the top, rather than the browsing options which makes it a little more awkward to find what you're looking for.

All in all, though, I'm pretty happy with it. I think I'll probably continue, at least for the first 6 month period.

I hope someday they could some of the Lie Nielsen videos on there!

[Peter Cobb]

The magic of the internet! Thanks Megan. .
Joshua, I agree the controls are a bit clunky, especially to rewind (sometimes the kids make a racket and you lose a bit of audio) but nothing serious. The new stream works a bit better.
They seem to plan on releasing a video per month. It would be great if the L-N videos were in the mix, but I guess I'm being greedy.
Cheers,
Peter
PD Another reason to love SMC, you never know when you'll get an answer from Rob Lee, popwood, etc.

[Megan Fitzpatrick]

Joshua, I'm told we've asked the site managers to re-install the full-screen controls. (And, we're working with them on making the site iPad friendly...but I'm not holding my breath on that one).

And Peter, I'll see where we are on negotiating streaming rights to non-PWM videos (e.g. LN) – I agree that it would be nice (I think Peter Follansbee's new-ish 17th-century carving video needs to be seen by as many interested parties as possible!). And yup - we try to respond to any/all questions – you can even call us on the phone if you want – we answer!

[Tri Hoang]

How about a non-flash streaming version of the site (ipad compatible)?

[Zahid Naqvi]

I was snooping around the popular WWing shop class (http://shopclass.popularwoodworking.com/c-3-subscriptions.aspx) site and saw that they have an option to try out the video site free for 4-days, at the end of which you can cancel and not be charged, or auto extend for 6 months. I think that's pretty cool. Maybe I'll take 4 days off from work and do the trial thing :eek:

[Megan Fitzpatrick]

How about a non-flash streaming version of the site (ipad compatible)?

We're working on that with the site providers – hoping to move to HTML5, but it won't be in the next couple weeks....

[Augusto Orosco]

Thanks a lot, Megan and Peter!

I previewed a few of them and will definitely be subscribing today.

As for the LN videos and others where you don't own the copyright, perhaps a rental service could be easier to arrange with them? I wouldn't mind 'renting' for a fair price, in streaming mode. For instance, you rent a particular LN video for $xx and you get streaming access to it for a week; after which your access is canceled.

[Megan Fitzpatrick]

Augusto,
That's an interesting idea – I'll certainly pass it along to our publisher!