Rob Cosman's on line workshop

[Bob Warfield]

You guys may not need it but for those of us who are relatively
new to fine woodworking this has been invaluable to me. His latest on line class
has been teaching his son Jake to cut dovetails. I have all his videos but this
is even more helpful. I have to believe it's almost like being at one of his
schools in person. I really think even an old pro could pick up a trick or
two.
Thanks...Bob

[Ed Looney]

Bob
After attending one of Rob's dovetail classes at the local WoodCraft store and watching his online classes I believe there is an advantage to the online lessons. The HD camera gives a better view with far more detal than one can get with a bunch of people standing around a shop table looking over each others shoulder. The other advantage is that the online classes give the observer the ability to pause, rewind and view it again as many times as they want. I think Jakes Dovetails will be a big hit for those who want to learn to cut display quality joinery.

Ed

[Jim Neeley]

I'm with you, Bob. Watching him give one-on-one instruction, where the student has 100% of the instructors time, is incredibly valuable. I especially like how it is bringing out the little hints and nuances I haven't seen in videos by Rob, or anyone else. I think that when instructors just teach for a DVD there must be a lot of things that they just take for granted we know since they've been doing it so long.

Not to mention that we provide our very best guidance to our children... Now *they* might think we're being hyper-critical of their work but just vecause we want the best for them. <g>

I agree with you too, Ed, that HD video is amazing. Watching the dovetail being pared out while the clear video is 5x or more of life size sure lets me see what's going on nad how my parings should look!!

It's also heartening for us newbies to see others strugling with things we struggle with. When Jake was wrestling to control the fret saw, that was me the weekend before!! <g>

[Chris Griggs]

I've never been all that drawn to the Cos, but I just watched the sample videos/upcoming projects, and must say it looks REALLY good. Seems like hes really laid out a nice set of projects that teach specific skills. I also like that all the skills/teaching seem to be project based - one of the issues I had (and still have) when learning joinery and other techniques is that knowing how to cut a joint can be quite different than being able to use it in project. To me furniture construction is much harder to learn than the specific techniques, so I really like that he is teaching everything within the context of a given piece. I also like that he has a monthly membership option (instead of just the 6mos and year options) - I may just have to cough up the $20 check it out for a month.

[David Nelson1]

Chris its worth it. I to wasn't a big Cosman fan because of the commericial aspect and the fact I thought he was much younger than he appears to be. Jokes on me I've learned quite a bit during the candle box instruction and really enjoyed and well as learned more while Jake was struggling with his dove tails.

[Bob Warfield]

Chris - In addition to the projects he has listed he is doing a number of other things as well. Right now he is teaching his 17 year old son Jake to cut dovetails. As has already been said he goes into a lot of detail that you just don't get in "store bought" videos. He has also talked about modifying certain tools, and why he does it, and has more planed for the future. I'm at the point that I can't wait for Monday and Thursday, the days when new videos become available. I just don't see where you could possibly go wrong for the $20.00 a month.

BTW he hasen't tried to sell anything in any of the videos so far. I was actually surprised to see him recommend tools by others. If I had his family to feed you can bet I would be selling as much as possible!

Bob