What is the story behind WoodWorks tv show?

[Lynn Kasdorf]

After watching several episodes of WoodWorks on the DIY channel, I wonder what the back story is.

What I find interesting is that Mr. Marks has a wonderful collection of tools, many of which are somewhat old, and many are top notch industrial grade machines.

Among his collection are what looks like a 20" Northfield band saw- or maybe it is an old blue Delta-Crescent, a 16" jointer (also Northfield perhaps), a nice old Unisaw, cool old drill press (perhaps a Walker-Turner), Performax drum sander, etc.

Basically, this does not look like a shop where a show producer said to go out and buy whatever machines you need. These are tools he has been acquiring over the years, I'd say.

In the case of Norm, I think Delta/Porter Cable pretty much supplies most of the tools (although he prefers his Bosch jig saw!). But David Marks' shop looks to be all his own tools, and many brands.

The show is loaded with good techniques, although the projects are rather exotic and artsy for my taste generaly.

I wonder if David Marks approached DIY and said "How about giving me my own show"? Can I get my own show too??

[Dave Avery]

Lynn,

You're right about him being a woodworker first and an entertainer as an afterthought. It certainly shows in both his work and his delivery. He has a web site.... www.djmarks.com that tells you a little more about him. My questions is whether he's related to Jodi Marks who appears on one of the DIY shows on HGTV. Dave.

[Bob Lasley]

Dave,

I think I heard that they are siblings.

Bob

[Doug Edwards]

The show is taped in Mark's shop in the bay area of California. He is a "wood artist" and has produced several gallery shows and museum pieces. his bio is here:

http://www.diynet.com/DIY/show/0,1329,WWK,FF.html

I like the show, but I like his tools more.

[David Klug]

I have direct tv but I don't have DIY. What kind of shows do they have on it? I may see about ordering it.

[Chris Oakley]

David, Directv was running a special where they would give away the premium choice chanels (which includes DIY) for free if you kept your subscription to the other chanels for a year. I watch woodworks and one other woodworking show that usually follows it (which name escapes me). I've also learned today that they show New Yankee Workshop Saturday mornings.

[Ed Marks]

Let me start by saying DJ Marks not related to me (at least that I know of).

I ran into his show a year or so ago on DirectTV, downloaded a few of his plans, and have used ideas from them in a few peices. It's pretty clear that he's not "made for TV"; rather, he seems to be showing what he does on TV. I like most of his projects much more then what I see on NYW. They tend to be more challenging and more complicated, which is probably why most projects last a few "shows" rather than always fitting in a 1 hr timeslot.

As for not having as many tools as Norm, horray! It's refreshing to remember that one can build very good furniture without direct lines to Porter-Cable and Delta (or a bottomless wallet). While I enjoy Norm, NYW has certainly become much more commercial and is becoming somewhat impractical given the equipment that he's using. I'd rather see him smooth a table top with a cabinet scraper than a 5-figure $anding machine.
As for DIY, except for the multi-router, everything he uses is in most hobbyist shops.

[Brad Hammond]

I think the fact that he's not very polished as an "entertainer" is the reason he appeals to me. makes him seem a little more REAL.
as for that jointer.........................DANG
cya
brad

[Tim Spickler]

I enjoy watching WoodWorks even though his projects a a little too contemporary for me. But he does provide good information and techniques.

Sometimes I think he must spend more time building jigs for a project than I spending building a project. But the jigs he makes sure ensures construction and assembly of his projects a whole lot easier.

[Bartee Lamar]

Dave Marks really shows technique.

M&T joints with a router

Cut off sleds... I love when he uses a wood pencil to hold down small pieces in the cut off sled.

He has very consitent methods and teaches something on each show.

And his stuff is wood art.

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

And to be fair, his delivery seems to be improving. I can generally spot the 'earlier' shows. His smile is more natural now, and less of his off-camera comments sound like after-thoughts. I think it's a wonderful show and try not to miss it.

KC

[Ted Shrader]

Originally posted by David Klug
I have direct tv but I don't have DIY. What kind of shows do they have on it? I may see about ordering it.

It is ony 4.99 more/month. There are several other channels included in the package, worth the money.

Ted

[Ken Wright]

came from watching Norm reruns on HGTV every morning for a long time before I decided to try woodworking. Until a few months ago he had a show every morning but now its only Saturday and Sunday ?? mornings.

Norm teaches you the basics, IMHO, but David Marks had the effect of encouraging me to try to do a more professional job.... and to build a project out of something besides pine.

Its a great show and I would prefer his shop and tools to Norm's without reservation. Don't get me wrong .... Norm's a great guy and I still watch the reruns.

Other than David Marks, I see no real reason for DIY. There are other woodworking shows there but they come across the wrong way for me. I've seen things on those shows that I thought was just plain dangerous.

[Marc Wittman]

Yes, to answer a previous question, David and Jodi are siblings. I'm sure she had a bit of something to say about him getting a show, but he is a very talented craftsman. I met him a couple years ago at Marc Adams' school. Very nice guy, soft spoken and very knowledgable about wood and other arts. He does some beautiful sculptural work using various mediums with wood. I remember someone on the pond had sent him an e-mail regarding what exactly his finish was and he posted David's reply which was quite long and detailed and named specific products, which I believe are the General Finishes products.

I agree, I somewhat like his "not really made for TV" personality, it's a bit refreshing.

[Lynn Kasdorf]

I prefer his shop to Norm's. He is into "old arn", an affliction of mine. Most of my power tools are old surplus and abused industrial machines that I have restored.

His cutoff sled is the size of Rhode Island and has decorative curves to the fence. His router table has a cool dark blue laminate top.

The pencil trick is one very handy thing I now use all the time when holding small work on a cutoff sled.

Gotta make me one of them multi-router gizmos- I think it was Dan Barber that has plans.

Marks has some verbal ticks that drive me nuts- on some shows, every sentence begins with "lets go ahead and..". And the way he pronounces "joint-ter". Also, I don't care for the commercial-like description of the projects- strikes me as sorta crass.

But I like the show, and he is a real craftsman. Yes, he does make lots of jigs and templates. I wonder where the heck he stores all those old jigs!

All in all, Norm has the best on-screen personality, imho.

[Ed Marks]

Originally posted by Lynn Kasdorf


Gotta make me one of them multi-router gizmos- I think it was Dan Barber that has plans.


This month's Shop Notes has a article on making a horizontal morticing jig for a router that is pretty close to the multi-router concept. It accomplishes most of the same tasks as the multi-router and looks like about it will take about $100 in hardware, etc.

[John Sanford]

Originally posted by Tim Spickler
Sometimes I think he must spend more time building jigs for a project than I spending building a project. But the jigs he makes sure ensures construction and assembly of his projects a whole lot easier.

You have to remember that he is, thus far, first a professional woodworker. Unlike Norm, David makes his living doing woodworking and the show is a sideline. His jiggery is as much a function of his professional mentality as Norm's incessant use of brads is a function of HIS professional (i.e., CARPENTER) mentality.

Every piece that David builds has potential to be sold. This means the potential is there to make more of the same piece (i.e., limited production work), which means that top quality jigs are worth the extra time down the road.

Of course, that still doesn't answer WHERE he stores those jigs... :D

[Duncan Wilson]

LOML and I watch WoodWorks and NYW every Saturday morning - great way to start the weekend. I recently emailed David asking about the finishes that he uses and his answer was very prompt and detailed. He thanked me for my interest in his show and suggested that I email DIY with my remarks - they like feedback from viewers. Anyone who would like to help keep the show on the air can email DIY at comments@diynet.com.

[Rod Peterson]

<br>
<i>Lynn Kasdorf mentioned:</i>
<br>
<i><font color="blue">Marks has some verbal ticks that drive me nuts- on some shows, every sentence begins with "lets go ahead and..". And the way he pronounces "joint-ter". </font></i>

Having <i>suffered</i> through <i>drawering</i> and <i>assembaly</i> for all the years I've watched Norm, I can put up with the ones of Marks you mentioned, but the complete mispronunciation (and labelling in chyrons) of Forstner is like fingernails on a blackboard and is just plain wrong.
<br>
<i>then, to the others who opined along several lines:</i>
<br>
As for the rest of the comparisons, I think it's pretty much apples and oranges. The only thing they really have in common is that they work in wood. Neither is right or wrong in their methods or product; they appeal to a different viewing demographic.

By the way, for all the hoopla about the tools in Russell Morash's shop (you thought it was Norm's?), keep in mind that the population was pretty sparse when they started in 1989; an old Rockwell Unisaw with the infamous Jet-Lock fence, a Sears radial arm saw, an old Rockwell jointer, a Shopsmith bandsaw-lathe-drillpress, some battered up Elu hand tools, several old Makitas, an ancient Bosch jigsaw, and so on, all of which had obviously had a life before NYW.

If Marks' show takes off like NYW did, lets see what corporate sponsorship and product placement does to his shop in ten years.

Don't forget, too, if it wasn't for NYW, Marks would still be just another woodworker doing his thing alone out in his shop.

There was a long and interesting thread in <i>rec.woodworking</i> last month that started by someone asking, "what's so bad about brads?" My opinion exactly.

[Dennis McDonaugh]

They're Forstner Bits???? I thought he was saying Foster bits, figured they were some kind of Aussie thing.

[Scott Stefanoski]

i thought it was kinda neat, i had bought the book "setting up shop" by sandor. they had an a few pics of david marks shop. i also think it funny diy makes him wear long sleeves to cover up his tatoos.

good show, much more of a craftsman. very contemporary for my tastes. although i would LOVE to have the wood he has in that storage shop.

[Rod Peterson]

<br>
<i>Dennis wrote:</i>
<i><font color="blue">They're Forstner Bits???? I thought he was saying Foster bits, figured they were some kind of Aussie thing.</font></i>

Yep, Forstner. He keeps calling them fostner, and it's even been written that way in a banner at the bottom of the screen when he was using one on one project. Grrrrr!

[Ted Shrader]

Originally posted by Dennis McDonaugh
They're Forstner Bits???? I thought he was saying Foster bits, figured they were some kind of Aussie thing.

Rod and Dennis -

You must give him partial credit on the mispronounciatinos. At least he drills pilot holes for screws to go in. Most of the other shows pre-drill them. Pre-drilling involves getting out a drill, selecting the proper size bit, chucking it up, etc.

Since we were on the subject of pet peeves! :)

Ted

[Bob Oswin]

As I get older faster, I am more tolerent of our TV hosts and their idiosyncrasies.
If it were not for these shows I wouldn't know how bad I really am.
I sit there and look for flaws and mistakes because it makes me feel better about the stuff I do.
I think they put them in so I wont be too discouraged.

Often I steal ideas and use them in my projects or the shop.
If anybody comes over I tell them I invented the stuff myself.
I figure it they can't show us anything new they can at least serve as a bad example.

I gotta admit I do have a bit of trouble with those trading spaces shows however.
You know the ones that try to wallpaper each others dogs.

And that's the truth!

Bob

[Alan Schaffter]

Does he make anything without using wenge somewhere?;)

[Bob Oswin]

Originally posted by Dennis McDonaugh
They're Forstner Bits???? I thought he was saying Foster bits, figured they were some kind of Aussie thing.
You mean...
Those tiny cap shaped Ritz biscuits that go so well with imported beer?

Bob

[Rik Rickerson]

Woodshop News had an excellent article on David Marks and Wood Works in their January 2003 issue, page T31.