the new yankee workshop would never make it today - discuss....

[Steve Demuth]

Couldn't agree with you more. If it weren't for Norm, I would never have gotten into woodworking like I have. Before him, I couldn't even make a square box. It always amazes me, how much I learned just from watching his show.
Some of the things I see on YT drives me nuts. Even with poor video quality, I can see joints not fitting properly, simple procedures not followed, yet this is what an entire generation of woodworkers is learning from. As with many things in our current world, I think the internet has done a ton of harm to woodworking. I think it's a lot easier to learn from scratch, than to unlearn the bad.

I have garnered many useful ideas and insights from youtube videos, but you have to approach them with some intelligence and skepticism. Some are useful only to provide insight into how not to do things - in several cases I've observed behavior that, viewed from the God's eye of the GoPro are clearly dangerous, and simultaneously recognized something I have or might have done. Lesson learned. Some are utterly useless, but that is generally apparent by the 30 second mark or so. Youtube posters who don't care enough to actually think about what they are going to say, and prepare their work area and tools to show what they are actually doing, probably not worth the watch. And a few are absolute gems of education and good ideas.

[Daniel Dioguardi]

I also loved watching NYW, but I really love learning about techniques people are using on Youtube. And one thing that really makes the Internet an interesting place in that if someone is using bad technique, it is almost a certainty that lots of people are commenting on the video with criticism and suggestions. Sometimes you can learn more from the comments than you did from the video. It almost corrects itself.. in a weird way.. and some commentary will likely even point you to other videos to watch that may have better technique

[jeff norris 2011]

There are way more resources available today than when I began woodworking in the mid-1970's. I appreciate access to YouTube, forums, and various other online sites and do get a lot from all of them. The problem is that, if I were a beginner, it would be difficult to filter out the videos that didn't provide the best guidance on joints, squaring up lumber, sanding, finishing, etc. With Norm, you always knew that, while there might be other ways of woodworking, Norm's way would definitely yield a good finished product. The same holds true for most books that have been around for awhile. They wouldn't have survived if they promoted improper techniques. That reliability is missing on the internet because it's too easy to just put a video out there and not know everything you need to know. So, for experienced woodworkers looking for a resource to get supplement existing knowledge and experience, it's a great place to go. For beginners it's just not completely reliable meaning you have to sort through the videos to make sure you get the right answer.

Without naming names, I watched on YouTube a couple running a woodworking business. They are clueless about some of the basics. They were using big box lumber and cross grain glue ups. The stuff they are building should blow apart in a month after the lumber dries.

Then another guy, a pro - makes nice stuff, great joinery but scary as heck to watch the way he uses his table saw. He looks destine for the 9 finger club. I cringe every time I think about new woodworkers learning from him.

[jeff norris 2011]

An interesting, and I expect generational, divide. I grew up with, first and foremost, a subscription to Fine Woodworking, Norm as my TV teacher, and rec.woodworking on Arpanet and later Usenet as my source for diverse opinions (you guys are pussycats by comparison!). I learned from all of them, now I've added Youtube pretty heavily to the mix, for all of my hobbies and interests. (Well, I've never gone to youtube as a source for information on molecular genetics).

I find that if you watch 4-5 videos on a given topic, whether it be woodworking related, a photographic technique, how to do some complex manipulation in Excel, or how to build a wood-fired pizza oven, you can pretty quickly figure out who's competent and who's not, even knowing nothing about the topic when you begin exploration. Most safety stuff is pretty obvious if you have any grasp of Newtonian physics and basic chemistry, and it's crystal clear which youtube folks have no such clue. So I use it as a rich, diverse source of information and ignore the morons. It doesn't seem very hard, and I've learned a ton on just about every topic I've encountered.

Sounds like we came up the same way. As it some of the better more skilled WW showing unsafe ways of doing things I don't think it always so easy. Norm and the like, seemed to understand the responsibility of showing the safest technique.

[Patrick Walsh]

Idk,

I’ll use few words on this one and let the videos do the talking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxw5gl1Z2Yk


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMWTEyYV7CA


All this safety talk makes me think of this..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtngFEE5t1E

Your ok with having nine fingers so am I. I’ll eve pick em up outa the dust pile under the saw and take you to the hospital.

[johnny means]

Idk,

I’ll use few words on this one and let the videos do the talking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxw5gl1Z2Yk


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMWTEyYV7CA


All this safety talk makes me think of this..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtngFEE5t1E

Your ok with having nine fingers so am I. I’ll eve pick em up outa the dust pile under the saw and take you to the hospital.

Really, thirty minutes of video.

[Jeff Caulk]

I think it's been in my blood for a long time

I had intro woodshop for 6 weeks in 7th grade, and took a full semester of woodshop in 8th grade, and spent the second semester in 8th grade as the wood shop aide.

NYWS in the 90s took me back to those days, and I found myself refinishing Good Will furniture in the first lean years after college.

Started my personal shop adventure for real in 2002.

I still go back to NYWS and watch Norm. He was really the only game in town pre internet, pre YouTube. I do find myself watching YouTube vids at night quite bbn often. And surfing this and other sites.

I think I do some things differently than Norm, sometimes I think I do some things a bit better. But I have the benefit of new techniques, technology and the Internet, and my memories of Norm are cemented in the 90s.

[Patrick Walsh]

They are good videos. Totally worth watching.

Especially the first one it’s a riot..

Really, thirty minutes of video.

[al heitz]

Not to sound too critical, but this is how I watch many of the videos on the internet. I worked in audio visual aids as a high school teacher for many years. I was also in charge of public relations. My experience was that if the image didn't support the message, it needed to be changed. Likewise, the text needs to fit the image. When I view a new video, I often watch it first with the sound off. Does the video give me a good idea of the project? It's a real lesson in how not to produce a video. Often a major portion of the video is useless. Then I watch the video again with sound on and see how much of the text is actually informative. With luck I can put the two together to learn something.

[Rick Potter]

I will watch and enjoy almost any video or TV show on woodworking or cars. I remember seeing some programs, way before Norm, where they only used a ShopSmith (in living Black and White).

I agree with Daniel. The really bad, or unsafe YouTube's have many comments from people who know better, and are quick to point out unsafe or just bad woodworking practices, so that does make them an unintentional 'safety' video.

Anybody remember the video of a guy in the jungle, with no arms, who did woodworking?

[Rod Sheridan]

I really liked Norm and I think he was very successful at popularizing woodworking.

That said, his lack of emphasis on safety was an awful approach to an instructional show, he really should have learned to use a guard and a Unifence on his table saw.

I’ve watched the new Rough Cuts show and really like it except for the lack of guard on the Felder saw and Tom’s use of a crosscut sled on a format saw. Maybe he’s trying to make it look like a cabinet saw?

I think a show such as Tom’s or Norm’s would be successful today.

YouTube has video ranging from the really awful to the wonderful....Rod

[Rod Sheridan]

I suggest you never go into a commercial shop. It's almost as if the first sentence of the user's manual reads, "Immediately remove and discard any guards you find".

Erik

Very true, however there are some shops where that approach gets you enrolled in the safety training program and under close supervision for a period of time.

A couple of months ago I was in a customers shop, I’ve never seen such a clean, organized shop with all guards in place, it was very noticeable....Rod

[Carl Crout]

I really liked Norm and I think he was very successful at popularizing woodworking.

That said, his lack of emphasis on safety was an awful approach to an instructional show, he really should have learned to use a guard and a Unifence on his table saw.

I’ve watched the new Rough Cuts show and really like it except for the lack of guard on the Felder saw and Tom’s use of a crosscut sled on a format saw. Maybe he’s trying to make it look like a cabinet saw?

I think a show such as Tom’s or Norm’s would be successful today.

YouTube has video ranging from the really awful to the wonderful....Rod

The guards were off on NYW so you could see what he was doing. The best I remember it stated that at the front or end of each show

[Jim Becker]

I can say that NYW (and ToH) certainly influenced my decision to make woodworking a serious avocation back in the late 1990s. It provided some vision, some ideas, an appreciation of tools and a few times, it helped ease away some things that beginning woodworkers miss, such as the fact that wood doesn't have to always be 3/4" or 1/2" thick and actually shouldn't always be 1/2" or 3/4" thick...5/16" might be the right choice proportionally for a given project. (The Shaker wall clock project comes to mind here) Yes, a lot of glue and brads "to hold things while the glue sets up" happened, but perhaps it's better to deal with too much glue than not enough. And honestly, Norm was and is a VERY likeable person whom I admire a lot for reasons beyond the show.

Yes, time and technology has marched on and there are a lot more sources for folks to access content on woodworking and pretty much everything else. Some of it is bad; some is good and some is even outstanding. I think that had YouTube or similar been available "back in the day" Norm and the folks who created NYW would likely have embraced it if it supported their mission. As it was, PBS affiliates were the only game in town for material like that.

[Steve Wurster]

I really liked Norm and I think he was very successful at popularizing woodworking.

That said, his lack of emphasis on safety was an awful approach to an instructional show, he really should have learned to use a guard and a Unifence on his table saw.

I’ve watched the new Rough Cuts show and really like it except for the lack of guard on the Felder saw and Tom’s use of a crosscut sled on a format saw. Maybe he’s trying to make it look like a cabinet saw?

I think a show such as Tom’s or Norm’s would be successful today.

YouTube has video ranging from the really awful to the wonderful....Rod

I agree that Norm didn't emphasize, or practice, safety enough. Yes, he made the per-show comment about understanding your tools and about wearing safety glasses. And he also would clamp a small block to the TS fence when making miter cuts so that the offcut didn't get trapped (and he always commented about the use of that block). (Note: He didn't always have a Unifence on the saw; some years there was a Biesemeyer. But I never saw him slide the fence back on the Unifence like he could have).

But there was never a comment about dust collection, especially when he used a router and there were tons of shavings and dust spewing everywhere. And of course there was nothing about wearing protection when applying finishing (or any comment about air movement in the finishing room).

I also would have liked to see the guard installed on the saw. Especially when he would use his homemade tapering jig and there was nothing holding the piece in place. All WW shows that remove the guard make that note about the guard being removed for clarity, but I don't buy it. Cameras can zoom in and show the cut, and the woodworker can and should note how the guard operates, and how to work with the guard. Obviously non-through cuts on a riving knife or splitter mounted guard would require removing the guard; none of those shows used overhead-mounted guards (The Wood Whisperer uses a Brett guard at least, but not on every cut). I'm guessing that Norm has rarely used a guard on a saw, especially coming from the construction industry.

As for the more recent Rough Cut with the Felder saw, I totally agree that he should be using a guard and not using the crosscut sled. I think the use of the sled is to show how the "average" woodworker who doesn't have a sliding table saw could make the cut. But he could easily use the capabilities of the saw he has, and make a comment about how to do it with a sled on a cabinet saw (even with a quick demonstration if need be).

(Note: Have they aired any newer Rough Cut episodes? I know there was an issue with the previous host claiming ownership of the name. They haven't aired a new episode in my area in over a year, I think. I haven't bothered to look online though...)