On Aug 29, 10:04*am, "Swingman" wrote:
"Vic Baron" wrote

now I'm irritated again.

Simple solution for that ... hit the "next" button.

I was thinking the same thing. I don't watch Oprah, I don't watch
Maury, nor any of the judge shows. I rarely watch anything with my
free time that irritates me.

For me, as one whose interest in furniture design has developed and advanced
beyond simply copying a plan, it is the _project_ itself, followed by Norm's
take on the joinery/method of construction of each, that has become the
focus of my interest in his shows ... not the tools he chooses for each
step.

I think few truly understand and actually appreciate the breadth of
Norm's experience and projects. Or his experience with tools and his
knowledge of how to creatively apply their uses. Or his huge variance
in project selections.

In all the years I have been on this group as well as a few others,
there have been Norm bashers. I don't know why as I have never heard
him set himself out as an ancient zen master of woodworking as say,
Krenov. He has never, ever, put himself on a pedestal. He has never
held himself up and anything more than a simple woodworker, which is
simply not true. He shows doable projects that can challenge the
neophyte as well as the experienced wood worker.

When I started, the best advice I ever received about woodworking came
from my boss. I didn't have the tool in the truck to do a specific
job that I was assigned to do. So, I went back and complained to him
that we didn't have the right tools to do the job, so we couldn't do
the work.

He blew up. "WTF do you think is going on here? Where do you think
you are, in a tool store? Do you think where ever you go to work you
will always have the perfect tool for the work? Either go over there
and get it done or you can go home because I don't need you".

It didn't sound like advice and guidance at the time, but it certainly
was. For those that think they cannot do some of the projects because
they don't have the tools Norm does, they need to rethink their
procedures. They need to rethink their methods.

Norm builds by procedure, each project step by step. He shows how to
use the tools he has. But I have seen enough of him to bet any money
that without many of the tools he uses in the show, he could still get
the job done without many of them.

IOW, the more complicated the projects that I've designed and built _without
benefit of plans_, the more I have begun to appreciate Norm's take on the
methodology of constructing the project, whether it reaffirms, or differs
from, what I have already figured out on my own as the best way to do
something.

Allow me to expand on that a bit. I think there is a curve of
appreciation on watching Norm's show.

When many are beginning woodworking, some folks lay the fact that he
can do all the neat things on the idea that he has all the tools to do
what he does. So the tools make things so easy, he has a huge
advantage.

Then skills pick up, you find yourself able to do more with the tools
you have, and you start to think you are "getting it". You understand
more of what you read about woodworking, and more of the concepts
involved.

You knock out a couple of book cases, maybe a project for the wife,
and of course a couple of heritage pieces for the kids.

Now you are a craftsman. You have tools, a few projects behind you,
and your family and friends love your work. You must be good at this
stuff, right? Everyone says so.

People ask you for advice from time to time on their projects. You
try to help, but sometimes working with a noob can be frustrating.
You do what you can.

You decide that you like doing something differently than the examples
of work you have seen on TV. Great! The more you participate in ANY
craft, the more you realize how many paths there are to reach the same
goal, so you should get that fact.

Then, the dreaded day comes; you think you are better than you are.

Yup; definitely a better craft person than your neighbor, your wife
tells you that the vanity you built for he bathroom is much better
than the ones she has seen in the store, and the kids pounding on
their toy boxes and step ups haven't broken them yet. And that
storage shed you built out back to look like a little barn is holding
up quite well.

(Note: Norm STILL hasn't hit this point. He talks with a great
amount of respect of people that are in all manner of trades, and
seems to get a real sense of appreciation of his fellow craftsmen.)

Back to the curve, you are now dismissive of Norm and his baseball bat
project, his shadow boxes, or his coffee tables. You toss in the heap
his blanket chests, his Federalist style furniture, etc., and let your
buddies know you aren't impressed. Hell ya, you could build any of
that stuff if you just had the time, right?

You quit watching Norm.

If you keep working on developing your skills, or start to work
professionally, you change your idea of where you are in the big
picture of woodworking skill sets. Probably not as far along as you
thought if you are around the right people.

Then one day it rains on Saturday and you are inside. Nothing on TV,
nothing to do outside, so between the cooking shows you decide to see
what Norm's up to.

You now have different eyes to see this work. Eyes that understand
that one little detail in design and execution can save hours of
work. These details don't have anything to do with the tools he
uses. But you missed the details the first time because he didn't
sound a horn when he is executing them, and since they didn't look
that important you missed them. But now you see.

Then you start to appreciate Norm. My style of building in my
business is different from Norm's. There was no Norm when I started,
and we didn't have a lot of tools. We were on site carpenters, and we
learned to use the tools we had. My old habits are sometimes hard to
break, and I don't.

But on the other hand (see, here comes the end of the curve, right
there at your post) I really appreciate a good look at alternatives to
all kinds of carpentry work. I like Norm's pragmatic organization/
detailing/procedures in building his work as that is the way my mind
works.

So in the end, I think you have to learn more to appreciate old Norm
for what he really is; a good teacher and a fearless woodworker.
Pretty damn good craftsman, too.

Just don't get me going about his finishing...

Robert