Finally saw Nahmie for first time in 20 years...

[Silvan]

Flipping channels for SWMBO, came across a woodworking show on PBS. Ah, there's Nahmie.

I was surprised he used his TS and dado stack for all the tenons, and the T&G rails and stiles. Hell, why didn't he just whip out his rail and stile set for his 5 HP shaper? He pulled out everything else.

Count me a Royd I reckon. I do use power stuff, and there are a few more power flummies I'd like to acquire, but I REALLY can't see having that much gadgetry in my shop. I'll bet he spent two full hours off camera jiggling the settings on all those machines and horking up a huge pile of test scraps so he could awe his audience by powering noisily through a few feet of wood with banshee precision.

Where's your sense of creativity Nahmie? And using a utility knife to do a crap job of rounding the points on the tenons to make them fit in routahed round holes does not quality. That's what chisels are for, Nahmie. Chisels. You ever use a chisel? Not since about 1985 I guess.

I used to watch Nahmie and Roy when I was in high school or suchabouts. Haven't watched either one of them in 20 years. Not planning to bother finding Roy, but I really ought to make a point to watch one episode for old time's sake to purify my spirit after sitting through that. Crikey, Nahmie. Even my ten year old son was shouting "Oh come ON man!" at the TV.

That ain't woodworking, Nahmie, that just ain't woodworking. It's manufacturing.

[Markndawoods]

Ok, let's stop and think for a second... His show is sponsored by???????

Why would he not use power tools?

The guys making a comfortable living doing something he enjoys with tools provided by sponsors.

Perhaps his reasonableness is what got him his show. (Do you have a show?)

[Silvan]

Don't know, don't care.

I use power tools too, but yeeeeeeesh.

Sling all the crap at me you want. I think there's an oscillating, reciprocating, variable speed crap slinger you can use. I'm pretty sure Nahmie had three of those.

[Fly-by-Night CC]

On my local PBS the last couple weeks, Roy has been making a chess set and board. One "army" is all miniture hand tools - the knight is a try square, IIRC, the bishop is a cast pewter hammer. The other "army" is mini power tools - the queen is a shop vac, the bishop is a bandsaw and the pawns are, as Roy pronounced it, "rowtahs" (with a little chuckle thrown in).

Roy spoofed and teased Norm a couple years back too though I can't recall the setup.

[Unisaw A100]

Stop me if you've heard this before.

I met Norm one Saturday morning last century at the wood show in Atlanta (the big 'un/the mother of all wood shows/The IWF) and, well, I had him sign my Galoot cap. Seemed at the time somewhat heretical but that was my shtick (sp?) at the time. We finished up the show and my host (BitchSlapBobZajicek) wondered if I wanted to see Highland Hardware. Well Duh Bahb!?

So anyways, here we were at Highland Hardware and who was there setting up for a seminar? Uh-huh, His Royness. Off came the Galoot cap for his signature. Upon seeing Norm's autograph Roy hollered, "Unclean! Unclean!" and made the sign of the cross.

He did end up signing it.

By the way, Norm didn't appear to know what a Galoot was. Roy did.

UA100, who still has the cap hanging in the shoppe.

[loutent]

Say what you want about Norm, but I think that he has done more to advance the hobby of woodworking and get more people involved in it than anyone else.

He is what he is - a carpenter is what I think the NYW credits say. No pretense there.

I have only been a woodworking hobbyist for the last 15-20 years, but someday I hope to be good enough to be cynical too.

Lou

[bridger]

you suck.

[Leuf]

I think he's gotten better about this. Didn't see the industrial pocket hole machine much last season. The wide belt sander mostly just lurks in the background mocking us quietly to itself.

He carved a shell in his lowboy by hand last season. He did buy the cabriole legs though.

If you can't find anything of value watching someone else work even if their approach is wildly different than yours then you aren't much of a woodworker.

-Leuf

[Silvan]

ROTFL!

[nospambob]

[George]

Amen.

I'm more interested in methods I _don't_ use than the ones I do. Pretty well up on them already.

[Ba r r y]

Right on!

Barry

[Unisaw A100]

Lou:

Lou, If you think my reply was cynical you've mis-read. I for one have sung the praises of Norm for as long as anyone. It's in the archives. Pointing out some of his "peculiarities" isn't necessarily cynical or damning (dissing David) him. The man is what he is. As a craftsman he is someone for some people to aspire to be as good as.

Now, for the record, Pre-Norm (P-N) we didn't have quite the range of wooddorking tools that we have today and the pricing certainly wasn't what it is today. All because of Norm? I'd be willing to bet the manufacturers would agree. Just check their sales charts against the history of Norm on TV. It's all there in black and white.

UA100

[Unisaw A100]

I'll agree with you to a point but the format of the show is me watching someone else build something week after week.

Now, if they want to do a kick ass show it would be set up as a magazine format where the host wooddorker would go about teaching techniques. First five-ten minutes shows how to make a table saw sled, next five minutes shows how to properly tune a (insert hand tool/machine/power tool here) and finishes off this week's show with maybe a how to on cutting dovetails.

Hell, the whole half an hour could be spent with the different methods for cutting dovetails.

There are enough subjects to last a couple/few seasons and the video tape sales would be awesome.

Oh yeah, I want to host it in case anyone of importance is watching from the side lines.

UA100

[LRod]

Add availability to that list.

I don't know how long Woodworkers Supply, Tool Crib of the North, Five Corners Ace Hardware, and a host of other mail order retailers have been around, but accessibility to them for the great unwashed has certainly increased exponentially since the advent of Norm.

And I, too, have been preaching that same gospel for a long time.

- - LRod

Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite

Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999

[loutent]

Hi UA100,

Sorry, my post was in respone to the OP, not yours - which I thought was funny.

I think constructive criticism of someones work is good - I cringe sometimes when I see Norm reach for that brad nailer too!

On the other hand, I have learned a lot from him over the years.

I don't see the point in being "negative" just because he may not be up to some arbitrary standard which magically makes him a "woodworker" in one's eyes.

Lou

[rcook5]

There's certianly something to that, but I have to wonder how many folks he's chased off woodworking by giving them the impression that you need $100,000 worth of tools to get started.

(As all true wreckers know, you can get a perfectly adequate beginners shop for just $10,000.)

--RC

"Sometimes history doesn't repeat itself. It just yells 'can't you remember anything I've told you?' and lets fly with a club. -- John W. Cambell Jr.

[George]

Nah, then we'd all end up as tool collectors with well-prepared shops and SWMBO wondering when in H*LL we're going to get those new shelves she wanted for the bedroom done....

[Dave in Fairfax]

I hope you've got your nomex on, Silvan. There's a reason it's called rec.norm. what's interesting is the number of people who talk about how he nails everything that doesn't run away screaming. Or has to go to NH to be shown how to sharpen, or any of a variety of other things and then defend him strenuously when someone else points out his love of power tools.

Dave in Fairfax

[Leuf]

One of the scheduled programs for the upcoming season is "Lathe 101" where he is supposedly just going to demonstrate tools and technique and the website says they're going to do more of this sort of program in the future. I think Norm has finally filled up his house with furniture after 16 years and now he can get around to this sort of stuff.

What I'd like to see is some of the work that goes into the prototype. First he builds the prototype and works out all the kinks. Building it a second time is then easy. But it's precisely the kink-working- out process that is the most valuable to see. Random tangent: it must drive him crazy to set up the machines and then only cut the parts for the prototype knowing full well he's gotta make another one in the near future.

One of my favorite Norm moments was at one point he goes back to the prototype, sets his bevel gage on it and then uses that to set up the machine. Right. So Norm, when would be a good time for me to drop by your house with my bevel gage so I can build it too?

-Leuf