"This Old House is partnering with New Yankee Workshop to make all 21 seasons of Norm Abram's classic fine-woodworking program available again! Soon you'll be able to stream every episode of NYW, with the option to purchase the plans for each project Norm makes on the show."
In the same episode he used his RAS (do you 'spose it was one that was recalled?) with a wobble dado and his drill press which was actually a Shopsmith. Because of him I got a dado like his and used the heck out of it til I gave it to my son. He uses it today. I'm not saying you are Mike, but a lot of people poo-poo Norm's techniques. If you watch an episode from each season 1st to last you'll see his skills improve. He was like the rest of us that got our skills from Hard Knocks. He may have been just a notch better than the rest of us wood butchers when he started the show, but like most of us he got better (and so did his tools) with every project. I was always appreciative of his show. I wouldn't miss it. When my oldest son was a submariner, I'd send pirated VCR tapes to him so they could watch his show too. When I missed sending a couple tapes on time I got a phone call from the Captain explaining he was trying to prevent a mutiny "so send those tapes" as everyone on the boat looked forward to them. Steve
I love Norm Abrams. I was inspired by his show to believe I could make things also and I learned incredible amounts from him. But he sure liked that belt sander.
21 Years!!!! Wow. I don't know if I saw the very first shows or not. But I'm sure I watched a few shows when I was just a kid. Unfortunately I am definitely not a kid anymore. This Old House and New Yankee Workshop and B ob Vila and Norm Abram promulgated billions or millions of dollars of futur e shows on cable TV. And some comedy network shows too.
Questions about Season 1, Episode 1, the oak medicine cabinet:
1) Does he really need to nail on the face frame? Won't the glue hold it in place?
2) Does he need the dowels to hold his thru-tenon on the door? Won't the glue alone hold that joint place also?
I would be inclined just to use glue, but maybe I'm wrong about that.
Like you, I learned A LOT by watching Norm. I'm a woodworker today because I was inspired by him, so that I became interested in watching similar programs plus YouTube videos. As a result, today I have a hobby that allows me to make things that are both useful and attractive. It's very rewarding.
Norm has said it any number of times - he used the brads to hold things together (sans clamps) long enough for the glue to set. That is, bradss are a temporary solution to the final solution, the glue.
No and yes - a pegged M&T is aesthetically pleasing insurance...
If had a nickel for every time he said "to hold in place while the glue dries"! :)
I always figured a lot of his tool and production choices were driven by the fact that he had tool sponsors who wanted (as in expected/demanded) their tools be front and foremost to continue the financial backing...
You've got me turned around on the dowels for the door. I prefer the look without the dowels, but I can see where others would prefer the dowel look and the additional strength.
About using brads/nails as temporary clamps, I would not like the look of the fill hole at the top of the face frame.
I never understood the hysterical screeching that surfaced here and other w oodworking venues when he used the brad gun. It's just a small trim nail.. . to me it was a good idea. I never watched Norm until the last few years he was on, so I don't know if he represented it as some "super tool" or "ul timate woodworking solution" to draw the ire of the home woodworker. It wa s awful on Sawmill Creek.
I didn't understand it because by the time I found the opportunity to watch it on a Saturday afternoon he just pulled out the brad gun and pegged some thing as needed. Although we didn't have pneumatic tools back then on the j ob (only framing guns) we had been using "a" screw or "a" nail to hold thin gs in place while glues set for many years.
The only thing I ever had a real problem with that Norm did was trying to w atch his finishing. As a professional finisher/refinisher, it was really p ainful sometimes to see the wrong materials used, materials applied incorre ctly, and incorrect prep procedures.
I thought a lot of his projects were pretty interesting, but as I said I di dn't seem them until the run of the show was about 75% or more complete.
watch his finishing. As a professional finisher/refinisher, it was really painful sometimes to see the wrong materials used, materials applied incor rectly, and incorrect prep procedures.
Pretty sure Norm started out life as a carpenter, home builder. Not as a f ine furniture woodworker. So for him a paint brush or roller and paint or varnish was finishing. Maybe he also had experience with rubbing boiled li nseed oil on something too.
Long ago I built a red oak table. With rails and stiles going from each le g to the other. Tenons at the ends of these rails and stiles going into mo rtises in the legs. Started with glue only. Number of years later I notic ed the tenons were pulling out of the mortises a little bit. So I clamped everything back together and pounded some finishing nails into the tenons f rom the back side. Kept the tenons from ever pulling out of the mortises a gain. My experience tells me to be extra safe and secure and use the dowel s to insure the tenons stay in place.
As another says, he started as carpenter and the projects weren't intended as anything but what they were as beginning to intermediate handyman projects for the amateur.
Many (and, I'd wager of those who did, a very low percentage were truly of markedly higher skill sets) wanted to judge as if he were building high-quality reproductions or the like.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.