RE: Rough Cut - Woodworking with Tommy Mac

[Lew Hodgett]

RE: Subject

Saw an episode today.

IMHO, the operative word is definitely "ROUGH".

This program has a long way to go.

Lew

[Josepi]

Using the table saw or other?

Saw an episode today.

Lew

[lennn99]

Sweet?

len

RE: Subject

Saw an episode today.

IMHO, the operative word is definitely "ROUGH".

This program has a long way to go.

Lew

[RicodJour]

But he's got a good attitude and actually knows what he's doing, so I hope the show stays on and gets its chance to grow.

R

[Lew Hodgett]

hope the show stays on and gets its chance to grow.

----------------------------- They need some writers.

Now that NYW is done, some of those folks might be available.

Lew

[vonKevin]

What they need to do is hire some out of work linebacker to bitch-slap the snot out of Tommy every time he says the word "Lookit" - I lost count. Now, I have to be up front about this - I have only seen 1 episode - my local PBS did not start running it until January, but in that one episode, I heard "Lookit" enough to have it pouring out my ears. I am hopeful that the production staff will manage to break him of that in short order.

-Kevin in Indy To reply, remove (+spamproof+) from address........

[marc rosen]

Hey All, The first time I saw Tommy was when I was going through the Oneida website to buy my system. There were three clips presenting an Oneida install in his shop and I was less than thrilled with his "performance" and made a few wisecracks to my Oneida rep that I hope she was not dating "that guy". I recently met him at the Baltimore show and he was extremely pleasant, and like Rico typed, he really knows his stuff. He gave me his website address which has several "how to" links which I found very informative. Some of these may be redundant to many of you but for me they were better explained here than elsewhere.

is a very skilled woodworker and a great person "in person" I have not watched his show yet because the only TV I watch is Jeopardy, the first 5 minutes of Wheel of Fortune (to see what dress Vanna is wearing) and Ravens' games (which I hope will continue until February this year). (And I hope that previous sentence does not jinx them today. This message was typed at 0700 , several hours before their game with the evil Pittsburgh Stillers.)

I never watched New Yankee Workshop either because I don't care much for TV but I hope his - Tommy's - show continues and that his passion and skill can draw new people into our hobby/trade and also make folks like me converts to hand cut dovetails and different construction techniques.

Even if his show has a long way to go I hope he goes a long way. Marc

[Swingman]

I agree with you ... was initially skeptical, but after seeing some trailers I would definitely like to see him succeed.

[RicodJour]

When you see the expressions on the people's faces that are on MacDonald's show, you can easily see that they like the guy. As opposed to the expressions on the faces of the people when Bob Vila was on This Old House - they were clearly thinking, "This guy is a total douchebag."

Are they related to Ben and Jerry?

Have you ever seen Roy Underhill's The Woodwright's Shop?

's another guy that has a great attitude and knows his stuff. He's not overly concerned about how he comes across and has a clear, fun approach to working with hand tools. You could do far worse to point someone who wants to learn handcut dovetails, or the pleasure (and speed) of working with hand tools, to his show.

Check out this upcoming episode: "3007=97Who Wrote the Book of Sloyd? Sloyd, the late 19th-century Swedish system of learning woodworking was intended to develop skilled, industrious and morally upstanding citizens. We=92ll give it a try, and hope it=92s not too late for us!" How can you not like that?! Further reading:

part from that article is heart-rending: "Sloyd (Sl=F6jd), also known as Educational Sloyd, was a system of handicraft-based education started by Uno Cygnaeus in Finland in 1865. The system was further refined and promoted worldwide, including adoption in the United States, until the early 20th Century." Sigh.

R

[Max]

What you said. But his diction could use improvement. A little "How now brown cow". Nor'easterners probably understand him OK but us Texans have to listen very closely.

Max

[RicodJour]

From the looks of him, Tommy could take care of himself, and he's got an arsenal of sharp tools at hand. The linebacker would have to be fearless _and_ stupid...but I guess that's redundant. ;)

I agree - it's off-putting, but let's give him a chance to be weened from his vernacular. And, besides, you could always hit the mute button and still get a lot out of his show.

R

[HerHusband]

I've seen a few episodes myself. I don't care much for his high strung personality, the boy needs to cut down on his caffiene. :)

But, there aren't many woodworking shows available, and so far his projects have seemed more doable by the common woodworker. No giant belt sanders larger than my car or anything like that. :)

His style grates me the wrong way, but I watch anyway and will certainly learn a new thing or two along the way.

Anthony

[Larry Blanchard]

Agreed.

And there isn't a brad nailer in sight :-).

I do get the feeling that he tries to fit too much into one half hour show. For example, I just finished watching an episode about a breadbox with a tambour door. He could have spent the whole half hour on the hand cut dovetails and the tambour. Maybe even just the dovetails.

BTW, I think dovetails on a breadbox are a bit pretentious.

[Upscale]

Makes the bread taste fresher.

[RicodJour]

That's the problem, right there. He has way more skill and could be schooling serious woodworkers, but he has to dumb it down to attract a wider audience.

Pretentious? He could nail or screw the butt joints together I suppose...

R

[Larry Blanchard]

Maybe I used the wrong word. Dovetails on a wall cabinet or its like give added strength. Something not necessary for a breadbox. I probably

*would* have used butt joints and glue, at least to attach the sides to the bottom where no end grain would show. If I got to feeling paranoid about the bottom falling off (Russian black bread is heavy) I'd add a couple of biscuits or (horrors) dowels.

But I've seen dovetails on small boxes as well. Some people just *love* dovetails.

[Puckdropper]

"Lew Hodgett" wrote in news:4d310ffe$0$11311 $c3e8da3$ [e-mail]:

I do agree with that. Sometimes the first seasons are quite rough, but I'd like to see the show continue and see if he can gain some hosting skills.

I wouldn't mind seeing the "Rough Cut Roadtrip" segment extended out to an entire show and eliminated on the ones where he does a project. It seems like he just gets there and then has to leave.

Puckdropper

[Kevin]

That's the only episode I've seen, and I thought it wasn't trying to fit too much into one show, it was not knowing how to trim the fat on things and budget their time along the way. That will come with experience.

-Kevin

[Lee Michaels]

I watched it last night. I had to hunt for it as my usual channels did not carry it. My impressions;

1. He talks too fast. He is trying to say too much.
2. Lots of extra, nonsensical words. All kinds of arcane, corny expressions. And he YELLS sweet a lot. How annoying.
3. He knows his stuff. But trying to teach too many things at once means that nothing is covered that well. I did pick up a couple of good tips though.
4. I think they are trying to be the non Norm. At least with Norm, you learned things. I fear that his guy will leave a lot of guys in the dust.
5. Is this guy a speed freak? Some chill pills would help.
6. And one problem that he has along with Norm is the emphasis on exotic materials. Very few of us have a saw mill up the road with 12 inch wide board of black walnut. It would be nice to show something that mere mortals or those of modest means could build.
7. Overall, it is a different approach. I will watch some more episodes, Perhaps I will enjoy it more if caffeinated enough. As long as I learn something, I will watch it.