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AHill said:
...Had it not been for Norm, I'd have never started woodworking.
Norm showed me that I could do it too. Had he started with complex joinery I am not sure I would have ventured into this hobby. My first projects used rabbets, biscuits, and pocket screws. It wasn't long before I did my first stub tenon and groove joints. Then mortise and tenon joints and dovetail joints as I gained confidence. None of those were big steps, but it still all started with the simple joinery I learned from watching Norm. I'm grateful for that, and if I ever meet him, "thank you" is the main thing I'd want to say to him.
There are two kinds of people: Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.
It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring - Carl Sagan
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"Woodworking" Per Webster: "the skill or work of making things out of wood" "the act, process, or occupation of working wood into a useful or desired form" First Known Use of the term "WOODWORKING" - 1858 What Norm did was woodworking and anybody that made his projects using whatever tools at hand would also be considering "woodworking." Using a circular saw, a jigsaw and screws and nails to make any wood based project like an arbor or outdoor chair is woodworking! A child making a simpe bird house is woodworking. We sometimes like to believe that woodworking is only when you make a G&G or a Maloof chair or some other high level craftsmanship style furniture and true craftsmanship is only done with handtools like the colonials. Any project that can inspire someone into attempting a project, no matter how simple or how course the craftsmanship, is what this is all about....starting the journey.....  Rob
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LIL While nibbling two crosslaps yesterday with the standard blade rather than set up the dado, I thought of Norm. Paring the bottom, I recalled how he never said "chisel" without qualifying it with "sharp." As I leveled the bottom, with my sharp chisel, I wondered, as before, how many dull chisels he had in that shop.
Better to follow the leader than the pack. Less to step in.
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Paul K. Murphy said:
I don't have TV, I've never seen Tommy.
Can you explain that comment for those of us who have never seen him?
I don't find him pompous, but maybe I'm more used to his Southie style of talking than some. I think he's not a great public speaker and sounds a little like a 5th grader reading a book report in front of the class at times, but you can tell he's passionate and knows his stuff. I just think some people get turned off by his talking and can't get past it. Norm was awkward at times too, just in a much different way. That said, I sill make a point to watch an old episode each week! And I can't wait for the new season of Rough Cut to show up down here too.
Benny
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Norm taught me more about woodworking than any book or forum. I also can't understand the comments about him basically being just a carpenter. Of course he is a carpenter and a very good one by what I have seen and read. What I don't understand are the comments here and elsewhere that I have read which seem to insinuate that since he was a carpenter first, he cannot be a real woodworker. Would he have more credibility if he had been a computer tech like so many forum woodworkers?
BTW, Tommy Mac was a carpenter, too, before he got hurt working on The Big Dig and decided to attend the North Bennett Street Woodworking school. When Tommy builds a piece like his Bombe secretary, I don't see comments about him basically being just a carpenter.
If I had 8 hours to cut down a tree, I'd do it in 15 minutes with a chainsaw and drink beer the other 7:45 hrs.
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Pink Floyd said:
Norm taught me more about woodworking than any book or forum. I also can't understand the comments about him basically being just a carpenter. Of course he is a carpenter and a very good one by what I have seen and read. What I don't understand are the comments here and elsewhere that I have read which seem to insinuate that since he was a carpenter first, he cannot be a real woodworker. Would he have more credibility if he had been a computer tech like so many forum woodworkers?
BTW, Tommy Mac was a carpenter, too, before he got hurt working on The Big Dig and decided to attend the North Bennett Street Woodworking school. When Tommy builds a piece like his Bombe secretary, I don't see comments about him basically being just a carpenter.
No one called him just a carpenter. I said it was interesting that he used a lot of carpentry techniques. I never said that was bad. I said it was interesting.
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Mike77 said:
[blockquote]Pink Floyd said:
Norm taught me more about woodworking than any book or forum. I also can't understand the comments about him basically being just a carpenter. Of course he is a carpenter and a very good one by what I have seen and read. What I don't understand are the comments here and elsewhere that I have read which seem to insinuate that since he was a carpenter first, he cannot be a real woodworker. Would he have more credibility if he had been a computer tech like so many forum woodworkers?
BTW, Tommy Mac was a carpenter, too, before he got hurt working on The Big Dig and decided to attend the North Bennett Street Woodworking school. When Tommy builds a piece like his Bombe secretary, I don't see comments about him basically being just a carpenter.
No one called him just a carpenter. I said it was interesting that he used a lot of carpentry techniques. I never said that was bad. I said it was interesting.
[/blockquote] Well, this is what you said: "It was basically watching a carpenter trying to be a furniture maker." I'm glad you clarified it, though.
Still Learning,
Allan Hill
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Cian said:
Norm kept it real, and was one of my primary inspirations to nose dive into this mess. I do miss Norm.
Ditto! It is amazing and still puzzling to me how threads about Norm arouse almost as much vitriol from some as those about SawStop. Although I was hooked on the hobby from being my dad's "helper" in my younger days, Norm rekindled my interest after a long hiatus. The true value of his show to me was his ability to narrate the process as he built projects, in a way that most anyone could understand. A gift for certain, IMHO. Just to confirm this for me, there is no other WW show I watch on TV now on a regular basis. When David Marks was on I tuned him in occasionally. Still miss Norm. Doug
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I miss Norm as well. There was something about his narration or the way he described his techniques that appealed to me and got me in the shop. He made me feel like I , too could build that, so I headed to the shop.
I was always envious of his abilities and his shop and I still am.
I miss Norm and don't really have a lot of access to other woodworkers on shows etc. I have always liked the "this old House" bunch and especially Norm.
Gordon
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One thing I liked about NYW was that it was more about how to build the furniture than it was about Norm. Most other woodworking shows focus more on the woodworker than the project. Norm seemed like a regular guy, reinforcing the notion that I too, could make furniture.
Still Learning,
Allan Hill
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