Reality Woodworking Show ?

[fivestring]

For the past year, I've been getting into woodworking. I get tired of seeing the shows where Norm, David, Paul, etc. have an unlimited supply of tools and money to do a project. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif
What a crock! None of us have the time or money, so......

Here's my idea.... /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Give Norm and others $2500 to equip their shop. They need to figure out how to buy the tools and stay under that budget to get the job done. Give them $200 - $500 for materials for their project. Then, let's see what their project looks like!!!
That, my friends, is a reality show. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Could they build things on a budget like we would have? /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
Would they really spend $2400 of their $2500 budget on a drum sander???? /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Thoughts???

 

[Hank]

<font color="purple"> Thoughts??? </font>

I used to enjoy The Woodwright's Shop (think that was the name) on PBS, produced in Chapel Hill. It's sort of taking things to the opposite extreme, but he illustrates many good techniques with hand tools and human-powered power tools.

 

[dummy]

Don't think you'll see one. Someone close to me had one but got so frustrated with the show's "production process", well...... it's over now. At the time, no matter what the project was, everything had to be prebuilt in stages for the taping. So, if you were building a gazebo, you would end up with 6 or 7 carcasses and one completion. A very wasteful adventure and how many of any one thing does a person really need ('cept maybe tractors and attachments /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif)

 

[Boondox]

What a great idea, though one that probably wouldn't get any sponsors! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I had a similar thought last week while watching This Old House. They had a sidebar on a "compact" house...and proceeded to give a tour of a "bungalow" that was easily six times larger than my old farmhouse! If that's small, my home is a shack!

And yet, I can't imagine the owner of that "bungalow" could possibly be any happier than Tamara and I in our little corner of Paradise.

Pete

 

[Chuck52]

"Shop on a Shoestring"?

I get the same feeling watching Norm. One show he used a pocket screw drilling thing that worked with a power drill and must have cost less than $100, instead of his dedicated tool for that purpose, so perhaps they do at least think about such things.

I like the Woodwright Shop too. I tried to find some of that fellas books, but Barnes & Noble was going to have to order one. I'd like to get complete instructions for things like his foot powered lathe and such.

Chuck

 

[AndyM]

I finally got to the point where I couldn't watch This Old House anymore. What started off as a show where they took a basic house and fixed it up with the help of the homeowner has turned into a half hour commercial for the newest and most expensive technology and techniques that are being installed in a house larger than I would ever live in with a budget more than I could ever afford. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

It was a good concept while it lasted. The very first season with Steve Thomas featured a couple who wanted to renovate the barn next to their house to live in. They tore down the barn, and built a brand new one in it's place, complete with three floors of living quarters. It's been a downhill slide since then.

 

[AndyM]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( used to enjoy The Woodwright's Shop (think that was the name) on PBS, produced in Chapel Hill. It's sort of taking things to the opposite extreme, but he illustrates many good techniques with hand tools and human-powered power tools. )</font>

I was watching it one day about 15 years ago, and he was going to show everyone how to correctly sharpen chisels.
He then went into "Sharpening Time Theater" with puppets explaining how to sharpen your chisels. I never laughed so hard while watching PBS! I don't think Woodwright's Shop does this anymore-- He was probably told to tone down the humor and stick with what he does best.

 

[StoneHeartFarm]

The interesting thing about the Woodwright's shop is every now and then you get to watch him make a booboo and bleed. I've never seen Norm bleed on a project, even though none of his tools have guards on them. Since I usually wind up bleeding on most of my projects, /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif I find the Woodwright's shop more real.

Also, if you get RFD TV, check out "Rural Heritage". They've been running a nice multipart show on making ox yokes, right down to the metal parts.

Steve

 

[budman72]

The other thing that gets me is when Norm says "Now let's see how it fits.......PERFECT!!" /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

In my shop it's "Now let's see how it fits......WHAT THE #$%*@#!!!!) /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

I don't think I've ever seen Norm screw up on TV. I don't think anybody is that perfect, in spite of his measure twice, cut once theory. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[JacknCoke]

<font color="blue">In my shop it's "Now let's see how it fits......WHAT THE #$%*@#!!!! </font>


Budman72 you took the words right out of my mouth, very funny.

J.D.

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

I have this thing about weekends that comes natural to me. You can ask Wifey, Kids and any of my close friends about it.

I tend to bleed at some time before Monday morning.

Because of this I have adapted a theory: "If the wound heals well in a few days then this 54 year old body is in good health".

Tom

 

[dummy]

My new Grizzly tool catalog came yesterday. As I was perusing the pages, I realized it's not as much about all the neat tools that Norm and the others have. Alot of it is the dedicated SPACE thay have available. If I want to cut a full sheet of plywood on the table saw, I usually have to move 2 or 3 other things out of the way first. And the dedicated paint room looks surprisingly exactly like my layout area and workbench area and......

 

[wroughtn_harv]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I tend to bleed at some time before Monday morning.)</font>

I can relate to that. It's just that I bleed all week it seems. And it's always been that way. The kids learned to count by sitting on my lap and counting "owies".

The pad on my right thumb disappeared when it encountered a fluting blade on the table saw while doing my deck. Yup, my redwood deck has a fluted surface. About halfway through I slipped, just a little, but enough. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif


What was hilarious about that was after I drove myself to the emergency room the old doctor informed he could take some skin from my backside to replace the part lost to the saw. Instantly I saw giving some of my fellow commuters a good old thumbs up instead of, well, you know. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

We had a small weinerschnitzel at the time. So when I got back to the house I pulled the table saw, radial arm saw, router table etc out into the drive to continue where I'd left off. I looked down at the pile of sawdust from the accident and there was the dog rooting through like a hog in a slough.

So ever since when someone asked why I didn't have it sewed back on I tell them that the dog ate it. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

But now with an old man's skin as thin as onion paper I bleed all the time. It never bothers me but it irritates the wife when I stain another shirt or jeans. Spooks some of the customers too. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[Boondox]

Efficient use of space is something we all strive for, but till my shop was recently enlarged I was in the hurt locker where space was concerned. Now my big woodworking table doubles as an outfeed table for both the table saw and the band saw, both of which are on casters and can be wheeled out of the way. I'm building a miter saw station right into my lumber storage racking to save more space. And lastly, with the higher ceiling all of my cabinets will be well up so they don't cut into that precious floor space.

But I sure wish these ideas would have come to me years ago! /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Pete

 

[Golfgar4]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I tend to bleed at some time before Monday morning.
)</font>

Geesh, I need to show this thread to my wife! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

It seems that at some point every Sunday, my wife asks me what part of me I damaged this weekend. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif She says that if she ever sees me without a wound on my body somewhere, she'll check my pulse because I'll probably be dead and not moving! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[dummy]

A neat trick I saw for a new shop setup. Next to the lumber rack / feed table, my brother-in-law installed a window. Why? He explained that it was so he could back up the truck to the window and unload the lumber without allowing all of the heat to escape the shop, plus if something was just a tad too long for the saw - just hang it out the window!

 

[trkbldr]

Golfgar4, your name and previous posts certainly indicate you are an avid golfer. My question is, how do you get so banged up on the golf course? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[JazzDad]

Like most, I've got my battle scars. Unfortunately, the wood usually wins.

What gets me about these shows is the time compression. I have never been able to build a barn in 30 minutes (minus the times out for the commercials).

I could co-host the new show. I got a name for it even: This Old Putz. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[Golfgar4]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( My question is, how do you get so banged up on the golf course? )</font>

HAH! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif Those hard balls can go off in all different kinds of directions when they hit things like trees, buildings, carts, ball washer stands, trash cans, fences, and people!! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Actually, I get banged up from doing the chores around the house. So to protect myself, I tell my wife I have to play lots of golf ..........it's called SELF PRESERVATION!! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[wroughtn_harv]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( So to protect myself, I tell my wife I have to play lots of golf ..........it's called SELF PRESERVATION!! )</font>

My experience with golf was a little different than yours. In my early twenties I worked at the phone company, was married, going to college at night via VA, and decided to learn to play golf because, well, guys at work did it on weekends.

I bought the stuff, took the lessons, and it darn near drove me crazy. Everyone else on the course was having a good time, an occasional beer, lots of laughing, etc. Of all the things I do well screwing up isn't high on the list. And with golf it seemed that I could get close but it was still a miss. "An inch is as good as a mile" took on a whole new meaning. It didn't take long to figure out that golf gave one more opportunities for screwing up than it did for screwing off. I had to stop or blow a gasket.

Needless to say after starting golf I had to have a legitimate reason for not continuing. Quitting isn't a nice word, doesn't fit well if you know what I mean.

So I became "busy".

And "busy" became "fun".

It's worked well all these years.

But every now and then I'll be off, oh, just a little bit. I'll think of golf, and get "busy" before I blow a fuse. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif