# May be of interest - The Repair Shop



## SPSlick (27 Mar 2017)

The Repair Shop BBC2 6:30pm
Episode 1
The Repair Shop, Series 1 Episode 1 of 15

In the repair shop today, three cherished family heirlooms are brought back to life.

Furniture restorer Jay Blades and horologist Steve Fletcher tackle a timepiece with huge sentimental value for its owner Jane Fanner. Her late father, who was completely blind, made the clock himself, but it hasn't ticked or chimed since his death.

Antique furniture restorer Will Kirk tests his carpentry skills on a 50-year-old wooden flying fish that may have been carved by a descendent of one the mutineers from HMS Bounty.

And accordion expert Roger Thomas wrestles with an 80-year-old instrument that was played in the bomb shelters of London during the Blitz.


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## John15 (27 Mar 2017)

Thanks SP - I'll check it out.

John


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## AJB Temple (27 Mar 2017)

Likewise.


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## Jasper42 (27 Mar 2017)

Juest read this, smack on 6:30 pm so started wateching.

Thanks, (wife not looking too happy)


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## AJB Temple (27 Mar 2017)

Watched it. Nice programme. 
Camera work (out of focus then sharpen) is annoying. 
The guy who repaired the wooden fish bodged it a bit with all those flats on the sanding. 
Not sure why they need to introduce time pressure. 
I liked the barn!


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## CHJ (27 Mar 2017)

Rather disappointing from a craft perspective for me, too high a proportion of humorous scene links and not enough process detail, there's no doubt the personnel featured know their trades from the observed snippets but for me a prolonged WIP approach to fewer items would have been more enjoyable, guess it's the attempt to introduce a tea time audience to a creative world rather than another soap opera or reality show.


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## bugbear (27 Mar 2017)

I assume the experts do the repairs in their own real workshops, and the Weald and Down barn is just where they make the TV program.

The thought of a horologist working in an open barn next to a woodworker's dust is laughable. As is the spurious time pressure (not real, I assume).

It's really just about the reaction of the owners.

Awful; Won't be watching again.

BugBear


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## RogerP (27 Mar 2017)

Another dumbed down offering for prime time.


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## Terry - Somerset (28 Mar 2017)

Watched it. Not impressed - just another makeover show with limited craft content.


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## AES (28 Mar 2017)

Ah well, from the balance of the comments above it seems I didn't miss much.

While I appreciate that a TV "show" cannot (and should not) try to teach a specific subject or craft, I do generally get annoyed at the usually superficial approach by, it seems to me, just about all programme makers when it comes to anything to do with "hand work" - and many other things come to that.

I watched the pottery throw down programme with interest (though I'll never be a potter, and don't even want to try) but did get pleasure from it, but always got annoyed with the artificial time pressure ("30 seconds to go potters, then tools down" - complete with NASA-type count down). Do the TV makers think we're all kiddies?

In these days of satellite TV, UK viewers may care to note that Bavarian TV ("BSF") recently carried a series of very interesting programmes about stuff made today in the Black Forest area - NOT cuckoo clocks, but a wide range, including jewellery, glass, coconut "matting" (the red carpet used on presentation shows, state visits, etc), small hand tools, kitchen utensils, pottery, etc, etc. Of course you'd need a bit of German to get much out of it, but a MUCH more "sensible" approach to such stuff than generally put out - both interesting and informative.

AES


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## AJB Temple (28 Mar 2017)

Be fair chaps - it is a half hour prime early evening TV programme that is aimed at a general market, not craft experts. It is a positive step. I learnt something from it - including the inner mechanism of an accordion and what clockmakers use to clean clocks. The woodwork stuff is weak, but the programme touched on a variety of skills.


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## bugbear (28 Mar 2017)

The language on the clock was also very evasive. My view is that the lady owner thought her blind father made "it", by implication the whole thing.

But to me, it looked (a lot) like a factory made movement in a homemade case.

BugBear


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## Harbo (28 Mar 2017)

I watched the programme today and found it very superficial.
As someone who has been making a couple of clocks for several years and hasn't finished one yet, I find it very difficult to believe a blind person could make one. He would have needed to operate a lathe, cutting gear etc and work to tight tolerances. Perhaps he had a talking vernier gauge?

Rod


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## bugbear (28 Mar 2017)

Harbo":2qs9l9v6 said:


> I watched the programme today and found it very superficial.
> As someone who has been making a couple of clocks for several years and hasn't finished one yet, I find it very difficult to believe a blind person could make one. He would have needed to operate a lathe, cutting gear etc and work to tight tolerances. Perhaps he had a talking vernier gauge?
> 
> Rod



I don't know wether a blind person could make a clock movement or not (although I know for certain that Moore and Wright made Braille micrometers).

But in _this instance_ (although we see little enough of the movement), I think it was purchased "whole" and put in a case he did make.

BugBear


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## profchris (28 Mar 2017)

I thought it wasn't bad, as a 30 minute programme aimed at the general population. I'd have liked to know how the fish tail was clamped for glueing, but 99% of viewers wouldn't have cared.

I think it got over two messages:

1. Decent quality things can be fixed, even if they seem very broken.

2. It takes a lot of skill to fix them.

And I got some tips for fettling my accordion, if I ever feel brave enough!

Doubt I'll watch the rest, but it wasn't too bad.


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## Racers (28 Mar 2017)

The best bits we didn't get to see, the accordion was goodish but not enough detail, the fish, I wouldn't let him near anything of mine tools included, why did he clamp the piece of wood in a drill vice to saw it then smack it with the back of the saw to snap it off?
They seemed to want to get the clock woman to cry, I guess they think it makes good tv these days.

If they showed less things and more detail it would be much better.

Pete


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## bugbear (28 Mar 2017)

Racers":18ys7ar5 said:


> The best bits we didn't get to see, the accordion was goodish but not enough detail, the fish, I wouldn't let him near anything of mine tools included, why did he clamp the piece of wood in a drill vice to saw it then smack it with the back of the saw to snap it off?
> They seemed to want to get the clock woman to cry, I guess they think it makes good tv these days.
> 
> If they showed less things and more detail it would be much better.
> ...



I suspect they couldn't show more detail without letting the people use
their real workshops - what we're seeing is the Court Barn, and all the tools and benches
are just set dressing.

http://www.wealddown.co.uk/buildings/court-barn/

BugBear


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## Racers (28 Mar 2017)

The shot of the metalworking lathe must have been filmed at the clockmakers workshop, so outside filming must have been done.

Pete


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## bugbear (28 Mar 2017)

Racers":3o5auom6 said:


> The shot of the metalworking lathe must have been filmed at the clockmakers workshop, so outside filming must have been done.
> 
> Pete


They actually installed a Myford lathe in that barn! Wether we saw real work being done on it, I know not.

(around 9:28 - 9:32 into the episode
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... -episode-1
)

BugBear


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## John15 (28 Mar 2017)

Too light-hearted for me with not enough serious detail to be interesting.

John


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## bugbear (28 Mar 2017)

John15":3tfdeyv3 said:


> Too light-hearted for me with not enough serious detail to be interesting.
> 
> John



Roy Underhill does _light hearted detail_, and very well too.

BugBear


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## Racers (29 Mar 2017)

bugbear":2fy1rf1d said:


> Racers":2fy1rf1d said:
> 
> 
> > The shot of the metalworking lathe must have been filmed at the clockmakers workshop, so outside filming must have been done.
> ...




I didn't spot that! I was eating lunch at the time.

Pete


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## bugbear (29 Mar 2017)

Racers":7pik44nc said:


> bugbear":7pik44nc said:
> 
> 
> > Racers":7pik44nc said:
> ...



I didn't spot it _at the time_ - I assumed it was (one of the few) real workshop shots.

Only iPlayer showed me the truth.

I put episode 2 on at 4x speed and silent while I had my tea last night - just as bad as ep1.

BugBear


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## treeturner123 (29 Mar 2017)

Oh Dear

Yes, we, on this forum have expertise beyond that of the average Tea Time viewer. So by all means those who feel so superior, don't bother. For those of us who want to pick up a few tips outside our craft, watch something where items are repaired and see how some repairs need more than one expert, I'm sure will be watching most of the rest of the series. There are some seriously talented and knowledgeable crafts people on it; I particularly liked the Magic Lantern; the care to re-colour the brass to match 100+ year old was great.

After all, it is much better to show that things CAN be repaired than give way to the modern 'Broken so throw it away' mentality. In any case, too much time spent showing a particular aspect of repair would have ensured that the program wasn't made

Finally, yes, seeing something restored which you remember as a child may well bring on tears. What's the problem!

Phil


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## Racers (29 Mar 2017)

treeturner123":3fjm697t said:


> Finally, yes, seeing something restored which you remember as a child may well bring on tears. What's the problem!
> 
> Phil



They seem to press people on the news/TV to get them to cry, its not a nice thing IMHO.

Pete


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## DTR (29 Mar 2017)

It's not Roy Underhill, but it's better than Coronation Street *shrug*


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## Phil Pascoe (29 Mar 2017)

Just watched the first one ...
I think we must start at the beginning and realise that programmes like this are not aimed at most people here. Odd things annoyed me, like matey's leather apron (that had never seen a days work) and the way some tools were held - it made it look like they'd never be used before. The out of focus photography? Who on earth thinks that smart? 
It is a pity as well the way the world has gone that I would think with the possible exception of the accordion nothing fixed would have justified the expense it incurred if these people were charging you a market rate.
Still, more interesting than most dross and if it encourages someone, great.


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## woodpig (29 Mar 2017)

Given there are all too few programmes on TV like this I was quite glad to see it.


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## rafezetter (29 Mar 2017)

I didn't watch it, but from what I gather a lot of the new and previously more in depth "craft" type shows are dumbing down. I read the other day that "wheeler dealers" Edd China is leaving because the new producers are cutting out the majority of the work he did in the workshop and essentially showing the "before and after" glory shots with little of the stuff of him getting stuck in, which he quite rightly felt was the core of the show, which was the bit most people seemed to like going by replies to the announcement.

I'm not surprised to learn this is more of the same, which I think is a real shame, as learning and seeing the work done to renovate these sorts of items might give people a better appreciation of it; but instead it just becomes a niche show of little interest to the majority of the public, not even to those who might otherwise have in interest like our members and all those like us.

I'd wager we won't even see a second series.


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## AJB Temple (30 Mar 2017)

It is worth watching the show before rubbishing it. In episode three they repaired a Davenport that had been wrecked by burglars too dim to identify false drawers. The young man doing the repairs does not know much, but his purpose on the show is clearly to enthuse other young people to get into woodwork and restoration. This is a good thing. The final repair was a bit of a bodge but looked satisfactory I suppose. The guy who does the clock repairs clearly knows what he is doing. The show host appears to be a Festool collector so I am surprised members here are not flocking to it!


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## MrTeroo (30 Mar 2017)

AJB Temple":3lcqhtd8 said:


> It is worth watching the show before rubbishing it. In episode three they repaired a Davenport that had been wrecked by burglars too dim to identify false drawers. The young man doing the repairs does not know much, but his purpose on the show is clearly to enthuse other young people to get into woodwork and restoration. This is a good thing. The final repair was a bit of a bodge but looked satisfactory I suppose. The guy who does the clock repairs clearly knows what he is doing. The show host appears to be a Festool collector so I am surprised members here are not flocking to it!


The show host (Jay?) is an upholsterer isn't he?


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## selectortone (30 Mar 2017)

At least it's a change from yet another bl**dy cookery program. Or pretentious twits driving around the countryside touring antique (junk) shops and paying over the top for tat.


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