Britain's Best Woodworker

[Garden Shed Projects]

I can’t help but think it would have been better if they chose something more realistic like a chair, cupboard or table to give the contestants an opportunity to shine. Work through timber selection design build then finish it properly.
A “dream bed” is too big and complicated for a first episode and sounds more like a final.
Who’s making stuff that size in their workshops at home?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I turned up at school one Saturday (yes, we went to school on Saturday mornings) to be given a small pile of wood (sawn, not planed) and be told that the master wanted a coffee table ............. by lunchtime. I was about sixteen. He very generously said it didn't need to be lacquered. I did it. I found out years later that he had promised one for a church bazaar on the Sunday and had forgotten all about it.

 

[Orraloon]

A bed is not that hard to make. Well a practical kind of bed that you sleep in that is. It's just a platform to keep the mattress off the floor. Over the years I have done bunk beds, a double and a queen size bed. When it comes to "dream beds" or something that sails into the sunset then fantasy tends to blend with reality and well we saw the results.
I remember doing a version of that bed made of large sleepers. Planted up with veg it was a really great addition to the back garden.
Regards
John

 

[thetyreman]

and also I was baffled as to why they didn't use those bed bolts that you can get everywhere? seeing as they only had 2 days it would have made it 10x easier.

 

[Orraloon]

For anything larger than a single, bed bolts or other knockdown hardware is a must. They have to come apart to be moved.
Regards
John

 

[TheTiddles]

It’s so typical of TV programmes now, I watched one on rockets and they didn’t even use a single thermodynamic equation to explain the design…

…or maybe the programme was not orientated to that sort of viewer.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

You don't really need a thermodynamic equation to explain a firework.

 

[Orraloon]

Never mind equations one of them couldn't even drive a nail.
Regards
John

 

[hlvd]

As an ex electronics engineer who is willing to have a go at most practical things, so many youngsters these days don't have jobs with any manual/practical element attached. Apprenticeships were made demeaning by governments who wanted to shovel youngsters into university education (and so keep them off the unemployment statistics) and many engineers use computers to build and model stuff rather than physically experimenting with real hardware (as I did when I was younger).

Add in the throw away society which we have where people would rather buy something on Amazon and have it tomorrow (or today) than actually make it and feel the sense of satisfaction of having done so.

I hope that the reawakening of the benefits of apprenticeships, perhaps a hike in prices generally and shows such as this will encourage people toward craft skills again. Trouble is, with the everything costing more, buying decent tools and raw materials isn't as easy or as cheap as it once was.

High end tools

With regards to the sleeper bed.

What I don’t understand is:

A: all the wood was cut and prepped for them with finished sizes

B: with all that kit there, where was the thicknesser and why not use it.

From what I saw I doubt any of the contestants would know how to use one.

 

[Chris152]

It's clear the programme's title is silly. Rename it and you have people with a variety of skills trying to make things from wood and getting a crit. I can't see the point in mocking those people's efforts.

 

[Saint Simon]

I know that these programmes are generally more about the contestants than the techniques but on Bake Off, Sewing Bee etc they start with people with some knowledge. Watching the jewellery one I felt I was in with a chance of learning something.
But the skill level here seems, with a couple of possible exceptions, below beginner. I'm sure they could have come up with interesting people with some skills. Feels like a sadly missed opportunity.

 

[Owd Jockey]

The thing I liked particularly about "The Great Pottery Down" is when head Judge Keith, turns up in overalls and sits down at the wheel and then demonstrates how to turn a piece which the contestants must emulate. Sometimes they would bring in an outside expert to demonstrate how a piece is crafted, then for the contestants follow. For me, I can then respect that person as a judge, because I can see he/she knows what they are talking about. Hopefully, in future episodes they will have such a thing as demonstrating wood joints, with the contestants emulating, although I will probably not be there to watch it, as my patience will have long since run out on this competition to decide on this "Best in Class 2021", certainly not in Britain.

 

[Essex Barn Workshop]

In much the same way as my daughter watches bake off to hopefully learn some techniques, whereas I watch it for the entertainment value, I tuned in hoping to see some real craftspeople at work, and hopefully to learn from them.
That isn't, in the majority of the contestants, the case or likely (not over emphasising MY skill level, I have much to learn). I will continue to watch the show for its entertainment value.

 

[Jameshow]

I know that these programmes are generally more about the contestants than the techniques but on Bake Off, Sewing Bee etc they start with people with some knowledge. Watching the jewellery one I felt I was in with a chance of learning something.
But the skill level here seems, with a couple of possible exceptions, below beginner. I'm sure they could have come up with interesting people with some skills. Feels like a sadly missed opportunity.

Difference is most of us have a mediocre of woodworking skills so we see all the mistakes, light as day.... Just like my Mrs and daughter do on bake off...... How hard is filo pastry?!!

Cheers James

 

[TheTiddles]

You don't really need a thermodynamic equation to explain a firework.

Why are rocket nozzles the shape they are? Explain please

 

[Woody2Shoes]

Why are rocket nozzles the shape they are? Explain please

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_engine_nozzleHTH

 

[Spectric]

It's another branch of reality TV - you're supposed to watch the people, not what they're doing.

Will it ever progress or should I say sink to gutter level like these dating programs and become more than just making the bed but dare I say even using it!

 

[Garden Shed Projects]

Will it ever progress or should I say sink to gutter level like these dating programs and become more than just making the bed but dare I say even using it!

the show’s original title of Good with Wood would be quite fitting.

 

[paulrbarnard]

I caught a promo interview on Radio 2 today. One of the skill challenges is going to be an impossible dovetail.

 

[HOJ]

TV like this creates a false expectation as to how long it actually takes to make something, let alone properly.
I'm waiting for the day when someone comes in my shop and asks for a bed, or even anything, "seen a program on the telly, it only took 2 days to make"

Past experience, quite a few years ago, I was asked to make a large Oak glazed frame for a barn conversion, new client, "6 bits of wood and some nails, that shouldn't take long!"

20+ years on, I still do work for him... he's been educated now.